Hey guys. Well, tonight I went riding with some friends From Tampa, FL to St. Pete, FL for a bike night at a bar/burger joint. It was a good ride but it didnt start good and didnt end good. For starters I went to go get gas and my kickstand broke off at the bend. No biggie, it still works and I can fix it. Then on the way back over the Courtney Campbell Causeway I hit a pothole, the pothole wasnt huge but it was very noticeable. The main thing I noticed is that the bike died, I tried starting it up again several time but we ended up having to go get a truck and trailer my bike home. I assume something was knocked loose. I got power, I got gas, but no spark. I am bummed to say the least but I was hoping you guys might have some suggestions so I can get back riding asap. Anyone have an idea? This ever happen to any of you guys?

 

So you have power? But no spark I am guessing you pulled the plug and checked to see if you had spark is that how you checked? Cause I would possibly say you knocked something loose in your charging system maybe the voltage reg or something with the stator. But you are getting Power right?

 

Correct. I pulled the plug wires and tested for spark but there was none. I have power and the bike tries tries to start but Im just not getting spark.

 

I had the same thing happen to me 2 years ago, turns out the power commander I had went bad ( allegedly ), I had spark on the front cylinder only. I checked everything I could and hauled it to the dealer and the tech removed the PC and the bike fired right up ( allegedly ). If you have a tuner on it you might try that, worth a shot.

 

My wife hit a pothole on her Softail and the bike just died..I pulled the seat off and the power commander that was jammed under the seat was crunched..Even if you dont run a power commander,I would check under the seat..If you happened to be at Biff Burger and ate one of those huge burgers,,That would cause this to happen..LOL

 

Lol. I was in fact at Biff Burger. I didnt eat though, and I dont have a power commander. My bike is carburated . I looked under the seat and as soon as It happened it I realized it wasnt going to start but couldnt find anything pinched. When we unloaded the bike off the trailer it gave the bike a good bump. So for sh*ts-n-giggles I tried to start it again. But I got nothing however I was told they saw a spark near the rear fender/starter area. I did not see it and I was standing around it. But I believe they seen it. So I guess im in for a lot of trouble shooting today.

 

Well this is an on going issue. I was told to check the Crankshaft Position Sensor and the Bank Angle Sensor...but I have to go buy a voltmeter....well today as I was getting ready for that. I had disconnected the battery for 30 mins to see if the sensors would reset(worked on an old car of mine)...well I hooked the battery back up and tried to start the bike..now my starter just clicks.....Only thing i could think is the battery is low but it doesnt make much sense.

 

Well i think I may have found the culprit. I found an exposed piece of wire on Crank Position Sensor right behind the starter. However my battery died so I have to wait and let it get done on the trickle charger before I can test anything. The sensor probably will have to be replaced now wont it? I doubt a simple tape up will get me by until then. Anyone else had problems with the sensor getting stripped?

 

Well when I had my sportster, pretty much the same thing happened to me. I had power and when I got back and found I had no spark. I check the spark plug wire and it actually seperated from the connector on the coil. So pretty much my coil wire broke. Check that as well.

 

Eureka! My bike is running again. It was in fact the stripped Crank Sensor wire. Sounded like **** when i first started it. But i guess three days of sitting around without being started the oil had all drained to the bottom. But its good now. Leaving the battery on the trickle charger tonight because it was still low. But anyways, if you happen to hit a pothole look at the tightly tucked wires between the frame and starter. Thanks for the help guys.