was riding with a buddy a few days ago and after a half hour break or so we took off and maybe 10 miles later he lost almost all power and was firing on one cyl. we got it fired up a few minutes later and it appeared to be back to normal but happened 3 more times each time it went away after sitting for a few minutes but then it just started shutting off randomly (all this on the 10mi trip back home) and now it seems to start when it wants and run for a while before leaving you sit wherever you are at the time.

when it does this we noticed it isnt getting spark to the one cyl, tried new plugs and swapping wires but neither helped. we found a few suspect wire connections but still have the same problem after fixing them.

bike is a 1990 883 with some sort of 1200 kit that the previous owner had installed 27000 orig miles, not sure how many after the 1200 kit. bike also has drag pipes. he says coil and wires have both been changed within the past 2 yrs

any ideas? do these even have "limp mode"?

 

they dont have a limp mode. I would check to see if you have spark from the coil. If you do and not at the plug you have a bad plug or wire. Since you swapped the wires around I would say u have a bad plug and as it runs the ceramic opens up and it misfires. If you have spark at the plug I would next check for compression

 

A possible ignition module issue? Mine is a 1991 and I think we have a similar ignition system. Mine is on the left under the triangle panel cover. I'm not sure if these modules are susceptible to heat, maybe it's the later models mounted in the timing cover cone. Maybe you can check it, I think it unplugs pretty easy and the service manual might have a diagnostic routine. Good luck, sounds unusual.

John

 

how do i check for spark at the coil? we tried new plugs also and still no spark on that cyl

 

Bump its nice out

 

also any idea why it will start and run for a while then suddenly quit? can a coil only work untill the motor warms up then start acting up?

its weird we did a couple of days of riding 3-4 hrs per day without a single problem then half way through the last day it started this crap.

 

Check all your ground connections, something vibrated loose.

John

 

I've had my 1990 Glide from new. That had a similar problem at one time which proved to be the ignition sender. It lives under the 'points' cover on the right of the engine. I had it fixed by an indy, so don't know how he diagnosed it, but I was eventually left on the side of the road and it wouldn't start again.

 

is that the cover with the green circuit board looking thing?

 

No, its's inside flat cone shape projection on the right side off the engine itself, sticking out from the camcover. That is the timing cover. I think you just have a simple sensor (Hall Effect?) in there and your ignition module is to the rear of your battery, under the triangular shaped black metal cover.

Like I said, I got a 1991 and a lot changed in that year, so I may be wrong.

I'm not aware of any "green circuit board" on my bike, can you post up a picture? I'm the original owner so nothing has been dicked with.

Are you looking at the voltage regulator, on the frame in front of the engine?

John

John