Friend of mine has a 2012 Tri-Glide. His charging system and battery light came on. I ran codes through diagnostics (motoscanner) and it coded for low battery voltage. Checked battery and it was below 10 volts.

Turned off and attempted re-start. No go. Not enough juice to crank it over. I'm aware of the issues with the regulators and his regulator does not fall into the replacement date code range. I know about the additional "out of date code range" of the regulators that HD is having issues with, in the same manner as the other poor QC ones.

I recharge the battery (tender) at .750 amp for about 24 hours. Re-checked battery with DVOM and had static (no load voltage) of 12.1. Indicating (at 75 degrees ambient) a 50% discharged capacity.

I tested the battery with my electronic battery tester to read available CCA as well as cell resistance level and voltage. It tested 6.8 Milli-ohm at 12.1 volts but indicated over 1 1/2 times the available CCA at around 530 CCA on a listed 350 battery.

Ordered him a new replacement battery and put his battery on charge until the replacement one came in (two days), using a different .750 charger. Battery came up to 1.2 volts (still indicating 50% discharge rate). Load tested with ribbon load tester and battery capacity fell off to the "bad" scale. I knew the battery was toast the first day.

A little history on this trike. A short time back, the turn signals would not operate while riding it. The radio would stay on and play, even though the ignition was in the "off" position. With the radio turned off and the ignition turned off, the clock display was still visible, with the correct time.

The engine would not crank over nor would the stop/start switch energize the fuel pump, instrument panel MIL, OIL, Security...just like the ignition switch was not on, but it was. After moving the ignition switch from on to off a few times, the engine would crank over normally, just as soon as the start/stop switch was turned on, to energize the fuel pump.

Fast forward, after the battery replacement, we rode with him and his wife for a 200 mile trip, to be sure there were no other issues with the trike. The voltmeter was in the proper area (for what the volt meter is worth) of 13.5 to 14.0 range and DVOM indicated 13.8 at about 1500 rpm. No battery light and no MIL (after clearing codes two days earlier and road testing about 5 miles myself).

A week went by and he was having starting (cranking) issues again. The ignition would not turn on the normal instrument panel lights for POST prior to starting and the start/stop switch would not energize the MIL nor the fuel pump. After manipulating the ignition switch a few times, the bike would come alive and operate normally.

He takes it to a HD and the dealership tells him that the battery that I put in isn't any good. I have his old battery that still reads 12.1 volts (even after days of charging) and it will not pass a load test. I tell him that the battery that I put is was and is still a good battery (sight unseen), as I've seen some of the work that this HD performs (I wouldn't trust them collectively enough any farther than I could throw them). I give him his battery back and he takes it to the dealer.

The dealership checks the battery and tells him that it's bad too. Go figure. The dealership keeps his trike for 3 or 4 days and ends up putting the original battery (the one that was only reading 12.1 volts, that is bad and the same one that they said tested bad) back into his trike and tells him that they can't find anything wrong.

Just from reading this, can anyone tell me (what I don't already know, the ignition switch) what the common denominator of such a problem is related to.

I told him that if the radio were at fault and it still played with the ignition (operating properly) in the off position, theoretically it should still be operating on the bench, without being installed in the bike. After-all, if it didn't have any power going to it (other than KAM), through the ignition switch, it still don't have that same power on the test bench. When he had the radio replaced, I questioned the dealers judgement to replace his 2012 model Advanced Audio Radio with an unknown year model that was nothing more than a re-furbished one. Besides, you can take the radio out and run over the darn thing and it still wouldn't have any effect on the turn signal operation or the starting (cranking) issues, nor the charging issues that he was experiencing.

I don't understand why the dealer would not focus in on the one item that controls every issue that my friend is experiencing with his 30 + thousand dollar trike. It's not like an ignition switch cost big bucks... What is it with some dealerships!!!!!

Any input on similar issues that anyone knows about that was traced to the ignition switch???

 

You could be looking at a low voltage problem causing a relay to actually stick the points together caused by not working fast enough & causing arcing between the points under a slight load. Also the relay might have a burnt contact & has a problem making contact. This may be caused by a bad ground or a poor positive connection also. This doesn't have to be right at the battery.
The switch could also be at fault, but testing when the problem is present is the only way without shooting in the dark.
What does the battery that you put in test now after use ? Also did you put a full charge on the new battery before use?
Just throwing a few ideas out..........

 

The battery that is in there now, the original battery that tested bad by the dealer and myself, has not been retested again by me due to the owner of the trike being out of town for a week. Before he left for the airport, he did mention that he had his charger on the trike battery overnight as well and the charge indicator was still in the "charge" mode and not in the green "float" mode of charge.

I inspected the trikes common ground to frame connections when I had it, prior to initially changing out the battery. The only relays that would come into play would be the start relay and the system relay.

The start relay would be energized at the time the crank button would be activated, not the on/off switch or the ignition switch.

The system relay would not come into play until the on/off switch was energized to the on position, to feed fuel prime and power to coil and then shut down, if the ECU did not see RPM from the CKP sensor circuit.

I did not get a chance to see if the radio fuse was powered up, which would have verified that the power was passing through the ignition switch and not dependent on any relay activation though. He had to ride the bike back to his work 100+ miles away and then had taken it to the dealer for the radio issue. Don't know if they actually thought about checking for fuse power or not, prior to their decision to replace the radio. Still, this would not account for the intermittant T/S operation when riding it.

I don't have the 2012 electronics manual as of yet but will soon and review how the BCM may come into play. Even if the BCM does have some correlation to issues, I would bet that it couldn't have been related to all of them.

What gripes me me more than anything, is the apparent secrecy involving issues related to driveability and or equipment operation problems, that seem like the service department techs must be kept in strict confidence and never released (under penalty of...whatever).

 

Modern Harley electrical problems can drive you nuts. Last year the 2010 Triglide I owned threw me a curve ball. I was on my way home from a trip when we stopped for fuel and the games began. I got on the road and noticed the XM radio from my Garmin Zumo was not playing, I figured I would get onto the freeway and set the cruise control then mess with it. Once on the freeway I went to set the cruise but it wouldn't set, as I looked around I found the cruise, the radio, and the aux were dead. I went to pull in to a rest area and also found my turn signals and my break lights did not function either.

After digging around in the fuse box and not finding anything, I also pulled the Maxi fuse for kicks. I turned the ignition switch on and all was back to normal.

 

It would seem that every issue that this trike is having as well as what the other FLHT's are experiencing, is or could be directly related to a faulty ignition switch.

HD is using the same PN 71572-06 ignition switch, as the one that was having issues binding and snapping off the lock stem, causing all kinds of headaches.

As one guy on this forum quoted, "Harley changed the mechanism in the 06's. They are still having a problem with it but have not put out a recall yet. They are fixing them under warranty if you have a problem". HD did issue a TSB and extended the warranty on it for problems after the warranty period expiration. Sort of like saying "we know it's going to fail but we're going to wait until you are off on a trip somewhere and are at our mercy when it fails before we intend to do anything about it".

Sounds to me like they were handling it on a case by case basis, over and above what was supposed to be a visual inspection by the dealer in R&R'ing the lock unit for inspection of possible stem damage.

Sort of opposite of how the dealerships are shorting touring bikes by about 1 to 1 1/2 quarts of oil on their oil changes, due to the fact that only a select few of the touring bikes that get the full 4 quarts are puking it out of the A/C's.

They are assuming that all touring bikes will puke oil out of the a/c's when they are filled to the proper 4 quarts, why not assume that all of the plastic ignition lock cylinders, that are giving electrical issues (or can be directly traced back as the point of most probability) be replaced as arbitrarily as shorting customers on their oil changes??? Is it because on one instance they are not only saving money but making a profit and the other instance, it could cost HD money?

Whatever happened to "the customer" aspect of service. We are only speaking about sixty dollars worth of parts to be replaced on a customers 35,000.00 motorcycle. If it were a regular customer of mine, I'd splurge for the 60 bucks as a good will gesture to at least eliminate the possibility.

I remember when HD issued the recall for the BL switches, for them to be replaced due to the heat issues involved with their general location close to the converter area's of the header pipes. From what I understand (and I could be wrong) HD's first actions were to report it to the security and exchange commission, as a means to allow their stockholders (by law) know that there may be a drop in their projected stock analysis prediction for that beginning quarter.

 

Search as I might I can't find an ignition switch recall or bulletin surrounding an electrical issue. I however have come up with this M1190 which is a bulletin for the fork lock on 06 Touring except FLHR build from 6/11/06 - 2/2/06. My 06 Ultra was part of this bulletin, the switch it self is fine, just the fork lock could break if the rider tried to turn the bars while locked.

 

PN 75130-03A (fork lock) shows to be the ignition switch on the FLHTCUI's and related models that use the same **** (stem) configuration.

HD changed the PN after updating it from 71530-03 (as the bad switch / fork lock that is referred to in the bulletin) to the "A" suffix PN to changed it to PN 71572-06, which is the same PN switch that is used on 2012 model FLHTC's. There have been reported issues with this switch relating to electrical issues, after the correction of the ignition lock stem issues that resulted in the replacement of 71530-03A to the updated 71572-06. It wouldn't surprise me if HD finally came out with the suffix "A" for the updated switch, to correct the electrical issues.

Thanks for your input, I'm seeking all the information and help I can find.

Skully

 

I am pretty sure there was a recall notice for the voltage regulater for the 2012 Tri Glide. Check with the dealer and he will check your numbers to see if yours fall in this recall, Good luck.

 

Here is the bulletin M1325.

 

With a bad voltage regulator wouldnt the gauge have voltage fluctuation?

Has the negative wire from the battery to the terminal on the rear of the transmission been check for tightness?

Also check the ground terminals on the frame ( On my 2008 Roadglide they are at the rear of the gas tank under the seat and the other is from the fairing to the front of the frame at the steering neck )