Okay, here goes. '02 FLSTF carburetor & security system. The last two rides the speedometer goes to zero and the odometer pulses with the turn signal. This seemed to happen after about ten miles. I couldn't repeat the problem with it running in the garage. Didn't seem to be any ill effects with this. This afternoon my wife and I were going for a ride and I start checking the turn signals out after leaving the driveway, no problem. About a half mile down the road, still in the subdivsion, the thing starts to misfire, pop, jerk, and damn near died but didn't. This time it happened without the turn signals going. First thought was that I was out of fuel so I reached down and switched to reserve. Started doing it again about 10 seconds later. All of this is at less than 30mph by the way. Anyway, I turned around at the first opportunity and headed back to the garage. My wife just looked at me kind of funny as I passed her going back the other way. I fought it all the way back home but again could not get the problem to repeat in the garage. The thing idles fine. Revs fine. Battery seems fine. Reading about 12.7 after a couple of days sitting and about 13.5 at idle. Is this one of those infamous voltage regulator problems? This time the speedometer went to zero and the odometer was blank while it was acting up. The engine light was on briefly right before it almost died but does not stay on for any length of time. I have no turn signal flashes when the iginition is first turned on. This one seems like a real doozie. And I was going to ride tomorrow, too. Nuts. [:@] Any ideas besides take the wife's Honda? [:'(] Thanks in advance.

jmb

 

Mike

Take a look here and see if it helps you out

https://www.hdforums.com/m_75918/tm.htm

https://www.hdforums.com/m_93482/tm.htm

 

Bill,

First and foremost thanks for staying! This forum would have suffered greatly losing you as a member.

On to the problem at hand .... I didn't even consider a speed sensor as I still am having trouble figuring out what would affect both ignition (fire) and electrical (speedometer/odometer) at the same time. Fuel starvation/bad gas would only affect the engine. Timing, cam/crank sensor would only affect the engine. I read some of the older threads with other problems and it looks like the main breaker could be a possibility. Could even be a bad ground somewhere. (I've seen some funny things happen to race cars with bad grounds.) I've got an extended warranty, but I don't trust this thing to get me out of the subdivision (1 mile) let alone going to a dealer (30 miles). Anyway, I'm almost tempted to just go buy a new main breaker and see what happens. Since I've got what amounts to two systems going bad at the same time, I'm leaning toward some kind of "magic" module. It acts like a fuel pump going out (had one of those go out in our minivan), but that is inconsistent with the simultaneous speedo/odometer problems. We had a body control module (BCM) go bad in that van also and weird things were happening when it acted up -- wipers working on their own, etc. Oh, I recently put these wires on the thing,

http://www.jpcycles.com/ProductDetai...380-932&cs=All

the Sterling Chromite set from J&P cycles, but I would not expect bad wires to cause problems with the electrical system just the engine misfiring and such. Right now I'm at a loss except to start throwing parts at it, which I hate to do. I'm going to try and lift a code out if there is one stored by following the instructions for the TSM/TSSM. Wish me luck!! Thanks again.

jmb

P.S. And no I haven't taken the wife's bike yet. It's raining here this morning anyway. Makes me feel a little better.

When I run through the trouble code diagnostics, I do not get any lights after the last left turn signal input in step 7. I do not know if that is good, bad, or indifferent. From what I read I should have gotten a 4 second light if nothing was stored. Now I'm really confused. I hate electrical problems!!![:@]

 

It gives the ECM/ICM a reading off the 4 th gear cog in the trans and when it doesn't get the reading due to fouling, it senses that the bike isn't moving. The bike also can't register the MPH or odometer either.
To test the breaker without replacing it, you can TEMPORARILY jump across the two terminals with a piece of wire and eliminate it from the circuit just for testing purposes and go for a ride. Of course there's always the possibility of burning something up if there is a short in the system doing this.

You could always remove and clean the sensor to see if it makes a difference, but they usually go south again shortly after.

Let us know what you find.

Good to be back!

 

I'm both glad and kind of embarassed by what I found. Took off the inner fender and found that the negative side connection of the main circuit breaker was loose, not dangling or anything, but loose enough that I could turn the nut with my fingers. I believe that it was the problem. All of the symptoms fit with this connection being intermittent. It even fits that I couldn't duplicate the problem in the garage. Movement/road vibration caused the connection to go sour. I cleaned off the terminal with steel wool and tightened both sides of the breaker. Just as I buttoned everything up, it came another downpour so I haven't been able to road test it yet. I hope that the solution was this easy. Usually, it's my luck that it isn't. I will follow up after hitting the road. Thanks for the replies. Here's hoping. [sm=signs003.gif]

jmb

 

I'd say that I'm 99.999999% sure that yopu solved the problem. Thats great!

 

Well, the test ride around the subdivision went OK. I guess that's why they call it the main breaker. I don't know if the turn signal issue was part of this or just coincidence, but I would venture to say that it was part of this. I saw a mark on the eyelet where it had been arcing so there is no telling what kind of connection I had when it was running. Lesson learned is if you lose both ignition and accessories at the same time, check your main breaker first. It's just like turning off the tank switch. But of course you all knew that already. I know that I learned something yesterday as obvious as it might have seemed. I'm just amazed that the thing worked loose. Oh well, live and learn. I'm going for a ride now!!!!

jmb

 

If it showed signs of arking, then it was breaking connection for an ark to happen, glad you fixed it.