i had a similar problem with my old v rod it ended up being a ground wire under the motor

 

Ooooh... I think they could start a forum section devoted solely to electrical gremlins. I never realized that Harley's were so weak in this area until it happened to me.

One of the most interesting discoveries I made in my adventure (and yours will be one, too) is that I found a seasoned mechanic who says that he changes his battery every three years no matter what. In my case my battery tested fine but I decided he might be on to something and >one< of the problems that I was having was instantly corrected by a new battery (and I didn't have loose cables). My starter quit dragging right away so I thought that had licked the other two issues I was having. WRONG!

The main circuit breaker on later models has caused many problems and I replaced mine... less than 10 bucks. I don't know about yours, however.

I chased my stalling issue, which seemed to be heat related, for a long time. I haven't ridden in hot weather yet, but I think and hope that I have it conquered. Heat is a big enemy to electrical circuits and that's what yours sounds like. The circuit breaker gets hot where it is located on my '06. Hot fuel in the tank (sitting in the sun) coupled with a weaker than necessary battery seemed to put the circuit breaker over the edge (actually, a relay not technically a breaker).

Since your buddy doesn't have an ecm I don't know if his will be as complicated as mine was, but I think you should just understand that it takes time and careful debugging and that you (I mean your buddy) will hear many possibilities from those that are trying to help. Just don't chase every possibility with a bunch of money. Get a shop manual first. Then whatever electrical testing equipment that you will need. If he isn't comfortable with that, start asking around as to an indy mechanic that knows his electrical stuff and get him to figure it out.

Also make sure that the fuel filter is replaced recently. When the bike is warmed up, does the choke keep it running? If so, then it may not be electrical. And, it could be heat related and your fuel pump is failing because it isn't getting enough juice from the battery or it's windings are failing... see what I mean?

Craig

 

Well I put in the new Circuit Breaker and everything is working fine, also did the code check and all was good. Well it shows that a bad connection at the battery did it in.

 

If it happened every time it got warmed up and the new circuit breaker fixed it then you may have found the issue. I have heard that some of the earlier softails had an issue with the main circuit breaker. On the other hand, if it was sporatic, then you hope you fixed it! <grin>

Keep on riding... you will eventually find everything that is wrong with your Harley and replace a bunch of stuff with what you really wanted in the first place... that's my philosophy! <grin>

C#

 

Thanks for all the replies...I will forward them on to him, and wish him the best of luck...haha I am sure we will get it figured out, and will let everyone know....thanks again....

 

Thanks for all the replies...I will forward them on to him, and wish him the best of luck...haha I am sure we will get it figured out, and will let everyone know....breaker and go from there. Will let you know.....