Went for a ride this weekend with a friend and he had a starnge issue with his 2004 1200. Once his bike reached normal temperature he started having issues with it firing at low rpm. It was sputtering almost as though it wasn't getting any gas. We stopped for a while and the bike cooled down. When we started again it seemed fine until it warmed back up than he had the same issue. Could this be some type of sensor?

 

What you've described is classic Crank Position Sensor failure. It will start and run fine cold. Then warm it starts sputtering. It will idle fine, but just off idle, like trying to pull away from a light, it will sputter.

It would help if you checked the DTC (trouble codes). There are instructions in the top of this forum about how to access and display the codes. P0373 and P0374 are the usual Crank Sensor codes, but... the lack of a trouble code is no assurance that there isn't a crank position sensor problem. Sometimes a crank position sensor can be faulty but no codes are stored.

The crank position sensors are easy to change.

Good luck.

 

+1 - Read the DTC Codes. If you don't know how there is a DIY Sticky at the top of this section.

 

Hi Bentwrench


Thank you so much for your post (3 years ago)!

I have a 2004 1200XL Sportster Custom and had exactly the same symptoms as described in your "Crank position sensor failure" and Rider1984.

A friend Google'd my problem and came across your post, I order a replacement, cost me US55.00 and my baby is running like new again.

Changing the sensor was very simple. Attached below is a photo of the little troublemaker.

Thanks again to guys like you out there that share their experience.