heres the story..bought an 02 softail standard with 25k miles fuel injected, had factory alarm which was removed... had been sitting for a while...bike ran and sounded fine. i rode the bike once to los angeles, and on the way up it after about 40 mins of riding the speedometer would shut off and turn back on intermittently. didnt really think it was that big of deal. when i went to ride it about twice more, it would do the same but this time around 20 to 30 minutes of use. So i went to ride it this weekend and suddenly check engine light came on, pulled over to check oil and possible turn the bike on and off, when i tried to turn the bike back on.....it wouldnt crank over like it had no battery. mind you I had no issues starting the bike when I took off this morning. so I decided to push start it, and it worked....i jumped back on the freeway and after about 5 miles on the freeway...bike lost power, and completely shut of.., couldnt get it to crank what so ever. So after about an hour or so, waiting for my brother to bring me a new battery from harley....swapped it out, started back up, fine...no check engine lights, nothing....rode it back home for another 75 miles, pulled over to gas up and bike hesitated to start at the gas station, at this piont i was only bout 2 miles from my home, jumped back on the freeway, check engine came back on, would come on and off, and got home, turned the bike off, and tryed to start it, and now it wont start again...mind you i bought a new battery from dealer this same morning, and it makes the sound when your battery is dead. Sooooo with my dilema out in the open......I need your help....dealer says stator....?? any suggestions before I go get robbed??

 

Check the rectifier/regulator. It's behind the front fender on the down tubes of the frame. There is a plug coming from the stator and a plug going out to the battery. The incoming should be AC voltage and going out should be DC voltage. I had to replace mine. Easy fix and part was 70 bucks. I hope this gets you started.

 

charge battery, then start bike, test at battery with volt meter to see if it charging

 

check your voltage regulator.

 

+1 If not you will need a regulator

 

Check your main circuit breaker. There was a recall on them for 2001 and some 2002 models. Evidently the breaker from the factory wasn't large enough. I think it came with a 30amp and the recall said to replace it with a 40amp but my numbers might be off. Same symptons on a friends 01 SE Road Glide. The dealer did the replacement under the recall a couple months ago and didn't charge anything for the replacement.

His would shut off and the speedo would bounce.

 

+1 about the recall on the main breaker. My 01 died on me, I had the recall done and so far no problems. It would hesitate when starting too, starter wouldn't turn for a second after hitting the start switch. This could be what's happening with your ride, assuming the battery wasn't really dead. The main breaker failing would not cause a dead battery, but would cause it to die, and would cause a no start condition, and both could be intermittent.

Kevin

 

checked all loose connecttions and bike starts with jump, no problem, so its def not a battrery issue, 1...how do you check the check engine codes on these model harleys, ? im sure it has something to do with the checkk engine that comes back on and off....

 

Here you go: Sticky at top of page.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...odes-dtcs.html

 

Any time you get a bike and it is new to you (unless you are a harley mechanic), I recommend you take it to the dealer to get a full diagnostic/evaluation to get the bike fixed to "ground zero problem free". Trying to track down a problem that could just be masked under another symptom, like a dead battery, is going to lead to hours of frustration and you're eventually going to the dealer anyway.

Once the dealer gets your bike running in good consistent working order, then you will be able to watch the bike and diagnose as problems come up over time without any guess work.

I do think you should mention the recall to them. That could be your issue if the battery is not dying. If the battery is dying, then the problem is in your charging system IMO.