| Author | Message | ||
     Terrible1one3 |
Last week I left Tuesday night went up to Ludington, the next morning across lake Michigan (car ferry, 87 bucks!), up to Houghton, then copper harbor, pictured rocks, Traverse City then home Saturday morning. Me 5 Harleys and a CBR. Parked the bike till today, Wednesday. Hopped on to go ride with my friend who got his title back from his smashed bike yesterday and 15 out of the 30 miles the engine light comes on. I knew I should have turned around but instead I figured the mechanics were all good it could just be an electrical gremlin popping up and it wouldn't be a problem. I kept going, whoops. Bike started sputtering hard 5 miles down the road. By the time the battery was completely drained from what I believe was a failure in the charging system I had the thing pinned and pretty much surging on compression detonation. Not smart but too much traffic and not enough shoulder to stop. Had to get to the next exit. Checked the fuses, all good, checked battery terminals. Positive was borderline loose. I tightened it up and boom it had enough juice to run (had to push start). Knew the terminal wasn't the problem and that ended up being proven by it dying in about 2 minutes. So I'm pretty sure it is my stator that is dead, very well could have killed my battery and regulator also. Bike was purchased in August new from the dealer. Just turned 8300 miles. Oh well, glad I sold my dirt bike yesterday, and my mountain bike is still out of commission because of some really hard to get axle nuts, M10 x 1.00 pitch (not even mid state bolt and screw has them in stock). So I am stuck for the first time since I can remember without 2 wheels to cruise on. And the weather is amazing here in MI. I'm a sad panda. Good report with pics at http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4812101#post4812101 (Message edited by terrible1one3 on June 20, 2007) | ||
| Rays |
Michael, it may well be stator or regulator but it would be well worth checking the female connector where the output of the regulator plugs in. I had the exact issue with my '06 at about 19,000km and had to trailer a bike home for the first time in many years. The dealer couldn't find the problem at the time but I tracked it down a few weeks later and after removing each female socket, cleaning it and re-forming it to have a nice tight fit with the male regulator pins the charging system worked reliably again. That was 10 months and 19,500km ago and I have not had another problem. There was another Uly who had the same issue (Lowflyer I think). If you need more details on exactly where to look and how to remove the pins etc PM me. All I can say is don't lose faith - I was cranky with the bike at the time but in 38,500km that was the only time it has let me down. All has been forgiven long ago.  | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
I havn't lost faith. First bike to leave me stranded but after about 50 some thousand miles on bikes (I'm 22) it was bound to happen. Still love the bike, hope it's simple and I get it back from Brighton Harley and Buell fast! | ||
| Pso |
Rays-How about posting on the board the explicit directions of what to do? Curious minds want to know. thanks | ||
| Lowflyer |
Check the connector between VR and stator. That is a weak link. Connector sockets get too big for the pins. Happened to me at 8k. Squeezed sockets gently with pliers worked like a charm. 15k now. | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
Battery took a dump. Must have popped a cell or something but the stator regulator wasn't enough to keep up the slack lost by the battery. Easy fix, they warrantied it, Bike is 11 months old, and was bought after sitting at the dealership for almost the same amount of time (hard to sell something in the back store room). All in all good deal no charging failure just freak battery failure, such as life! | ||
| Florida_lime |
I've had a relatively new battery short out internally (on a different bike) before, and it acted like you described. I didn't think to mention the possibility, what with the other more common problem areas.  | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
I've had it happen before too but it was after a storage within the first week so it didn't even cross my mind. | ||
| Jammin_joules |
Ah, Copper Harbor. You rode past where I spent five years of my life, US-41 in Houghton, attending Michigan Tech. I have been back many times since graduation, but not yet on my Uly. |
