Hi all,

I have a couple of problems on my electraglide, bought privately a few months ago. Mainly it's been going great guns, everyone loves it and wants to pillion and I'm very happy with the purchase - I'll probably keep it forever I would like to actually ride it though!

Symptoms:

Starting. When I hit the starter, the dash lights dim and the bike doesnt turn over or fire. Nothing. I can do that a couple of times and then it'll start up like it should. This is only a recent development and it may be related to the main event.

Main Event: I am riding along without problem and then the bike cuts out completely. No lights, no dash. No warning. I might get a backfire when it carks it. As it rolls along I try and let out the clutch to 'push start' it, but there is no response from the bike, other than to slow down. I pull over, set the centre switch to off, turn it on, hit the starter and away we go like nothing has happened. Immediate start. We go along for a non-specific amount of time, can be 10 seconds or never again during the ride, and then the same thing can happen.

What has taken the bike off the road is my last ride where it did it almost continuously on my way home. I had to start/stop 6 or 7 times in a 10 minute stretch, so that blew the perception of reliability. Thankfully I havent had to push it or get it towed.

 

In my reading on the internet, I've determined that its probably coil related. I have a manual and it shows the coil testing process, but I'd like to see if this was a valid train of thought before taking bits off the bike. Also, what are the recommendations for say a new coil?

I would prefer it to be a new coil, rather than say the ignition module, which would be an expensive pain.

Anyway, I'm happy to hear everyones two cents.

might even be the earth wire no longer correctly attached

I would start by checking and cleaning the battery terminals leads .Then move on checking ignition switch contacts etc
.

Check that the earth lead that bolts to the frame from the battery hasn't got a crack in it where it bolts to the frame had same problem on a blokes evo softail it looked okay but had a crack in it

With all electrical faults, it is always good to go over the basics by looking  for any loose connections and plugs in your loom.

This one sounds like an intermittent ignition wire issue at the back of the switch. It is a loose/broken wire or a dead short to the ignition module causing it to stop. Maybe? Thats my 2 cents.

Hmm, sounds like a whole heap of things to check before I go throwing money at it. Just need to find some time!

On one of my mates evos we ended up replacing the ignition switch and solved a similar problem.
you could try hot wiring the ignition and starter wires and ride it around and see what happens.

mick