This is the 1st time that my sportster has left me stranded!!!! Thankfully it was in my drive way.

I clicked over the ignition, everything lit normally. I pressed the starter button and heard the starter engage then the bike just went flat dead before it even turned over once. My gauges and Neutral light went instantly dead will not light up. I quickly checked the battery connections and they were good, and the battery is not dead.


Now.......yesterday is changed the handlebars and grips, but the bike ride just fine to and from work etc. I cannot see that being an issue.

It is a 97 883 with the 1200 kit, Carb'd. It has 11k on it total, 3k put on by me. The only thing i have done since owning was change the oil.


Thanks for your help.

 

I am positive there are more knowledgeable answers to come ... but the time it happened to me - it was corrosion on my fuses.
It was fine one minute, not the next. I cleaned my fuses, no more probs.

 

I know you said the battery is good, but how many volts do you measure across the battery with the ignition (& lights) turned on?

 

The thing about trouble-shooting and arriving at the correct diagnosis is that you have to keep an open mind. A really open mind. In this case, anything in the 12v power circuit could be at fault. You can't arbitrarily say that "this isn't suspect because it worked yesterday". This is today and it don't work. Your task is to determine why it doesn't work now, not what it did yesterday.

Start with the battery and work forward, checking for voltage drop along the way. It could be something as simple as one end of one of the battery cables corroded. It could be bad cable or ground connection. It could also be a shorted wire in your kill switch.

You'll need either a 12v circuit tester (simple light type) or a multimeter to find it quickly.

Or maybe just remove and re-install the circuit breakers. Sometimes they get corroded and the terminals need to be cleaned and coated with Vaseline.

Just keep an open mind.

 

same thing happened on my '97. turned out to be a corroded battery cable. where the end is crimped on, couldn't see it.

 

I checked the fuses, they are fine. Intermittently when i turned the key 1 click over the tach lights would turn on, and then go out. I am going to go take the battery out and check all the connections now. Thanks for the advice.

 

I would suggest load testing the battery. The six plates are connected by a "wire" inside and can fail once a load is applied. The battery will read voltage until cranked over and load makes the problem appear. See this a lot in cars down here in hell (needles, ca) where it easily hits 110 degrees consistantly.

 

Check the Battery to Engine ground connection (close to starter on primary side),it can loosen over time.

 

Ok well i put it on the trickle charger and went out for the 4th etc. Today the battery is resting at 13.2, and everything works. So i start it and check the running voltage. Running it is taking a charge and is in the high 13's / 14 volt.


Is it time for a new battery? I checked the connections and everything seemed acceptable.

 

If you haven't bought a battery since you you got her, who knows how old that battery is! I say ride it till it happens again and then run the meter across the battery, if she's too low then I'd say it's time.

If I'm not mistaken (someone correct me if I'm wrong) it could be charging fine while running, but the stator could be grounded and draining the battery while she's parked.