Ran it all day Sunday without a problem. Did a run that started at Heritage HD, so I picked up a new voltage regulator & battery while I was there. I figured, if the bike did croak again, I'd at least have what I needed to fix it up and get it going again.

Now I'm not sure what the deal is... but, I'll go ahead and throw the new stuff on anyway.


Yeah... E.J.'s will definitely be on my regular stops list. We like to hang out at Fat Daddyz in Seneca. Just this weekend, someone told me it's a HA's hangout. Never seen a patched HA there. I thought this was pretty much all Outlaw country.

Closer to home, we regularly hit Double J (on Essington in Joliet), or Chaos (on Renwick, just east of Weber - might be Bolingbrook)

 

Yeah... we went right through the middle of it on our run Saturday. This is the first year, in a long time, we didn't actually go.

 

I've been going to EJ Karz for over 20 years- even back in the 80's when it was Rita Mae's. Swede and Rae are good folks.

As far as Fatdaddyz goes- excellent bar also. The original owner Rusty (RIP) was a friend of mine. Mike does a great job with it these days. Never saw an HA there, just Iron Dogs and Outlaws.

Glad you got the help you needed.

 

Let us know if you ever find the real problem for sure with your bike....sounds like a cable, connection, ground something...

 

What you experienced was a group of real bikers who never leave anyone on the road and stop whenever they see anyone on the road. Folks like that are getting more and more rare these days. Of Course, the number of folks who can actually wrench on their bikes is getting rarer too.

Best of luck with your electrical problem....I traded mine
Bubba

 

Update on whatever the problem is/was with my bike.

I replaced the voltage regulator and battery. The stator checks out fine with a multimeter. Before replacing the voltage regulator & battery, with the bike at idle, I was getting about 13.7 at the battery. With the new voltage regulator, I get 14.8.

I rode about 40 miles in the rain today. Near my house, I ended up sitting through about 4 traffic light cycles due to construction, so the bike was idling for a good while. Shortly before I finally got to finally go, my check engine light came on. I revved up the bike, the light went off, and I made it home without any further issue.

Dunno... gonna check to see if it's throwing a code - as soon as I figure out how to do that.

 

When ever you are having a problem always check the basic things first like grounds and connections at each end. Saves a lot of problems because most of the times it is the simple things. Ground connections on bikes is a very frequent problem. It is a good idea before going into winter storage to disconnect them and shine them up and reconnect solidly.

Great post! I am a little further away but I may try to go to EJ's.

 

Electrical problems can be a biotch. I would definately check your grounds, and not just for tightness. Sometimes they look ok, but have currosion bult up between the frame and the connectors. If you havn't already, unhook all the wires from the main ground stud on the frame and buff the stud and the area around it with a wire brush. Buff the connectors too if they are dirty or curroded. Then hook everything back up and give it a try.

 

Excellent point. In the process of putting the new parts on, I did notice some corrosion on some of the terminals. Cleaned them up with a wire brush. ...but didn't think far enough ahead of that to do the same for ALL the connections. I'll hit them this weekend.

My bike must be getting to be about that age. I noticed my throttle cable needs to be replaced. When I turn the bars far enough to the right, it kinks and the insulation is trashed in that spot. I could probably ride with it like that without a problem (Not like I turn the bars to full lock when I'm doing 60)... but, I prefer to replace it BEFORE it breaks. I'll go ahead and replace the idle cable as well, just to be on the safe side. They're cheap.

Might go with the braided cables, but, if I do, I'd feel like I had to go with braided on the clutch cable too.

 

Your problem sounds very similar to one I fought all summer. I did all of the grounds, voltage regulator, battery and could never find the problem. The one wire I never checked was the stator wire, there was my problem, a very tiny hole had warn into the insullation and whould cause it to short. Spliced the wires and put on a shrink insulator and haven't had a problem since. Hope this helps.