I’ve recently been given an XLH 1000 that sat for many years. Slowly rebuilding, new tires, brakes, fuel tank, re wired ignition & main harness, new battery, points, condenser, set timing and it was rumbling great. It was sitting idling and then….completely shut off. Now, nothing. No turning over, no lighting, just dead. It’s been a sad day for me. Checked wiring, everything seems tight. Could it be the ignition or lighting circuit breaker or the starter relay? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance

 

Check bat charge,did you flash the regulator to polarize?

 

Full charge on Battery, no to flash the regulator. What is the purpose of that? Strange that it was running, then stopped, and now nothing. I’ll pull battery and research how to flash the regulator. I’m not a mechanic, just love tinkering. Where is the regulator on this thing?

 

there are three circuit breakers
main
lights
ignition
there is a buss bar that is common from the main to the other two.
points are ok if you like maintenance but i run the compu-fire system on my 74ch since 1975 with nearly 200k miles on it. no bells and whistles just scoot to redline 7.5k rpm. it uses the mechanical adv so you will have to keep it. the other option is an untima system with bells and whistles and you swap the mechanical adv for a timing cup.
a fsm is a must.

 

I’ve been researching electronic ignitions, but really have quite a bit of work to get the old girl on the road. Now with it shutting off and getting nothing. It doesn’t turn over, click or anything. Still trying to figure out and what to check now! Thanks for the replies!!

 

if the battery is good and you have nothing, first suspect is the grounding point. the main ground off the battery is tied to the frame below the box. there is an instrumentation ground below the terminal strip under the bracket that holds the headlight to the forks and is in the middle of the lower tree.
pm me and i can send you a file if i have an address.
as a tip, i used a bonding strap for the main ground, easier than a stiff cable.
https://brillman.com/product/4-gauge...bonding-strap/

example of the strap. you can get covered but not necessary and even in chrome plating.

 

You rewired the ignition and main harness. I'm betting you have a connection that popped loose. Go back over everything you did and check each connection. Also check the kill switch on the handlebars with a voltmeter. I hope you didn't buy one of those prewired wiring harnesses from Vtwin or somewhere else. They are the worst. If you did and it had the kill switch prewired on it there is a good chance it's bad. Also, if your wiring runs through the handlebars check real carefully for a cut wire or short where it comes out.

I was trucking down the road on my ironhead years ago and it was running like a swiss watch. Then instantly it just shut off at 60 mph and all is silent as the grave. About the time I could say WTF? it went back to running again. I never did figure out what caused that.

You are currently in the fuel injection section of the forum. Repost this issue in the ironhead section. Some very knowledgeable guys over there.


carl