So I was on a day ride yesterday, full tank of gas, 03 RKC w/ EFI / 88" engine, 21k miles, no major mods, just Stage 1 download, SE air intake and pipes...

Problem:
Cruisin in a small town somewhere about 45 or so I guess, bike sputtered once or twice and then just shut down, I look down and no guages, all I have is a speedo and an LCD mileage indicator, and as best I can recall, they were both gone.

I tried to hit a turn signal out of habit but nothing happened.

I pulled into a gas station, made sure run switch was still on. Shut everything off, ignition/run-kill switch, turned the ignition back on, no lights/guages.

Let it sit for a minute. Took the seat off, checked the battery connections, looked for any damaged wires, ckd spark plug wires, just whatever I could think of.

I turned the ignition on, and I had lights, tried to start it, but it acted like it didn't want to start, so I shut ignition off again...


It did start again:
Let it sit a few more minutes, and it started fine. Road it about 10 minutes to our destination, and then road it a couple hours back home w/ no problems.


What do you think happened?:
So, it was about 90 yesterday, but I've ridden just as long on hotter days w/ no problem. I was riding pretty easy on it, w/ a group and all.

Stange, I mean if it was a fuel problem it wouldn't explain loss of power, if it was a typical eletrical problem it doesn't seem like it would run again w/out actually fixing something.

Do these old 88s have some kind of sensor that would shut it down if it got too hot? Even though it shouldn't have been any hotter than many other days, if it *thought* it was too hot, like a bad sensor, or something gumming up the works?

I only have a couple indicators, a small red engine light on the dash, a key light, and if you look real close I see a 'P' next to it, but I've never seen that light up. Anyway, after it started, I didn't see any strange lights come on, don't know if it would show an error code through one of those lights or not.

Any ideas? I'm gonna call the dealer, it is under extended service plan, but thought you guys might have some answers, or at least some good questions...

Thanks.

 

Check for a loose battery ground wire. If possible, see it there are any trouble codes

 

Also main breaker could have over heated....and then reset......with complete loss of power it is either a cable or the main breaker.........but it could also be a bad switch...i have heard that one before.....

 

Thanks for the feedback. Everything seems tight, I don't currently have a way to ck for trouble codes, nothing lights up abnormally or anything.

I was wondering about the circuit breaker as I have done more reading, or the ignition switch, not sure...

I found a thread about a recall on 40 amp breakers being replaced w/ 50 amp breakers on some 03 models, but it seemed like it was fairing bikes and not the RK or RKC...

 

Sounds like the main. I had the same scenario on my ultra, complete power loss/shut down at night under an overpass. Had the little lady on back. Could have been run over. Anyway, the breakers cost is minimal. Half hour to change. Make sure you put all the factory "labeled" wires back on the new one the way they are marked or it night just cause the new one to overheat and leave you coasting down the highway again. ( guess how I know that!) When I install my new one ( #2 ) I put a piece of aluminum plate under it because aluminum is a heat sink and I figured it might draw some of the heat away from the breaker ( since it is mounted directly behind the rear cylinder, hottest spot on the scoot). Good luck!

 

The "P" indicator light is for "Pursuit" on the police bikes, and comes on when the emergency lights are activated.

 

Mine just did the same thing - the Circuit Breaker - Check VIN # - there was a recall on03 for Circuit Breaker.............

 

I had that same thing happen on my 02 Ultra. Changed the main breaker, problem solved!

 

Since it's EFI, when you turn the ignition to "on" and put the switch on the handlebars to "run" watch your chk engine light. If it acts normally, on for four seconds, off, stays off then you don't have any "error codes", if it comes back on at the end for four seconds then goes out, you have a "code" stored in the memory, which means something went wrong, but the problem went away. The bike will hold the error until it's manually cleared, or after 50 "cycles" if the problem doesn't re-occur it will clear itself.
Since the extended warranty is $50 deductable, it would suck to take it in, spend the cash to find out there's no error either active or stored in memory.
If there's a code stored, then either the dealer can check it out, or you can do it yourself using the speedo and trip odometer reset button.

 

mine did something similar a few weeks ago , after about 30 minutes of cruising down the parkway 60mph around midnight it just died. i pulled it over and tried to restart 3 times it would start and then die again after 1 second, i turned the ignition off, took gas cap off shook bike and could hear gas sloshing around , put gas cap back on and it started and ran like normal . i stopped at the next gas station and filled it up, i have owned it a little over a year and this is the only time it has ever happened to me. i rode it down the highway last week during the day when the temp was alot hotter for about the same amount of time and it was fine.