Avoid this bad experience
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 59
Likes: 7
From: Greenfield, Indiana
Avoid this bad experience
I was riding my 2004 Softail Heritage. We were coming back from the Moonshine Illinois Lunch Run and stopped for gas in Terre Haute, Indiana. Looked down and saw oil on my engine and the ground. It was running fine when I shut it off so without restarting it, I pushed it over to the side of the station. One of the oil line couplings parted when I wiped the oil off. Then it sparked. Dead short through the oil line as near as I can figure. It looks as though the battery a previous owner installed may have been a bit too big and gradually wore a bare spot on the battery cable. I think what happened then was that the cable grounded on the oil tank. We towed it to the shop. If we'd taken the interstate or not stopped for gas, that puppy would have locked up tighter than a drum. Just dumb luck I guess. I didn't even need gas, but my friend did, so we stopped. She's in the motorcycle hospital now and I'm hoping for a good result.
Update: She's better than she was and up for sale. She's in the Ebay deals. She's also on Craigslist Indianapolis.
Update: She's better than she was and up for sale. She's in the Ebay deals. She's also on Craigslist Indianapolis.
Last edited by rjwin; May 2, 2014 at 01:10 PM. Reason: update
Road Warrior
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,553
Likes: 36
From: Four Corners
Glad you caught it!
On a similar note: I carry a small squeeze bottle full of used oil in a ziplock baggie. My buddies & I are always pranking each other & I have on occasion squirted oil on the ground under a mark's bike! They usually figure it out when the rest of us ride off laughing our asses off. When I read your post, I though you had been a victim. Hopefully yours is a quick and inexpensive fix.
On a similar note: I carry a small squeeze bottle full of used oil in a ziplock baggie. My buddies & I are always pranking each other & I have on occasion squirted oil on the ground under a mark's bike! They usually figure it out when the rest of us ride off laughing our asses off. When I read your post, I though you had been a victim. Hopefully yours is a quick and inexpensive fix.
Oil
You know what they say **** happens. Some times you win some times you loose you had a lucky day for sure
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 145,895
Likes: 821
From: 40 miles Northeast of Indy..
that issue was the only recall on our 07 when we first got her, the welds in the back of the Oil tank wasn't ground down and it was possible for the hot battery lead to cut through the insulation and cause a dead short..
They stopped selling the 07's a short time till and recalled the ones sold to insulate the back of the tanks to fix the problem.
They stopped selling the 07's a short time till and recalled the ones sold to insulate the back of the tanks to fix the problem.
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