Problem with the Sportster
#11
#12
Lol...really? The odds favor his bike being submerged?
Dead batteries do crazy things to a bike. Start with a good battery (hopefully the one you have now) then troubleshoot but my guess is that the battery will cure the probs.
Brackish water...ha ha ha. My daughter has a brackish fish tank. Toss a puffer fish in the gas tank. If it lives more than an hour I would say your bike has been submerged in brackish water.
Last edited by mreed; 01-22-2010 at 07:37 AM.
#13
I have to agree with Mandog & Tom07 on the battery was low & the cycling sound you heard was the fuel pump. The battery could have been low from the alarm during the trip, crusty fuses which is a known issue on '07s up, or just a loose battery wire not suppling ample power to the starter. The battery was low, you finally got it started and just let it idle instead of ridding it around for say 20 to 30 minutes. If I remember correctly, the battery doesn't start getting re-charged until you get the RPM's up above something like 2000. I'd say to charge the battery, clean fuse block & add di-electric grease when re-assembling, and put a wrench on all four battery cable bolts to make sure they are all tight & not just wiggling/checking them by hand. I wouldn't get to worked up. It should be an easy fix.
#14
5 minutes of running will not even come close to charging a battery on any kind of motor vehicle. If the bike is left idling to charge the battery it will overheat way before it starts to charge the battery. Not to mention running it that short amount of time, especially if its cold where you live, will just cause excess moisture to build up in the cylinder, and then the cylinder walls and pistons will rust. I would suggest making the dealer work it out, because electrical problems should always be someone else's PITA!
#15
Wow, thanks for all the replies guys. Makes me feel alot better reading (most) of these posts. I think I'll try a few more things before I call it a "lemon". I just picked the battery up from Auto Zone, they pulled it off the trickle charger and tested it, said the battery was fully charged and put out 13.3 V if I remember correctly. I'll check the fuses and everything tomorrow when I put the battery back in the bike, but from what you guys are saying it sounds like it was just a dead battery issue. I didn't let the bike run for long enough since it was still in the back of the trailer and yeah, I just let it idle. Live and Learn.
Love this forum
Love this forum
#16
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Lake City, Florida (Native)
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Agreed
You bought a lemon. It's got "issues". Now you know why it was for sale.
Hey, it ain't nothing you can't fix, but stop wasting your time worrying about trickle chargers and leaving the key on and all the hokey crap they sold you along with the bike.
Jerk the left battery cover off and then yank out every fuse and examine every connection. Like the guy said, wire brush it all and then apply liberal ammounts of dielectric grease to everything that even looks electrical.
The odds are the bike was submerged in brackish water and is exhibiting ills from it. You can recover cheap enuff if you have the skills and patience.
Hopefully, you didn't pay book value and know how to twist wrenches.
Hey, it ain't nothing you can't fix, but stop wasting your time worrying about trickle chargers and leaving the key on and all the hokey crap they sold you along with the bike.
Jerk the left battery cover off and then yank out every fuse and examine every connection. Like the guy said, wire brush it all and then apply liberal ammounts of dielectric grease to everything that even looks electrical.
The odds are the bike was submerged in brackish water and is exhibiting ills from it. You can recover cheap enuff if you have the skills and patience.
Hopefully, you didn't pay book value and know how to twist wrenches.
Last edited by JayStronghawk; 01-22-2010 at 08:54 AM.
#17
The 07 Sporties have a known, well documented here, problem with water intrusion into the wiring harness/fuse block. No, it is not a case of "submersion in brackish water", but simply a good rain or washing the bike that creates the problem.
As said above, remove and clean all fuses and fuse block contacts. Then coat with dielectric grease. (This is a temporary fix)
There was a Service Bulletin issued by the MoCo that calls for the wiring harness and fuse block to be replaced. The fuse block actually gets relocated with the new harness.
As said above, remove and clean all fuses and fuse block contacts. Then coat with dielectric grease. (This is a temporary fix)
There was a Service Bulletin issued by the MoCo that calls for the wiring harness and fuse block to be replaced. The fuse block actually gets relocated with the new harness.
#18
Is the whole replacing of the wiring harness and fuse block something that HD covers? Or is it more of a "Hey, we know its a problem, do this to fix it, but don't expect us to do it for free". If its not something I can bring to the local dealer and have them cover it, how much does the relocation cost? This isn't something that I'm going to want to have to worry about everytime the bike gets wet.
#19
Is the whole replacing of the wiring harness and fuse block something that HD covers? Or is it more of a "Hey, we know its a problem, do this to fix it, but don't expect us to do it for free". If its not something I can bring to the local dealer and have them cover it, how much does the relocation cost? This isn't something that I'm going to want to have to worry about everytime the bike gets wet.
Additional references:
http://www.hdtalking.com/electrical_...r_battery.html
http://www.harley-davidsonforums.com...cal-short.html
http://www.justanswer.com/questions/...2007-sportster
Last edited by cHarley; 01-22-2010 at 09:26 AM.
#20
Now that is awesome news, I haven't had to deal with the local harley dealer yet so hopefully they aren't difficult just for the sake of being difficult. cHarley, I don't suppose you remember where you found that bulletin? I'm looking online right now, but if you could point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it. I'd like to be able to walk in there with something solid to back me up.