This past November at the Lone Star Rally my 06 Road King started back firing and stalling, and it progressively got worse to the point where it died and would not start at all. Because I was 300 miles from home I had to borrow a truck and trailer and take it to the local HD shop, they diagnosed it as a bad ECM and said they would not be able to get one in until the following Tuesday. Again I was on a road trip and that created travel issues. Brought the broke bike back to Galveston again and had a vendor install a Thundermax, which also required new pipes. The vendor was able to Dyno Tune the bike.

Picked up the bike that evening and road about 20 minutes, and hands down the performance was way improved, however as I turned into the Hotel that night it did stall, but immediately started back up. The next morning however on the way to the ferry, it died again and would not start. Ended up having to put it on a trailer to get it back home. At this point, I'm into trying to resolve the issue at about $1900 ($1650 for Thunder-max and Pipes, and $250 to HD for troubleshooting).

Talking with Vendor that installed the Thundermax he mentioned it could be Voltage Regulator, so down to HD shop and $250 more dollars I replace the regulator and TPS sensor. 20 Minute Ride and it starts to back fire and stall again, barely make it back to Garage.

Trip back to HD where I buy new fuel pump and filter and hoses (i,e. another $200 but I did read about possible pin holes in fuel lines), drain gas and replace the fuel components.

I did about 30 Minute Ride and it seems to be fixed, but toward the end of the Ride the bike did have a little pop when down shifting, but no back firing or stalling, so I attributed that to the new ECM may of been calibrating.

This past weekend did another Ride and starting out the first 30 minutes no issues the bike runs great, nice power and response no back firing, so I think the issue is fixed. However about 45 mins into the ride, as I am down shifting it stalls and oddly enough popping clutch doesn't kick it off again, but flick of the starter and it starts right up, keep going down the road and then it starts to Back fire and stall non stop especially at low speed. Barely limped it home, literally coasted into my drive way.

I'm well over $2000 trying to resolve the same issue, had the bike at two different HD and as I mentioned even Dyno, the bike has NO codes and because it can take 45mins to hour to show symptoms it's hard to diagnose what else it could be, it seems like the issue is heat related but what could be heat related and exhibit fuel problem?

I'm very close to trading this bad boy in on a new 17, but figured i'd see if anyone might have a suggestion before I throw in the towel.

Regards,
Mark

 

When it dies, does it seem fuel related, or ignition related? Sounds from your description (backfiring, stalling) its fuel related.

I'd check crank position sensor, loose wires at fuel injectors, check fuel pressure, check/clean IAC, etc... I would not overlook coil and plug wires either. How is your battery? These bikes are sensitive to voltage, although id assume when they replaced VR they checked the batttery. Also, I think there was a service bulletin/recall issued for injectors on the '06's. Throttle cables adjusted properly? If stalling near idle my first guess would be the IAC.

Best of luck.

 

sound like a IAC Idle Air Control valve to me

 

Now- I know this sounds like a really funny thing, but maybe try pushing up on the quick detach fuel thing underneath the left side of the tank.

I only say that because I chased a "gremlin" around my 07 RK for a while- it would right out refuse to start up after shutting off unless I rocked it back and forth- turned out it was just a vacuum issue with the quick detach on the bottom of the left side of the gas tank- just try pushing that little bugger up and see if it does anything- mine made a hissing noise and then presto- she'd start again with no troubles.

 

If you read your post carefully at all you have done and replaced (and if they did indeed replace it all) My guess is you have a shorted wire somewhere between these or a bad ignition switch, alarm/signal light switch or on/off bar switch. There is nothing left. Sounds to me like you are simple cutting it off which what that mentioned above would do. Is the bars stock without internal ran wires?

If it had been the ECM or TPS, it would probably thrown a code. Don't think the charging system would do that.

 

Appreciate the response's,

I do have Carlini Gangster Apes installed, but probably have 3-5k miles on it before this issue occurred. I did replace the CPS sensor at the first Harley visit, when it first occurred in Galveston it did post a bad CPS sensor. Currently it has no codes.

I think the issue is electrical as well,
When going down the road and stalls (50mph) , popping the clutch usually doesn't restart it, holding the clutch and engaging the starter it will usually crank right up. Not an expert but it seems like perhaps some electronic gadget is faulting due to heat and then is reset with restart, after restart I can get 2-5 mins before it fails again.

Digital Nomand, I actually replaced the quick detach fuel connector when I drained the tank and added new lines.

It has a new battery, and I've had the battery tested and it tested good.

Best way I could describe it, is an electronic issue that affects the fuel system or ignition.

I do recall reading some issues with Wiring in the Bar's, what a nightmare that will be to troubleshoot.

Again thanks for the input!