Today was a great day to go for a ride on my new to me 05 FXSTI (less than 6000 miles on it), so I did. Now the "fun" begins. I got about 70 miles from home on a ride to Austin this afternoon and I notice that the bike seemed to be lunging when I let of of the throttle, with to or three backfires through the exhaust. Not your usual decel popping, but more like a shotgun being fired. Once I got into a town and slowed down so I could hear over the wind noise, I could tell the engine was misfiring. Well, I guess I got bad gas. So I found an Autozone and bought some Seafoam and dumped a little in the gas tank.

I left Autozone in Georgetown heading toward home and stopped for gas about 15 miles later, engine still missing. I filled the tank and turned the switch on and hit the starter button and it made a quick grunt, for lack of a better word and everything went dead. No electrical anything. So much for the bad gas.

Since I didn't bring any tools with me, I couldn't even remove the seat, since the screw is an allen instead of the usual thumb screw, I wasn't able to check anything while I was stranded at the gas station. So much for the towing with my HOG membership or my roadside assistance with my insurance, since it was after 5PM on a Saturday and the nearest Harley shop was closed for the weekend, and I wasn't about to let it spend the rest of the weekend sitting outside the dealer for 2 days. So I called my friend and next door neighbor and he gets my pickup truck and trailer and he drives 100+ miles and picks me and the bike up.

Keep in mind, I haven't had a chance to take a look at anything yet, but has anyone had something like this happen to them? I'm wondering if it was something as simple as a battery cable that came loose. Or, with my luck the stator fried. Hopefully, I will find out tomorrow when I get the bike off of the trailer and in the garage. Is there any way to test the voltage regulator to see if it's bad? I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow to find out. That is all, rant over.

 

I just bought my first Harley 03 FLHTCUI, and it is sitting in storage while the snow melts. So no expert on Harleys. But this is exactly how my Kawasaki VN750 ran when it needed a new battery. Putting turn signal on drew enough voltage that it killed engine. New YUASA gel battery and I was GTG. Good luck.

 

Yep, check the connections ( a loose connection will draw power, but won't replace it,)and how charged up the battery is first. I lost my charging system halfway to work one day and limped it as far as it would go. Missing/backfiring, then nothing.
Hope its nothing serious...

 

That's where I would start too. Check for a shorted battery ,or a loose connection.

 

It sucks to be stranded like that. That's why I tend to buy new vehicles, less chance of that happening. I have been stranded many time before in my youth (could not afford new then) and it sucked every time! I hope the issue is something that is a cheap and easy fix. I would be willing to bet you change out those seat screws for thumb screws or carry basic tools around with you from now on. Let us know what the problem ends up being. GL!

 

Been there done that at 4:00 A.M. on a Sunday morning.

Check the master fuse and the accessory fuse.

 

Can't help with your bike problem and sorry about your misfortune, but H-D dealers in the U.S. are closed on weekends??? That baffles my mind! No wonder they aren't doing so well. I would think that most of their business would be done on the weekend. Here in Japan, they are open ALL weekend, usually until around 7pm and then take their day off on slow days such as, a Monday. That's weird. Just saying...

 

Work easy to hard. Connections, battery load test (Autozone), stator short last. There is a way to test a stator which I believe is a simple ohm meter test. It has been 4 years since I last tested and ended up replacing a stator on a bike. I would have to look it up and read the manual again on how to do that.

I would probably go through the ignition system thoroughly before digging into the stator as a suspect also.

Had a flat 2 years ago and our dealer is closed after Sat eve until Monday also. (non-repairable screw in sidewall and carry tire warranty) HOG towed it to my house and then I rented a u-haul trailer on Monday.

 

Before the economy tanked the dealer here was open 7 days a week. Now they are closed on Mon. The service department is closed Sun and Mon.
Hope it turns out to be a simple fix for you.

 

The same thing happened to my wifes sportster 2 years ago . The voltage regulator **** the bed and killed the battery. Check the regulator first.