Have an '03 Ultra, ~50K miles, and am having significant electrical issues. Any input you can provide is much appreciated.

Background:

First problem - bike had total loss of electrical power while riding. No power to any systems. No obvious issues (i.e., loose battery cable, etc.). Power never returned to bike. Bike towed to shop and complete charging system replaced.

Rode ~500 miles, troublefree. Then, bike again lost power while riding (again, lost engine, all electrical, etc.). This time, however, power returned and bike started very soon thereafter. This happened several more times...loss of all power (including engine shutoff), but only for a few seconds. If traveling at cruising speed, bike would re-fire before I could coast to a stop.

Next, bike would not idle. Would have to hold throttle open to keep idling at 1,000 - 1,500 while stopped or else engine would die.

Rode home. Disconnected Power Commander from EFI loop to see if that might be part of issue, and bike would not even start. In fact, when ignition switch turned on, fuel pump would not even function (although other electrical worked fine). Concluded ECU was issue. Returned to dealer, replicated this condition, and left bike at shop. Today, bike runs fine when bypassing Power Commander, so ECU is not issue.

Dealer and mechanic are baffled and out of ideas.

Bike, in current condition, is totally unreliable. Please post any ideas, suggestions, or thoughts you might have, especially if you have experienced this issue or know anyone that has had similar problems.

Many thanks in advance.

Very frustrating....

 

Long shot without being there to tinker, but...... Last year a friend with a new '09 lost all electrical power *at times*. While messin' with it on the side of the road I noticed power would come back with pressure towards the front of the battery box, so I jammed a stick in there & he was able to ride back to my place. Several hours of tinkerin' later we found that the positive lead runs from the battery to the starter & from there to the fuse panel. The power lead from the starter to the fuse panel was broken inside the insulation at the big connector at the starter. Touchin' at times, open at others. A bear to find, but easy to fix.

 

My 01 and an buds 00 both had circuit breakers go bad and display the symptoms you mentioned. The breaker would reset than you could ride awhile until it tripped again.

 

MY '06 UC (with PC) did that for a while. Never did solve the problem, it just sort of went away (I hope). Anyway, I was told there is a circuit breaker mounted just forward of the battery that HD put on earlier models than my bike that was under powered. Seems HD had a recall on them. The breaker was a 30 amp and they upped it to 40. I bought the recall kit, cost about $6, but mine has the big-*** fuse and not the circuit breaker. It didn't work for me but for $6 it might be worth a try for you.

As I said, I never solved my problem. I think the cleaning and tightening of battery cables and other terminals may have fixed it.

Good luck on solving your problem.