Engine/electrical/everything shuts off

[Purple Dog]

I recently had my bike torn down to the frame to get the engine reworked, power coated, diamond cut and a bunch of chrome work. I also had the regulator recall (05 Chopper) and now I am having problems with everything shutting down. It happens at 60 MPH or at idle at a stoplight. The dealer replaced the EHC and it still shuts down. It has become dangerous as well. Has this happened to anyone else? It is very frustrating.

 

[Fibersnake]

purpledog,

Not sure if anyone has had the problem as described, but if the dealer has recently done some work, have you talked to them to see if they can help you out.

Maybe something as simple as a bad connector or possibly battery, fuel loss, etc. When you say shuting down at 60 MPH, is it like you hit 60 and wham shut down, does it matter what gear you are in and the RPM?

By chance when it shut down, where you able to look at the EHC and see what LED were showing if any? Try to give as much symptoms as possible including conditions or ride and what if anything occurs before shut down.

Good luck and let us know what you find out, also check with the dealer and see what they can tell you and help to get you sorted out.

Also when you get a chance, give us a little Bio and info on yourself, also pic, and post the map. Did I mention Pic. By the way by your username I take it you have a purple bike. Have not seen too many of them so especially looking forward to the pics.

 

[Fibersnake]

Oh during your rebuild, did you have any carb work done such as a xXx carb anything. If a xXx was it a chrome job, for it could be some crap in it if it is a fuel problem. At idle is it sit for 1000 RPM by the way?

 

[Gas Man]

When you had the powder coating done on the motor case, did you make sure it was masked off where it mounts to the frame in the rear and where it sits on the front motor mount???? If not you may have a grounding issue in the charging system.

 

[Fibersnake]

Good point GM, still I think before anyone can even start to help him out, he needs to give some more details. Hopefully it is something minor that can be fixed quickly.

 

[Gas Man]

Oh yeah... more info is definately needed...

 

[Purple Dog]

Thanks gang.

Here are some more details:

There is no consistent pattern with the shut downs. It happened accelerating to 60. It happened at idle. It happened slowing down. It is clearly an electrical problem because when it shuts down, the speedometer stay where it was when it shut down, say 60 MPH. Everything shuts down, no head light, no tack, no anything. If I try to hit the starter, I get nothing. I have to turn the key off, then back on and it resets itself and then I can start it. The dealer has fixed it yet, but is very cooperative. He replaced the EHC, I had the regulatgor recall done. I spoke with the dealer today and he is wondering if it could be in the ignition module. I will get the bike back to the dealer in a day or so.

Some info about me:
59 years young
Own 06 HD Vrod Screamin Eagle
Own 05 BDM Chopper
Riding since I was 12 yrs old, that 47 years WOW.
Going to Laconia in 2 weeks.
Like my Chopper, but my old butt can handle about 2-3 hours.
Live in Reston, VA

I like this site, everyone seems so helpful.

Cheers...........Jack

 

[Fibersnake]

PurpleDog,

Is the dealer located over in Winchester by chance. If so, based on my experience and a few others on here, I feel confident that ole goy with the souther drawl and funky hair cut will get you taking care off!

 

[fshane1]

Total power loss/shutdown

I have the exact same problem. Dealer already replaced ECH, and going to try something with the ignition next.
I rode 450 miles to the beach and back. It shut off 11 times. I got good at turning my switch off and on while coasting, pressing the on button and popping the clutch to crank the bike. A little dangerous in heavy traffic.
I haven't done any mods to bike to cause problem. Purple dog described my situation exactly.
I'll post info if this next try with the ignition fixes the problem.

 

[chacha]

Purple Dog;

When she dies next time see if you can pullover without turning off the ignition Key.

a. Do you still have turn signals?
b: What lites are on the top of the EHC? Is there a yellow LED on?

I don't think a problem withe the ignition module would cause all of the reported symptoms. My gut says there is a grounding problem causing the EHC to dump.

Let us know what you find out.

 

[Purple Dog]

I will check when it dies again, but I think all electrical stuff dies. At the dealer, we also noticed that there is a green blinking light on the EHC, when the motor is running.

 

[N8KAM]

I had the same problem check this thread. Primarily page 2 with the help from Ohmster.
http://www.bigdogbiker.com/forums/performance/4036-bike-shut-down-after-40-miles.html
How many keys on the ring with the bike key? Try it with None....

 

[fshane1]

1 key.

 

[Franky Bones]

Bike shuts down while riding & all the other issues you'll have...

The problem you describe is one that BDM is quite familiar with whether or not your dealer admits to it. Check out the ECM relocation recall. There is a problem with the unit being sensitive to vibration. The recall did not fix my bike's problem either. My bike would shut down all the time for no reason. Quite dangerous indeed when entering the freeway with a tractor trailer on your tail. I no longer own the motorcycle. At 14k miles, BDM bought it back from me.

I loved the bike, but the reliability was killing me.

What I learned:
If you haven't had the problems described in this forum, you will.

My transmission blew and was replaced.
My clutch would break loose as if it popped out of gear.
My motor mount bolts sheared off.
Fork seal constantly leaked oil.
My motor and primary leaked constantly.
I had gremlins living in the electrical system.
My ignition key would fall out of the bike...so I had to keep it in my pocket while riding.
My headlight wire harness melted down.
My exhaust pipes broke in half at the welds.
My throttle cables disconnected from the twist grip inside the handlebar housing while riding.
Multiple starter motors.
Talk about safety recalls...my wife almost forbid me to ride the thing after getting a number of these in the mail.
OK...I'll leave it at that.

 

[Fibersnake]

Franky Bones,

Must say that your problems seem a bit more unusal than most. I can see why the took it back if it had all those problems. That said I have an 05 and yes I have had a few minor issues, but going toward the 20k mark, overall it is going very strong and has not let me down yet.

I had the EHC recall done back in 05 and with the exception of a recent EHC replacment that was due to my fat fingers screwing up a pin, it was going strong. No leak, no tranny problem, headlight is till going good, etc.

So it may be true that some of the problems you had, will show up on others, but IMHO it would be very rare for anyone to have all the same on one bike, even with an 05 model. Unfortunately yours appears to have been a very bad apple out of what I consider basically a good harvest.

So have you replaced it with something else and if so what are you riding now.

Sorry to hear of all the problems, but good to hear that they bought it back.

Safe riding to all.

 

[dogvet]

You got some bad connections somewhere dude, IF the bike looses power at the ignition sensor, the speedo will stick at the last known speed. Since the speedo and speedo sensor share the same power source, there is a connector problem in between.

Aside from grounds, I'd suspect that you have some smashed connectors under the gas tank. there is very little extra room in the tunnel of the tank and if everything isn't just right, you'll strain the connections on them itty-bitty wires and connectors and spend more time on the side of the road than on the road.

I have said this before, but the biggest problems with BDMs are connections not components. Prior to 1997, there were very few connectors, everything was hard wired.

I assume the bike worked fine before you had all of the pretty stuff done?