My 08 Untra backfired and everything went dead. Got it to the side of the road and there was no power at all. The battery is stone cold dead. Ant suggestions? The battery seemed fine when i started the bike before it died.

 

Check battery cables, possibly loose. Check voltage of battery. try a battery charger.
If it charges okay, start bike and use a voltmeter to see if your charging system is working. Should read a little more than 14 when bike is running.

 

Check ALL fuses also.

 

It is possible the battery shorted out and the back fire was excess gas in the chamber that ignited from cylinder heat, kind of like the old cars that "dieseled" when you turn it off. So you might have thought it was the backfire that happened first. Check the battery.

 

Yep, what the above said. I had that issue on my 03 RK, checked battery cables, which I forgot to on occasional checks, was just slightly loose. Bike needs a minimum voltage to operate. I believe it's 4V, but don't hang me if I'm wrong. I had the same issue, backfire, then would die out, would run in the garage, hop on, died. Good luck.

 

That bacfire was probably your batt at min voltage,just barely enough to spark. Could be corrosin on terminals,loose terminals,bad batt and or cbad charging system

 

There should be a big 40 amp fuse that powers everything. If that let go, your battery might be fine but still no juice.

 

Check the stator. That's the way mine have acted when it goes bad.

 

Check the battery itself. Had a buddy have the same thing happen. Backfire, no start, everything dead. It wasn't a backfire. The battery blew the top off of itself under the seat.

 

Did he find a cause, what brand battery?