Mr 2002 Road King died last nite while I was riding, it just went dead, went out today and it started right up, took it down the street, no problem, but i'm afraid to take it any where fearing this will happen again.
It was dark, I had my bright lights on, last nite.
what could be the problem?

 

In the early twin cam dresser family they had some issues with the bank angle sensors. The bank angle sensor will kill the bike if it is tilted too far from the vertical. That was only one issue though. I had one that would die when you let off the throttle, like coming to a stop at a traffic signal, but would crank right up. I noticed that when I keyed the cb mic...my engine warning light would come on, but it would still run. That eventually turned out to be a defective barometric pressure sensor. When the RF from the cb hit it...it went nuts.

It could be any number of things from a loose wire to some sensor. Did it start right back up last night after it died, or were you lucky enough to have it die while coming down your driveway?

 

What are the details of when it died? At idle, up to speed in ? gear, hot, cold. Did the head lights go out, etc...?

Could be the keyed ignition switch if everything went dead. Could be the crank position sensor is intermittent, could be the main breaker.

 

I would update the Main Breaker. Very easy change out. Had the same problem with my 2003 Ultra Classic. Some riders relocate the breaker away from the rear pipe. Good luck.........

 

I had my 7 year old kid on the back it was on a dark county road, and I was downshifting, to turn left when it died, tried to start it, it was dead as dead could be, but I had a little dim headlight, but that is it. Today, she acts like my former girlfriend, who use to freakout on a date, then act if nothing happened the next day.

 

Dim headlight rules out faulty breaker. Sounds like a loose ground wire. Good luck, another member may have a suggestion or two.

 

Could be a loose wire on or to the battery. Several other things come to mind.

- how old is the battery?
- do you use a battery tender?
- if you don't use a battery tender, what about long periods with out riding?
- was this or many times leading up to this in the past, very short rides?

With out a tender, the battery will not be topped off with charge. When you take multiple short trips, that don't give the battery enough time to get a better charge then what it took to overcome the non-riding (dead time) and then the start up for this present time. The battery still has juice so to speak just not getting a full up charge.

Several times of short runs in traffic, will not get it charged with out going out on open roads with out stops for a while.

I would take the battery out, get it tested. If you can catch it quick enough, it may just need a good charging. If not the battery may be on the way out.

Even if you don't get anything but a fresh charge on the battery and your not presently using a tender. It might be a good time to get one and start.

 

Now we are getting closer and can likely rule out the sensor problems I had mentioned. From your initial post, I had just assumed it had died only but now it sounds like a major electrical problem like the other guys are talking about. Could be anything from a major temporary short, loose cables, loose main ground or even a battery shorting out internally. If the battery has any age on it...like 2+ years, get a new one and go over all the connections to make sure they are good and make sure the positive side is not rubbing on the frame somewhere and this would include the wiring up to the voltage regulator, etc. I don't argue with the possibility of the main circuit breaker, but since you have a "dim" light, it doesn't sound like a total open circuit. Make sure you tighten the main ground that is attached to the top starter mounting bolt. Take it off, clean all that up and tighten it down.

 

its a nice sunny day today, I'll check the battery and the cables
The battery is 4 months old, and it is the expensive one too!
started again today without any problems

 

battery was pretty tight, but I tightened it till it was real snug, without hurting anything