I've got 2 tricks when I'm fighting electric problems that won't stand still. 1. When the bike is full warmed up, pull it into the garage and turn out all the garage lights, get it as dark as you can. Then give the spark cables your best evil eye when revving the engine, especially around the plugs and coil. You're looking for a weak pale bluish electric "flame" (electric arc) flowing around the outside of the cable and hopping over to an engine ground point. Can't be seen in daylight. 2. I use a strong magnifying glass, and inspect every electric plug/socket in the wire harness. I'm looking for any slight discoloration; any contact pin that is not seated in a plug/socket at the same height as the others; any pin that has the slightest difference in size compared to its brothers/sisters. Discoloration is from heat. Different pin heights usually indicates a problem with the pin's seating in the plug/socket from a poor wire crimp/solder connection at the wire side of the pin. Difference in pin size is from having to force connectors to mate, squeezing one or more pins too tightly and deforming it. So, when the electrics are cool, gaps shrink, and solid electric contact is made. Heat up the wiring, gaps expand, and electric contact gets "rasty". Also, heat messes with the solid state electronics. Most devices are catalog rated at 1.5 times temp of boiling water (350 degree F) MAX before near immediate failure. This says nothing about long term degradation from running hot. Capacitors also degrade nearly 5 per cent/year from heat. The crank position sensors have about a 15 year life span. Mess up that signal intermittently from any of the above, and it'll drive you nuts before it finally dies and let's you discover the culprit. Wish I still serviced the Bakersfield area so I could lend a hand.
Thank you for the info I'll try your suggestions. I've gone over the wiring twice & fixed some bad stuff but my eyesight isn't what it used to be for sure so the magnifying glass idea will help. I haven't been able to do much lately because I've had to go through so many surgeries on my Lt. shoulder & Rt. hand & elbow I can't work on it or ride. I hope to be able to get better so I can do it sooner than later
John, I have a similar issue with my 2002 Road King. The stumble takes 40 miles or so to begin happening, then it feels like either fuel cut offs in milisecond short bursts, or 12v shorting to ground off and on as it moves slightly down the road. Weird part is yesterday I stopped at 20 miles (no problem happening), shut the bike off for 10 mins, then rode home. 5 miles down the road it started up and got really bad at 10 miles. Then it stopped. Intermittent. This has to be electrical contact. I was riding at avg of 70 mph, outside temps at dusk in the 60's. Help? Got new TPS, new intake seals/tubes and right before this I had the 12v wire shorting to frame issue that was found and fixed, but it caused havok before I found it. Maybe it damaged something or there's another one I didn't see.
At about the 13:30 point in the video. The sputter and stall is what happens to my ‘98 softail. Like yours the bike is warm when it starts. 3 times when it died I was on a ‘not so good’ road to sputter out on. Like the on ramp to a bridge and she just shut down. Cars and trucks coming up on me quick. Got lucky and was able to get her running and gimped home. It’s not every time I ride, it’s intermittent. Just yesterday it happened again but I had to put on my hazards and pull to the side of the road. This time she was warm but not overly hot , just about 3 miles from home and all on 40 mph roads. I hope that some fellow carbureted softail owners have found why this happens and can at least offer a few things I can look into. Thank you Rob for posting this. I just called my mechanic and he wants to keep the bike and take it out for a couple days and see if it happens to him. Now I can show him this video so he has an idea of what’s happening and not have to go a week or 2 without her while he waits for it to happen.
I've heard so many different reasons why and they all seem viable I've replaced everything except electronic ignition & that's next if & when I get time to do it before cancer wins out
I have an o2 1200 custom its usually an electric issue via plugs cables or coil chk all of the above ran into this several times with my old bike seems to be fairly easy fix but annoying cause she will shut off on u while riding
Wow forgot because I didn’t get the notice of responses. Was in need of a new coil. Then a month or so she wad running great and just stalled like out of gas. It wound up a nice bent flywheel piece chipped off and that was if. So I put new motor in (sent from 64 ho to 107) and a 6 speed trans. So now I have a new 98 Softail with 400 miles on it. And she’s a sleeper. But boy can she run.
Start, Stop, run switch. It's solid state. It comes loose inside, flutters the power to the cylinders; fuel mixture adds up just a little and fires when the flutter comes around again, firing it; this is so if when the engine is misfiring, you pull over, use the switch to turn it off, the switch to run, hit start and it'll run again for a very short while and then start misfiring again, do I over and over; same result. Try replacing the S, S, R switch and see what happens.
Did you ever figure it out? I have the same problem on my 02 RKC. Was a 12v wire...insulation rubbed off, wire making contact with frame. Rode fine after that for about 50 miles, then it was a small hiccup, which got worse. Yesterday it rode 15 miles great, then the 15 miles back was all cutting out no matter what gear, no matter the RPM, etc. It's either a short to the frame somewhere (again), or the spark plug wires, or the gas tank vent tube (on mine, I'm convinced). Riding 1000 miles day after tomorrow with a broken bike or cancelling a trip I have planned for a long time.
it turned out to be several things go bad at the same time from Kreem gas tank sealer clogging up carb to coil failure to voltage reg & stator went out elctronic ign went out had some bad wires here & there I've finally just about rebuilt the whole bike systems and it runs great again old age just caught up to it all at once & made it hard to pin point all the problems
Found my issue as well. There was an old front injector wire repair that got tweaked when we did the intake seals. Solder joint broke. I didn't know about the repair since I bought the bike used. I tried to fix it, but no luck and lost the injector. I had to trailer the bike to Harley. They fixed it and then I rode 1200 miles with no issues.
I've realized that with an older bike like mine it really doesn't matter how many miles you get on it or how well you care for it as age will take it's toll on wiring espcially if garaged in the summer where it gets over 100* all the time. it dries out and vibration cracks it off makes for constant diagnose & repair issues now. Same with gaskets. Then throw in the parts that just break or wear out with time & were poorly designed to start with I see why guys trade their bikes in every 3 > 5 years for a new one. I'm just glad I've been able to figure out & fix my problems instead of spending a fortune at the shop
At first, I thought you were just bouncing of the rev limiter, as the rpm's sounded about about that point. But at the end, that was different. It's hard to tell from a video, but it sounded like the ignition breaking down or a possible fuel issue. I was thinking about your compensator nut coming loose a while bike... I had one do that and I developed an ignition issue shortly after. That nut being loose created a dusting of metal debris that I thought I thoroughly cleaned the chain case area, but I missed one thing, the crank position sensor! The sensor is basically a magnetic pulse coil. It had magnetically picked up metal debris and collected on the tip. The metal debris was disturbing the sensor air gap, and was not sending the correct info to the ECM... I simply pulled the sensor, wiped the debris off, and that Harley is still rolling to this day! Just a thought, and very quick and easy fix if that's it... Oh yeah, loved the ride along!
Thanks, the Cam Positioning Sensor is located on the other side of the engine, ( Rev Tech 88 ci) from the compensator nut. The cover to the CPS is sealed by rivets that have to be drilled out & replaced with special rivets is why I've left it alone up to this point, ( I'd have to buy special rivets & tool to replace or tap holes to accept small screw ). I've heard of the CPS going bad but I thought if that's it it'd miss fire all the time not just under a hard full throttle run. Don't know if the engine has a fail safe system to shut down before damage to it? Doesn't have a typical ECM but does have Thunder Heart Electronic Ignition Control Unit, all warning lights show green. It only does it under a full throttle hard run, which is what the bike was built for LOL. To me it sounds like the front cyclinder quits firing. If I stay in it then the bike just shuts down. If I back off & flip the switches off & on sometimes it'll re-fire, other times it just dies & will re-fire after stopping. I've check all the ignition wiring & switches thinking vibration causing kill switch to flip on or loose wires but didn't find anything. You know I can't just ride around at half throttle all day.
Sorry Robert, didn't realize the Rev Tech motors were using a cam position sensor as apposed to Harley's crank position sensor... Going by the video, it sounded like an ignition breakdown. Which, as I'm sure you know, is under more of a load during acceleration and high rpm's. Heck, I've had a damn spark plug that looked fine cause a top-end misfire... But the fact that she shuts down for a bit, like in your video, seems to point at something else. Do you have any electrical specs for the ignition system, such as resistance or peak voltage output for sensors, etc? Things like this can be tough to diagnose... A bike that doesn't run WFO just isn't going to work for you! LOL So I hope the answer comes easy and comes quick! RSMF
no real specs, just basic info for unit & wiring diagram. I'm going to swap out plugs & plug wires as it may be something I can't see & go over the wiring again. I hate electrical problems as it could be anything as little as a pinched, frayed wire or bad unit, which is sealed & has warning lights but they all show green.
Thanks. I hope it's not to simple or then I feel really stupid. I'm getting at that age when I've forgotten half of what I knew & the other stuff I do remember is irrelevant
Please tell me you got this fixed and what the issue is. my bike is doing the exact same thing. I have a 1981 CB 900 C it runs amazing at first but after 15 minutes it starts doing the exact same thing your bike is doing any help would be much appreciated
I have a Suzuki Boulevard VZ800 with exactly the same problem, after 80Kmh, if you gun it, it sounds like it's starved for air or fuel. Hit the kill switch and half the time it resets and rights up with no problems until the next time, which can be 2 minutes later or next time I stop and start again.... what do these bikes have in common? Mine is fuel injected...
A leak in the intake can cause slight problems like missing/stumbling or hesitation & poor performance but is usually easy to determine & fix if that's the problem. I found a lot of things went wrong about the same time and fixed them until I found out now my current problem has turned out to be the charging system slowly failing and needs to be replaced. The rotor, stator inside the primary case & voltage regulator. Sometimes it works until it gets hot and starts to loose charging causing the misfire at higher RPM. The wires finally melted going to the voltage regulator is how I found it because at idle & cool the problem didn't show on test if yours acts like mine this could be your problem and it only shows at higher RPM when hot running temp you get a drop in charging If so your battery will eventual draw down to nothing which I never let mine get that far before going back home. The idiot light never came on & I don't have a voltage gauge on the bike. Good luck I hope you get it sorted I'm having to wait as I had surgery on my shoulder last year & hand this year & can't work on it. ( Harley stators do go bad after about 5 yrs I've been told Never knew that before )
Common issue. When your gas level gets lower in your tank, the small leaks in the interior gas line will start to suck air. To make sure it's not something else, just verify by filling the tank and see if the issue repeats itself. Mine happens about 2 gallons into a ride.
yes you mean the bikes with FI that have the internal fuel pump in the tank? Those internal hoses will break & leave you stranded This is an old school carb'd bike but you were close. Kreem gas tank sealer went bad and turned to like elmers glue and gunked up everything
i have a 06 dina lowrider with a stage one intake. I'm having the same issue every time my bike warms up out starts making a sound n out jerks. the shop replaced practically every thing and can't find what's going on. new wires gas tank new crank shift sensor new voltage regulator. new pistens. we are stumped on finding the problem.
sad I hope you get it figured out I'm currently dealing with a fried charging system & need to replace the stater & regulator Then see if I still have a problem. So many things can go wrong and several at one time makes it difficult to diagnose & fix. It all has to wait now as i had to have surgery on my right hand & can't work on it
Not really I found lots of things that needed fixed, bad gas tank sealer clogging everything up, filter, fuel lines, carb. Loose or broken wires I've repaired, plugs cleaned, timing checked, new battery, bad charging system i still need to replace charging system but none of them got rid of the problem yet. If I still have the problem after fixing the fried charging system IDK what to check next as I've gone through everything I can think of. It seemed a lot went bad all at the same time & I've fixed or replaced most of all that. I may have to tear the bike down and redo it completely to find the problem?
Don't ow if you're checking the messages bit in frame 09:53 when you pass the pickup with the trailer you will notice his tie-down strap was on the ground very dangerous. Stay safe
i have a 2002 softail with a 100 ci revtech. doing the same shit. ive had the carb rebuilt, starter rebuilt, new voltage regulator and battery. still the sane. only happens when the bike gets hot. did you ever resilve this issue? any help would be a life saver.
no I still have the problem also thou I did get her running off & on. Everytime I find something wrong and fix it a couple weeks later something new pops up & it does it again. First I replaced my gas tank & fuel lines & rebuilt my carb because the gas tank sealer went bad and turned to elmers glue & clogged the fuel lines, petcock & carb. & she ran for about a month after that. then more problems. I found bad wiring twice replacing & repairing loose or broken/ burnt wires. Next I replaced a bad coil went out. The plugs & wires which were old. Got a new battery, checked timing ( good ) etc. Right now the voltage regulator, statar & rotor need to be replace because the last time I had her running the wires melted inside & out of the primary cases for the charging system, smoke & fire!. Like I said everytiime I fix one problem a new one pops up. It's not the RevTech engine or trans, ( yet ) but all the little electrical add ons, wiring & fuel system going bad from old age I guess. As soon as i heal up from hand surgery i plan to fix her charging system and hope that's it for awhile. I wish I could give you a simple answer or fix but I can't I hope yours isn't just falling apart or wearing out like mine appears to be. Mine did what you describe when the coil got hot & would quit working & I replace it. Maybe same for you? Good luck
Have to agree with Shawn. The first time sounded like the rev limiter. The last time sounded like something altogether different. I would check the timing first, and the cam positioner. The compensator nut as Shawn mentioned would be worth looking into also. Hopefully you will find it soon and let us know what the culprit was. Ride safe!
I don't know if my electronic ignition control unit has a rev limiter, it's not the typical ECM computer type, it didn't mention a rev limiter in paper work. It didn't use to do this. I used to be able to go full throttle a lot higher rpm's/mph before having to shift. It was built for Drag Strip racing even thou it looks like a cruiser.
Excellent Info here! Great job Rob glad you got it right. Could be many things. coil, bad lifter gets weak when blasting it, check fuel pump pressure, wires? I have a similar problem on my FLHT but I feel your pain I like the video and your ride though. What do your magnets do exactly?
Mathos1 no reply icon to click on? I still haven't figured it out. As of now I think I'll tear it down & go over all the fuel system & wiring again. Maybe I missed something the last time. Thankfully I've still got the Sportster 72 to ride while the Softail is down
well my 01 sporty has a petcock that needs vacuum for fuel to flow and i removed my tank to paint and saw a crack in the hose. before i bought it they rebuilt the carb and plugs ect. now it pulls great and hits harder. sometimes its the overlooked simple things that can give ya pain.
yea I've gone over all the obvious stuff I know myself like carb, hoses, wires, electrics, etc and fixed or replace lots of old looking stuff. Sometimes it would run great again for a while then act up. I never was able to pin point one problem that is the cause and still deal with intermentent problems I'm not giving up on her yet. maybe one of my future fixes will eliminate the problem? Thanks
Just a thought... check all connections on ignition with bike warm and running. Look for high resistance on coil and spark plug wires and any primary wiring at connectors. Compare to cold bike with ignition on but not running. I'd also check that kill switch closely.
it was actually several things went wrong all about the same time or right after each problem was fixed & yes it's finally fixed for a while anyways I think. 1st the Kreem gas tank sealer went bad & turned to elmers glue clogging up the fuel lines petcock & carb. I had to replace the gas tank, lines etc. as I couldn't get all the goop out & rebuild carb. 2cd some wires had come loose, broke, etc so I went over all the wiring & redid what I found bad. That took time & was a pain. 3rd the charging system went bad and finally did a melt down of the plugs & wires coming out of the primary case. I had to replace the voltage regulator, stator & rotor inside the cases. 4th the coil was going bad & finally died & had to be replaced. It would stop working when it got hot. Last but not least the electronic ignition module in the nose cone was failing when it got hot also. It seems all these things happened right about the same time or as I fixed one problem another popped up. The bike is 17 yrs old now & most of these things usually go out in the first 5 years, ( I hear ) so I guess I'm lucky it lasted as long as it did before experiencing all this crap.Thanks for asking If you're experiencing similar issues just be aware the charging system, coil, electronic ign may all test fine on the rack but then fail out on the road when they get hot. Made it difficult to find & fix the problem until they finally died completely.
Robert Robb Sr. In my case, perhaps the problem was in the fuel pressure. I found that the hose between the tank and the efi flows when it was touched lightly. I'm going to fix it and check it out on the road.
Okay, going through your posts and replies. This was the answer? How long before each thing "got hot" and failed on the road? 5 miles? 50 miles? Mine is around 30-50 miles before it acts up
@@johnlabello919 Over the years, I've had to have failures in order to diagnose and repair. Also, the local HD dealer helped me with spotting things. Hope you get it figured out.
My 2002 AIH Texas chopper will backfire through the exhaust several times then the bike's electrical power/system goes completely out. The bike just dies out, with no electrical power whatsoever. The Last time it had to be towed to the shop. This time once I pull over to the side of the road, turn the key to the off position then back on and the electrical system is restored and I'm back on the road until the next episode happens. It happens at any speed. Accelerating is or at cruising highway speeds. I thought my problem was solved after finding a loose wire going to my starter broke off. I also replaced the old ultima carberator with an S&S "G" carb but it still spits or hiccups and backfires through the exhaust. It almost seems like the engine misfire for a nanosecond disguising itself as a brief backfire. There seems to be a direct correlation between backfiring several times while accelerating hard and the electrical system going completely out at the same time. Any ideas? All-new thick/firm fuel lines were installed since old fuel lines collapsed under too much vacuum. Oh, and the longer I ride the bike throughout the day the worse the issue gets, and more frequent the episodes happen. I'm thinking the crank case poisoning sensor needs to be replaced. Any thoughts or ideas?
air/ fuel mishap , intake or carb is shitty, hell maybe the coil who knows , its a Harley bro. I love my them, but ya need a to be a mechanic to often. That's why I lean towards my Vmax when I just want to put gas in her and cruise brother.
Dude it really sounds like you're hitting the rev limiter. I've NEVER done or felt the need to do 60 in 3rd. I wind 4th gear up to 60 and then hit 5th. This should apply to you even more because don't you have a 6 speed? If that's the case, your 3rd gear is even lower than mine. Though I can not explain why the bike would die. That just adds whole nuther complications. If the bike is electrically dying and you're using the kill switch to bring it back to life, sounds like an electrical issue somewhere, but not sensor/timing related.
Yes, I agree it sounds like an electrical issue. I've gone over all the wiring looking for loose or shorts etc. everything looks good, but looks can be deceiving. At this point I'm afraid my next option is to tear it down & re-do the wiring. The bike was built for speed,( racing) even thou it looks like a cruiser. It's a Rev Tech 88ci / 88 hp w/ Rev Tech 5 spd. I used to be able to shift into 4th at 70/80 mph, no problem, & take it to 100 before hitting 5th, which is my limit before having to go home and change my shorts. I guess I could go buy a Sport Liter Bike & just run around at half throttle on this one
Robert Robb RevTech all around huh? Very nice ride. Well my gearing experience is of no help then, LOL. I hope you find the problem and it's just something small that got missed easily. That bike sounds so sweet.
Mine turned out that gas tank sealer ( Kreem ) went bad turned to glue and clooged the carb gas lines etc I had to replace tank, lines & clean carb & petcock Thanks
ended up having several issues, from kreem tank sealer going bad and clogging fuel filter, lines & carb, to charging system frying the voltage regulator & stator, to wires breaking from vibration. I'm still working to repair everything as it gets older more stuff goes wrong. I had to replace gas tank, fuel lines, re-build carb, re-wire some of the bike, the rotor, stator & voltage regulator are next to be replaced as soon as I get the time.Hopefully nothing else goes wrong
@@dawnrobb8809 I have the same issues on a carbureted 2000 FXDX added fuel line to the positive charge wire from voltage regulator all the way to the battery (wire is now inside a fuel line aft replacing 2 regulators in 2 yrs). Still I have not found reason for intermittent mis fire, completely tore down carb cleaned and rebuilt, reset jetting and still have this issue in your video. Of course when I take it to the shop no problems jml.
Double check your coil..If u checked your fuel pump ,filter and fuel regulator the look at the fuel hoses inside the tank .maybe one of them has a Crack or pin hole in it.. Other then that pull your injectors to see if there Clean...If all check out to be good the I would would say double chest recoil
Too many damn cops in that town! .. Your taxes must be rediculous! I live in a town with a population of about 15,000 and we have ONE resident State Trooper!! It's one of the reasons I don't want to leave here! Nobody bothers me and pretty much every house here in town has at least one acre of land so I don't have to worry about neighbors!! ... Maybe a bad condenser or timing is out?
LOL It does seems like we've got a lot, could be because so many BPD, Sheriffs & CHP live in the same area of town as I do. I've got 6 in my neighborhood I know of and many more in the neighboring housing tracts
If you have a non standard exhaust it may be not enough back pressure which means it needs baffles or you need jetting in my non pro opinion , I had to put my baffle back in cos it ran worse with it out on the bandit.
It was originally built/ jetted for racing with straight throu drag pipes & has ran fine for 12 yrs before this. I wish it was such an easy fix, Thanks
Thanks! I replaced it already. It was bad along with a burnt up voltage regulator & weak stator & bad coil wire connections. I found something sketchy with everything I've checked. I guess it all decided to go bad all at the same time? I still have the electronic ignition to swap out and I'll have replaced every thing electrical it could've been. I've got it running several times for 10 minutes or so only to loose spark again. It could be something I already replaced failing again. I guess I'll have to give in and take it to a shop & admit my defeat for now as soon as I get well enough but I'm currently battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer & can't do much
Robert Robb Sr. Well I’m so sorry to hear of your health issues. Keep up the good fight. I’ll keep you in my prayers and hope you have many good years of riding ahead of you. ✌🏼
thank you I tried new coil & wires = no change, I've replaced everything except electronic ignition so I guess that's next if I don't run out of time before then
I've got 2 tricks when I'm fighting electric problems that won't stand still. 1. When the bike is full warmed up, pull it into the garage and turn out all the garage lights, get it as dark as you can. Then give the spark cables your best evil eye when revving the engine, especially around the plugs and coil. You're looking for a weak pale bluish electric "flame" (electric arc) flowing around the outside of the cable and hopping over to an engine ground point. Can't be seen in daylight.
2. I use a strong magnifying glass, and inspect every electric plug/socket in the wire harness. I'm looking for any slight discoloration; any contact pin that is not seated in a plug/socket at the same height as the others; any pin that has the slightest difference in size compared to its brothers/sisters. Discoloration is from heat. Different pin heights usually indicates a problem with the pin's seating in the plug/socket from a poor wire crimp/solder connection at the wire side of the pin. Difference in pin size is from having to force connectors to mate, squeezing one or more pins too tightly and deforming it.
So, when the electrics are cool, gaps shrink, and solid electric contact is made. Heat up the wiring, gaps expand, and electric contact gets "rasty". Also, heat messes with the solid state electronics. Most devices are catalog rated at 1.5 times temp of boiling water (350 degree F) MAX before near immediate failure. This says nothing about long term degradation from running hot. Capacitors also degrade nearly 5 per cent/year from heat. The crank position sensors have about a 15 year life span. Mess up that signal intermittently from any of the above, and it'll drive you nuts before it finally dies and let's you discover the culprit. Wish I still serviced the Bakersfield area so I could lend a hand.
Thank you for the info I'll try your suggestions. I've gone over the wiring twice & fixed some bad stuff but my eyesight isn't what it used to be for sure so the magnifying glass idea will help.
I haven't been able to do much lately because I've had to go through so many surgeries on my Lt. shoulder & Rt. hand & elbow I can't work on it or ride. I hope to be able to get better so I can do it sooner than later
John, I have a similar issue with my 2002 Road King. The stumble takes 40 miles or so to begin happening, then it feels like either fuel cut offs in milisecond short bursts, or 12v shorting to ground off and on as it moves slightly down the road. Weird part is yesterday I stopped at 20 miles (no problem happening), shut the bike off for 10 mins, then rode home. 5 miles down the road it started up and got really bad at 10 miles. Then it stopped. Intermittent. This has to be electrical contact. I was riding at avg of 70 mph, outside temps at dusk in the 60's. Help? Got new TPS, new intake seals/tubes and right before this I had the 12v wire shorting to frame issue that was found and fixed, but it caused havok before I found it. Maybe it damaged something or there's another one I didn't see.
@@semperoccultus1969 thats exactly what my 2009 heritage does,, did you ever find the problem?
@Bunnyshooter 223 Wiring inside the bars, exhaust cracks, etc etc. Did a lot of work to her and running great
@@jeffkeel6432 Wiring inside the bars, exhaust cracks, etc etc. Did a lot of work to her and running great
At about the 13:30 point in the video. The sputter and stall is what happens to my ‘98 softail.
Like yours the bike is warm when it starts. 3 times when it died I was on a ‘not so good’ road to sputter out on. Like the on ramp to a bridge and she just shut down. Cars and trucks coming up on me quick. Got lucky and was able to get her running and gimped home. It’s not every time I ride, it’s intermittent.
Just yesterday it happened again but I had to put on my hazards and pull to the side of the road. This time she was warm but not overly hot , just about 3 miles from home and all on 40 mph roads.
I hope that some fellow carbureted softail owners have found why this happens and can at least offer a few things I can look into.
Thank you Rob for posting this. I just called my mechanic and he wants to keep the bike and take it out for a couple days and see if it happens to him.
Now I can show him this video so he has an idea of what’s happening and not have to go a week or 2 without her while he waits for it to happen.
I've heard so many different reasons why and they all seem viable I've replaced everything except electronic ignition & that's next if & when I get time to do it before cancer wins out
What did your mechanic say? My 03 sportster is doing the same thing now
I have an o2 1200 custom its usually an electric issue via plugs cables or coil chk all of the above ran into this several times with my old bike seems to be fairly easy fix but annoying cause she will shut off on u while riding
Wow forgot because I didn’t get the notice of responses. Was in need of a new coil. Then a month or so she wad running great and just stalled like out of gas. It wound up a nice bent flywheel piece chipped off and that was if. So I put new motor in (sent from 64 ho to 107) and a 6 speed trans. So now I have a new 98 Softail with 400 miles on it. And she’s a sleeper. But boy can she run.
please tell us what it was, I personally would like to know... Did you get it fixed after all?
Start, Stop, run switch. It's solid state. It comes loose inside, flutters the power to the cylinders; fuel mixture adds up just a little and fires when the flutter comes around again, firing it; this is so if when the engine is misfiring, you pull over, use the switch to turn it off, the switch to run, hit start and it'll run again for a very short while and then start misfiring again, do I over and over; same result. Try replacing the S, S, R switch and see what happens.
Thanks I did take it apart clean it and put it back together it did have a loose wire along with lots of other little problems
Did you ever figure it out? I have the same problem on my 02 RKC. Was a 12v wire...insulation rubbed off, wire making contact with frame. Rode fine after that for about 50 miles, then it was a small hiccup, which got worse. Yesterday it rode 15 miles great, then the 15 miles back was all cutting out no matter what gear, no matter the RPM, etc. It's either a short to the frame somewhere (again), or the spark plug wires, or the gas tank vent tube (on mine, I'm convinced). Riding 1000 miles day after tomorrow with a broken bike or cancelling a trip I have planned for a long time.
it turned out to be several things go bad at the same time from Kreem gas tank sealer clogging up carb to coil failure to voltage reg & stator went out elctronic ign went out had some bad wires here & there I've finally just about rebuilt the whole bike systems and it runs great again old age just caught up to it all at once & made it hard to pin point all the problems
Found my issue as well. There was an old front injector wire repair that got tweaked when we did the intake seals. Solder joint broke. I didn't know about the repair since I bought the bike used. I tried to fix it, but no luck and lost the injector. I had to trailer the bike to Harley. They fixed it and then I rode 1200 miles with no issues.
I've realized that with an older bike like mine it really doesn't matter how many miles you get on it or how well you care for it as age will take it's toll on wiring espcially if garaged in the summer where it gets over 100* all the time. it dries out and vibration cracks it off makes for constant diagnose & repair issues now. Same with gaskets. Then throw in the parts that just break or wear out with time & were poorly designed to start with I see why guys trade their bikes in every 3 > 5 years for a new one. I'm just glad I've been able to figure out & fix my problems instead of spending a fortune at the shop
At first, I thought you were just bouncing of the rev limiter, as the rpm's sounded about about that point. But at the end, that was different. It's hard to tell from a video, but it sounded like the ignition breaking down or a possible fuel issue.
I was thinking about your compensator nut coming loose a while bike... I had one do that and I developed an ignition issue shortly after. That nut being loose created a dusting of metal debris that I thought I thoroughly cleaned the chain case area, but I missed one thing, the crank position sensor! The sensor is basically a magnetic pulse coil. It had magnetically picked up metal debris and collected on the tip. The metal debris was disturbing the sensor air gap, and was not sending the correct info to the ECM... I simply pulled the sensor, wiped the debris off, and that Harley is still rolling to this day!
Just a thought, and very quick and easy fix if that's it...
Oh yeah, loved the ride along!
Thanks, the Cam Positioning Sensor is located on the other side of the engine, ( Rev Tech 88 ci) from the compensator nut. The cover to the CPS is sealed by rivets that have to be drilled out & replaced with special rivets is why I've left it alone up to this point, ( I'd have to buy special rivets & tool to replace or tap holes to accept small screw ). I've heard of the CPS going bad but I thought if that's it it'd miss fire all the time not just under a hard full throttle run.
Don't know if the engine has a fail safe system to shut down before damage to it? Doesn't have a typical ECM but does have Thunder Heart Electronic Ignition Control Unit, all warning lights show green. It only does it under a full throttle hard run, which is what the bike was built for LOL.
To me it sounds like the front cyclinder quits firing. If I stay in it then the bike just shuts down. If I back off & flip the switches off & on sometimes it'll re-fire, other times it just dies & will re-fire after stopping. I've check all the ignition wiring & switches thinking vibration causing kill switch to flip on or loose wires but didn't find anything. You know I can't just ride around at half throttle all day.
Sorry Robert, didn't realize the Rev Tech motors were using a cam position sensor as apposed to Harley's crank position sensor...
Going by the video, it sounded like an ignition breakdown. Which, as I'm sure you know, is under more of a load during acceleration and high rpm's. Heck, I've had a damn spark plug that looked fine cause a top-end misfire... But the fact that she shuts down for a bit, like in your video, seems to point at something else.
Do you have any electrical specs for the ignition system, such as resistance or peak voltage output for sensors, etc? Things like this can be tough to diagnose...
A bike that doesn't run WFO just isn't going to work for you! LOL So I hope the answer comes easy and comes quick! RSMF
no real specs, just basic info for unit & wiring diagram. I'm going to swap out plugs & plug wires as it may be something I can't see & go over the wiring again. I hate electrical problems as it could be anything as little as a pinched, frayed wire or bad unit, which is sealed & has warning lights but they all show green.
Yeah, electrical issues can make you loose sleep at night...! I hope it turns out to be something easy to find...
Thanks. I hope it's not to simple or then I feel really stupid. I'm getting at that age when I've forgotten half of what I knew & the other stuff I do remember is irrelevant
Please tell me you got this fixed and what the issue is. my bike is doing the exact same thing. I have a 1981 CB 900 C it runs amazing at first but after 15 minutes it starts doing the exact same thing your bike is doing any help would be much appreciated
I have a Suzuki Boulevard VZ800 with exactly the same problem, after 80Kmh, if you gun it, it sounds like it's starved for air or fuel. Hit the kill switch and half the time it resets and rights up with no problems until the next time, which can be 2 minutes later or next time I stop and start again.... what do these bikes have in common? Mine is fuel injected...
I'm having a similar issue on a 2002 road king. They guys around here think it could be an intake air leak in the throttle body.... thoughts?
A leak in the intake can cause slight problems like missing/stumbling or hesitation & poor performance but is usually easy to determine & fix if that's the problem. I found a lot of things went wrong about the same time and fixed them until I found out now my current problem has turned out to be the charging system slowly failing and needs to be replaced. The rotor, stator inside the primary case & voltage regulator. Sometimes it works until it gets hot and starts to loose charging causing the misfire at higher RPM. The wires finally melted going to the voltage regulator is how I found it because at idle & cool the problem didn't show on test if yours acts like mine this could be your problem and it only shows at higher RPM when hot running temp you get a drop in charging If so your battery will eventual draw down to nothing which I never let mine get that far before going back home. The idiot light never came on & I don't have a voltage gauge on the bike. Good luck I hope you get it sorted I'm having to wait as I had surgery on my shoulder last year & hand this year & can't work on it. ( Harley stators do go bad after about 5 yrs I've been told Never knew that before )
Same issue, 2002 Road King.
So what was the problem and what did you do to fix it
Common issue. When your gas level gets lower in your tank, the small leaks in the interior gas line will start to suck air. To make sure it's not something else, just verify by filling the tank and see if the issue repeats itself. Mine happens about 2 gallons into a ride.
yes you mean the bikes with FI that have the internal fuel pump in the tank? Those internal hoses will break & leave you stranded
This is an old school carb'd bike but you were close. Kreem gas tank sealer went bad and turned to like elmers glue and gunked up everything
2008 Harley FXSTB Night train was blowing ECM Fuse got it to stop blowing fuses but still has now Spark in front cylinder
Spark plugs cables / leads ? Connection. Maybe some.moisture in the fuel. I run an additive. Check.plugs /air cleaner. Possible timing?
i have a 06 dina lowrider with a stage one intake. I'm having the same issue every time my bike warms up out starts making a sound n out jerks. the shop replaced practically every thing and can't find what's going on. new wires gas tank new crank shift sensor new voltage regulator. new pistens. we are stumped on finding the problem.
sad I hope you get it figured out I'm currently dealing with a fried charging system & need to replace the stater
& regulator Then see if I still have a problem. So many things can go wrong and several at one time makes it difficult to diagnose & fix. It all has to wait now as i had to have surgery on my right hand & can't work on it
from posting your video did you ever find out why it was misfiring every time it would warm up
Not really I found lots of things that needed fixed, bad gas tank sealer clogging everything up, filter, fuel lines, carb. Loose or broken wires I've repaired, plugs cleaned, timing checked, new battery, bad charging system i still need to replace charging system but none of them got rid of the problem yet. If I still have the problem after fixing the fried charging system IDK what to check next as I've gone through everything I can think of. It seemed a lot went bad all at the same time & I've fixed or replaced most of all that. I may have to tear the bike down and redo it completely to find the problem?
Don't ow if you're checking the messages bit in frame 09:53 when you pass the pickup with the trailer you will notice his tie-down strap was on the ground very dangerous. Stay safe
i have a 2002 softail with a 100 ci revtech. doing the same shit. ive had the carb rebuilt, starter rebuilt, new voltage regulator and battery. still the sane. only happens when the bike gets hot. did you ever resilve this issue? any help would be a life saver.
no I still have the problem also thou I did get her running off & on. Everytime I find something wrong and fix it a couple weeks later something new pops up & it does it again. First I replaced my gas tank & fuel lines & rebuilt my carb because the gas tank sealer went bad and turned to elmers glue & clogged the fuel lines, petcock & carb. & she ran for about a month after that. then more problems. I found bad wiring twice replacing & repairing loose or broken/ burnt wires. Next I replaced a bad coil went out. The plugs & wires which were old. Got a new battery, checked timing ( good ) etc. Right now the voltage regulator, statar & rotor need to be replace because the last time I had her running the wires melted inside & out of the primary cases for the charging system, smoke & fire!. Like I said everytiime I fix one problem a new one pops up. It's not the RevTech engine or trans, ( yet ) but all the little electrical add ons, wiring & fuel system going bad from old age I guess. As soon as i heal up from hand surgery i plan to fix her charging system and hope that's it for awhile. I wish I could give you a simple answer or fix but I can't I hope yours isn't just falling apart or wearing out like mine appears to be. Mine did what you describe when the coil got hot & would quit working & I replace it. Maybe same for you? Good luck
Have to agree with Shawn. The first time sounded like the rev limiter. The last time sounded like something altogether different. I would check the timing first, and the cam positioner. The compensator nut as Shawn mentioned would be worth looking into also. Hopefully you will find it soon and let us know what the culprit was. Ride safe!
I don't know if my electronic ignition control unit has a rev limiter, it's not the typical ECM computer type, it didn't mention a rev limiter in paper work. It didn't use to do this. I used to be able to go full throttle a lot higher rpm's/mph before having to shift. It was built for Drag Strip racing even thou it looks like a cruiser.
gh
Excellent Info here! Great job Rob glad you got it right. Could be many things. coil, bad lifter gets weak when blasting it, check fuel pump pressure, wires? I have a similar problem on my FLHT but I feel your pain I like the video and your ride though. What do your magnets do exactly?
Mathos1 no reply icon to click on?
I still haven't figured it out. As of now I think I'll tear it down & go over all the fuel system & wiring again. Maybe I missed something the last time. Thankfully I've still got the Sportster 72 to ride while the Softail is down
my tech told me it could be your gas valve... air could get in very little but still get in...
well my 01 sporty has a petcock that needs vacuum for fuel to flow and i removed my tank to paint and saw a crack in the hose. before i bought it they rebuilt the carb and plugs ect. now it pulls great and hits harder. sometimes its the overlooked simple things that can give ya pain.
yea I've gone over all the obvious stuff I know myself like carb, hoses, wires, electrics, etc and fixed or replace lots of old looking stuff. Sometimes it would run great again for a while then act up. I never was able to pin point one problem that is the cause and still deal with intermentent problems I'm not giving up on her yet. maybe one of my future fixes will eliminate the problem? Thanks
Just a thought... check all connections on ignition with bike warm and running. Look for high resistance on coil and spark plug wires and any primary wiring at connectors. Compare to cold bike with ignition on but not running. I'd also check that kill switch closely.
Slight correction... check voltage - key on... check resistance - key off.
Sorry my bad!
Thanks for the suggestions
What was it? How did you solve the problem?
I have the same...
it was actually several things went wrong all about the same time or right after each problem was fixed & yes it's finally fixed for a while anyways I think. 1st the Kreem gas tank sealer went bad & turned to elmers glue clogging up the fuel lines petcock & carb. I had to replace the gas tank, lines etc. as I couldn't get all the goop out & rebuild carb. 2cd some wires had come loose, broke, etc so I went over all the wiring & redid what I found bad. That took time & was a pain. 3rd the charging system went bad and finally did a melt down of the plugs & wires coming out of the primary case. I had to replace the voltage regulator, stator & rotor inside the cases. 4th the coil was going bad & finally died & had to be replaced. It would stop working when it got hot. Last but not least the electronic ignition module in the nose cone was failing when it got hot also. It seems all these things happened right about the same time or as I fixed one problem another popped up. The bike is 17 yrs old now & most of these things usually go out in the first 5 years, ( I hear ) so I guess I'm lucky it lasted as long as it did before experiencing all this crap.Thanks for asking If you're experiencing similar issues just be aware the charging system, coil, electronic ign may all test fine on the rack but then fail out on the road when they get hot. Made it difficult to find & fix the problem until they finally died completely.
Robert Robb Sr. In my case, perhaps the problem was in the fuel pressure. I found that the hose between the tank and the efi flows when it was touched lightly.
I'm going to fix it and check it out on the road.
Okay, going through your posts and replies. This was the answer? How long before each thing "got hot" and failed on the road? 5 miles? 50 miles? Mine is around 30-50 miles before it acts up
@@semperoccultus1969 30-50 miles is my case. issues got worse the longer I road it until something finally shuts down the bike for good.
@@johnlabello919 Over the years, I've had to have failures in order to diagnose and repair. Also, the local HD dealer helped me with spotting things. Hope you get it figured out.
My 2002 AIH Texas chopper will backfire through the exhaust several times then the bike's electrical power/system goes completely out. The bike just dies out, with no electrical power whatsoever. The Last time it had to be towed to the shop. This time once I pull over to the side of the road, turn the key to the off position then back on and the electrical system is restored and I'm back on the road until the next episode happens. It happens at any speed. Accelerating is or at cruising highway speeds. I thought my problem was solved after finding a loose wire going to my starter broke off. I also replaced the old ultima carberator with an S&S "G" carb but it still spits or hiccups and backfires through the exhaust. It almost seems like the engine misfire for a nanosecond disguising itself as a brief backfire. There seems to be a direct correlation between backfiring several times while accelerating hard and the electrical system going completely out at the same time. Any ideas? All-new thick/firm fuel lines were installed since old fuel lines collapsed under too much vacuum. Oh, and the longer I ride the bike throughout the day the worse the issue gets, and more frequent the episodes happen. I'm thinking the crank case poisoning sensor needs to be replaced. Any thoughts or ideas?
Check your fuel line. Could be a dirty fuel filter/ fuel delivery. Had a similar problem on another type of bike I had before.
+igoogle yo Thanks for commenting I discovered some junk in the carb clogging jets. I ran some Sea Foam thru several tanks of gas and all is good now
Bpd? Bakersfield?
What was the issue I have the same problem
The tune, screaming eagle tuners dont fine tune so you get sporadic throttle results
try the cank position sensor,my sportster did the same thing when it got up to operating temperature
what was the problem?
anything & everything that could go wrong with a bike that old went wrong with it mostly electrical failures
Same issue with my 2008 Soft tail Night train still chasing it
Same problem 02 sportster
Sounds like it needs to be tuned.. I put a race tuner on mine and have not had any more issues.. You may want to try that..
this is a pre FI carb'd bike it doesn't use a tuner or computer but thanks anyways for commenting.
air/ fuel mishap , intake or carb is shitty, hell maybe the coil who knows , its a Harley bro. I love my them, but ya need a to be a mechanic to often. That's why I lean towards my Vmax when I just want to put gas in her and cruise brother.
Dude it really sounds like you're hitting the rev limiter. I've NEVER done or felt the need to do 60 in 3rd. I wind 4th gear up to 60 and then hit 5th. This should apply to you even more because don't you have a 6 speed? If that's the case, your 3rd gear is even lower than mine. Though I can not explain why the bike would die. That just adds whole nuther complications. If the bike is electrically dying and you're using the kill switch to bring it back to life, sounds like an electrical issue somewhere, but not sensor/timing related.
Yes, I agree it sounds like an electrical issue. I've gone over all the wiring looking for loose or shorts etc. everything looks good, but looks can be deceiving. At this point I'm afraid my next option is to tear it down & re-do the wiring.
The bike was built for speed,( racing) even thou it looks like a cruiser. It's a Rev Tech 88ci / 88 hp w/ Rev Tech 5 spd. I used to be able to shift into 4th at 70/80 mph, no problem, & take it to 100 before hitting 5th, which is my limit before having to go home and change my shorts.
I guess I could go buy a Sport Liter Bike & just run around at half throttle on this one
Robert Robb
RevTech all around huh? Very nice ride. Well my gearing experience is of no help then, LOL. I hope you find the problem and it's just something small that got missed easily. That bike sounds so sweet.
Thanks, I took her out again today and just cruised under half throttle all day with out a hic cup at least that'll keep me out of trouble
That's good to hear. With a performance 88 like yours, it's not hard to get out of your own way even using just half throttle :-)
88RunningRich The hardest part is just cruise'n & not cracking that throttle wide open, which is loads of fun
fuel idle mixture screw, turn it out some, mine did the exact same thing.
Mine turned out that gas tank sealer ( Kreem ) went bad turned to glue and clooged the carb gas lines etc I had to replace tank, lines & clean carb & petcock Thanks
I am having the same issue with my 94 softail. What ended up being the problem? Fix? Thank you.
ended up having several issues, from kreem tank sealer going bad and clogging fuel filter, lines & carb, to charging system frying the voltage regulator & stator, to wires breaking from vibration. I'm still working to repair everything as it gets older more stuff goes wrong. I had to replace gas tank, fuel lines, re-build carb, re-wire some of the bike, the rotor, stator & voltage regulator are next to be replaced as soon as I get the time.Hopefully nothing else goes wrong
Dan Schuyler. hey did you get yours straightened out?
brickson98 MotovlogsAndGames if my bike doesn't shake itself apart going down the road then I dont want it
@@dawnrobb8809 I have the same issues on a carbureted 2000 FXDX added fuel line to the positive charge wire from voltage regulator all the way to the battery (wire is now inside a fuel line aft replacing 2 regulators in 2 yrs). Still I have not found reason for intermittent mis fire, completely tore down carb cleaned and rebuilt, reset jetting and still have this issue in your video. Of course when I take it to the shop no problems jml.
check your ignition module sensor on your timing plate
Did I ever find out what it was
Double check your coil..If u checked your fuel pump ,filter and fuel regulator the look at the fuel hoses inside the tank .maybe one of them has a Crack or pin hole in it.. Other then that pull your injectors to see if there Clean...If all check out to be good the I would would say double chest recoil
Idle cotton valve
Too many damn cops in that town! .. Your taxes must be rediculous! I live in a town with a population of about 15,000 and we have ONE resident State Trooper!! It's one of the reasons I don't want to leave here! Nobody bothers me and pretty much every house here in town has at least one acre of land so I don't have to worry about neighbors!! ... Maybe a bad condenser or timing is out?
LOL It does seems like we've got a lot, could be because so many BPD, Sheriffs & CHP live in the same area of town as I do. I've got 6 in my neighborhood I know of and many more in the neighboring housing tracts
fivefootsixtriumph robb is retired Leo
I think he got fucked up in line of duty but don't quote me / typical Kern county motor head .
I'm not experienced with Harley's much. but listen to the vid it does sound like fuel or a spark plug breaking down on load.
Yep, checked those several times already thinking I might be missing something but thanks for your input, I appreciate it
My first ride on a Harley, I always wondered what it was like to roar down the road on one
I have the same problem but then it was on one cylinder then dead so I thought it was a spark plug nope and so now I’m going to check the injectors
If you have a non standard exhaust it may be not enough back pressure which means it needs baffles or you need jetting in my non pro opinion , I had to put my baffle back in cos it ran worse with it out on the bandit.
It was originally built/ jetted for racing with straight throu drag pipes & has ran fine for 12 yrs before this. I wish it was such an easy fix, Thanks
Yup recognized coffee and calloway lol
IDK, My Hog has the same shit and I'm not a happy camper.
If it is fuel injected clean the throttle position sencor with some carb and choke cleaner
I was having a miss on a long road trip and that is what it turned out to be.
Paranoid man, over here in Connecticut the po po just don't bother bikers, only rice rocket organ donors, eeek
gggg
Check ignitiom coil i sure it cause misfire. It happened to me
Thanks! I replaced it already. It was bad along with a burnt up voltage regulator & weak stator & bad coil wire connections. I found something sketchy with everything I've checked. I guess it all decided to go bad all at the same time? I still have the electronic ignition to swap out and I'll have replaced every thing electrical it could've been. I've got it running several times for 10 minutes or so only to loose spark again. It could be something I already replaced failing again. I guess I'll have to give in and take it to a shop & admit my defeat for now as soon as I get well enough but I'm currently battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer & can't do much
carburator or fuel injector just check up.
Robert Robb Sr. Well I’m so sorry to hear of your health issues. Keep up the good fight. I’ll keep you in my prayers and hope you have many good years of riding ahead of you. ✌🏼
thank you I tried new coil & wires = no change, I've replaced everything except electronic ignition so I guess that's next if I don't run out of time before then
Robert Robb Sr. check timing gear and chain.
ignition coil or fuel pump bro.