Riding home from regular Saturday get together with some of the boys & bike backfired & died electrically. No ignition lights, no speedo nothing.
Roadside check of battery connection, fuses, looked for any loose wiring, couldn't find anything. Mate went & got some tools & a battery pack as I thought my 10 week old battery may have shit itself. Couldn't start it or get any signs of life. Mate towed me home, about 5km & that ain't fun.
Was really enjoying the ride too, great weather, good road & the Harley burbling away until it just stopped.
At home, took out battery & charged it, checked wiring again, all connectors looked good & put battery back in with battery pack to boost. All dash lights came on & fuel pump did it's thing, I thought beauty & hit the starter.
Big bang & flash from behind rear pot & no cranking over. Fuck & double fuck.
Rang mate Andy who is a Harley mechanic for advice & he was intrigued & he's coming over tomorrow. We'll see what he finds.
Coil has shit itself.
That was my initial thought too
sounds like the starter has earthed internally, have you tried roll starting it to isolate the starter as the problem?
Well my Harley Riding Friends, after pulling all fuses testing all earths, removing power commander reading up how to test stator, rotor, rectifier, changing batteries in both fobs etc., I tested the battery after a full 48 hour trickle charge & it only read 11 volts. Tried another charger for another 48 hour, 11 volts. What the...! Took battery that was two months old back where I bought it & they tested it & only got 9volts. Got me new one next day. Checked before putting in & was 12.6 volts. Thought that now I would find what was wrong. The bike made all the right noises & fired up first prod of the button. Tested charge rate, perfect, not too high or low. Took it for a run of about 30km , no dramas. All along it was the BATTERY had shit itself. Been riding regularly, today a 300km run today & no probs. I thought it was something more sinister how quick it happened, but it wasn't. After a bit of research I found out that glass mat batteries are generally more powerful(CCA) & have a good life but they can just give up like mine did. Cheap fix, warranty replacement, happy rider, Harley back to doing it's thing. Thanks to everyone who offered advice, hope my story can help someone else. The original battery lasted 11 years. Reckon the bang & flash may have been unburnt fuel.
Yeah Gidgi, when the battery was dead in my old Bonneville, It would start & run with it disconnected but no lights. But there was no electronic wizardry, definitely! Fuel pump, ignition & gauges are all electronic now & draw more power than an old coil. Maybe the immobilizer kicks in too when it thinks battery is disconnected. Anyhow, I am happy with outcome & hope that other pick up a little from my experience.
On the old Evo first the regulator gave out, but I didn't know it. The battery boiled dry and I didn't know it. Then the battery overheated and a bridge between cells cracked. Then I knew about it. This became a pattern with the occasional stator failure thrown in to the mix.One day I thought, fuck it, I'll put a voltmeter on it. On the way to buy the voltmeter and the battery died...Put the voltmeter in and that fucker never played up again until I sold it.
Had a bloke come to my shop recently...bike wouldnt start...battery is fuck says me...no fucking way says he..."i keep it on the trickle charger always"!...now that would have been fine except the cable for the trickle charger wasnt connected.
