04 Softail fuel injected. I picked up a tank of gas and that evening my bike died at a red light. First time it had ever done that. Quit a couple more time before I started catching it before it died. Would run with the throttle crack open for some more rpm. Got to running great by the 3rd tank of gas. Before it did I almost replaced the fuel filter since all had been tuned up a few hundred miles back. I assumed the stopped up filter would affect top end but dealer told me the first thing it would do is affect idle since the idle system in a FI bike is computer controlled and it would have trouble with the trim. However we have 10% ethanol which will absorb any small amount of water. It was a water problem with my bike and 5 days after I got the fuel the gas station was digging up his tanks.

 

Water and gas do not mix...gas will stay in suspension if constantly agitated but settles out to bottom of container very quickly...overnight is plenty. Try to siphon from lowest point first into a clear container (GLASS) and you should be able to see difference easily between gas and water almost immediately. If you pull out most of the water you can it will make getting back to 100% gas much faster. If water is not visible then problem is something else such as a plug. Since BP has a refinery very near you it is entirely possible it was actually gas made by BP but problem is storage at station when water is involved regardless of brand.

Of course since it is Chicago maybe they are using water at that station to enhance profit per gallon. But that is for the political and open section of the forum. John

 

could be water, might also add some gas dryer, happened to me once last summer.


Our BP here started adding 10% ethonal last yr at the same price as always, I haven't
bought there since.

 

Another thing to consider is to check your battery. Last year my bike had same symptoms as yours and I thought it was bad fuel. Turned out to be a dead cell in battery. Voltmeter showed correct voltage but when put under a load test battery showed significant drop in voltage.

 

Yet another option to consider...

I had the same symptoms as you... I tried a few things from the forum and it seemed to help. There is an idle air controller (iac) its on the top/top left of the throttle body and before the butterfly. Sprayed some throttle body cleaner there when the bike was off. The breather tubes will put oil up there and cause it to stick and build up and the idle will be weird.

But that didnt totally fix my prolem, it did make it better though. Took it to harley dealer and the looked it over, only thing they would was the battery bolts were a little loose, wasnt when i took it in, but right after the test ride they were loosened. After that, no problem. A little loctite to keep em that way... Does your lights and spedo lights shut off when it dies???

 

And why would you punish the independent owners of a company who employ local people. Each independent owner is NOT a BP employee, When you boycott a business or a string of businesses the only thing you are doing is hurting the local economy.

Now-a-days gas and water will mix, the binding agent is ethanol, unless the OP has a a lot of water in his fuel (more than the ethanol can absorb) the water will not be visible. If you take a small amount of gas and pour it into an open air container and just sit back and watch it for say 5 minutes, you will see that it will even absorb the moisture from the air (humidity).
To the OP, try running some marine sta-bil add go head and refill the tank to dilute the water even further.

 

[QUOTE=dope_man_21;6837605]And why would you punish the independent owners of a company who employ local people. Each independent owner is NOT a BP employee, When you boycott a business or a string of businesses the only thing you are doing is hurting the local economy.


While I do understand what you're saying, the bottom line is that the final dollars go to BP..if these independent owners see the economy dipping because their sales are low...they should seek to provide a different fuel brand...Ask the people in Louisiana if they are purchasing BP fuel...I'm sure they will have a few choice words for ya!!!..JMO

 

Okay, so just don't buy your gas from BP, might as well boycott all of the other brands that import the oil from Iraq or Iran, because the must support the taliban. The bottom line is that no matter where you shop, IF you look hard enough you can find some reason that you should boycott them as well, and people wonder why the economy is in such bad shape.

 

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. Due to my work schedule I won't get to mess with it until Saturday. I'll update once she's 100% again.

Thanks again!

 

Did you miss ---However we have 10% ethanol which will absorb any small amount of water. Ethanol is alcohol which is what commercial gas dry that you buy at the auto store is. What I did not realize is ethanol is not in all gas. It is here on the East Coast. To better state my statement--

Two bits of info first... you need them to understand what I'm going to explain.
Polar - an uneven distribution or separation of electrical charges. Polar molecules have discrete areas that have different charges as in (+)'s and (-)'s.
Non polar molecules will exhibit a much more even or symmetrical distribution of charges with no region of the molecule being more (+) or (-).
There's a saying... "like dissolves like". What it means actually is that the polarity or lack thereof of a solute must be similar to a solvents' if it is to soluble. So... table sugar, sucrose, is polar. It dissolves well in water because water is also polar. Substances like gasoline, vegetable oil etc are non polar. That's why your vinaigrette salad dressing always separates after shaking. The vinegar, mostly water and some acetic acid, is polar and the oil is non polar. Remember like dissolves like. So... When you look at the structure of ethanol, the hydrocarbon region of the molecule, the C's and H's are very non polar BUT! the hydroxyl, the OH group is polar so ethanol contains BOTH non polar and polar regions. This enables it to dissolve in both polar (water) and non polar (petrol) solvents. Ethanol in other words is slightly polar and slightly non polar.