Bike died suddenly -and stayed dead!

mongy

Hey guys, my 2002 fatboy just died yesterday on the first turn of the starter and stayed dead, no electrics, nothing. Thought it may have been the circuit breaker so waited a bit but no luck. Replaced all fuses in case one was faulty and still nothing. Connections to the battery are fine and clean ( i had one snap on my old nighttrain ) so now have no idea. Asked my dealer this morning and he suggested it could be a 30 amp fuse which is separate to the 15amp ones in the fusebox. Tried looking for this one but can't find it. Would welcome any suggestions or help.

glider

Battery terminals can look clean and look tight, but remove them and wire brush them and reconnect and it will probably start up.

You can also check the breaker by jumping the two terminals momentarily with a piece of heavy wire to see if you get power then.

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mongy

thanks glider, actually just came back from cleaning them -as you say , you never know but still nothing. will check the breaker just in case.

VBFLHX

How many volts does the battery show? Should be around 12.7 volts. I have seen battery's just go bad all at once. It may have a bad cell in it or something. If the circut breaker is good.

glider

Could be the ignition switch, check the battery voltage as mentioned above and go from there. Hard to tell without a meter and a few tests for voltage at certain places.

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Please stop by the "self help section" for maintenance tips, diagnostic codes and much more.
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mongy

Thanks again guys for the help. Have a mate bringing down a voltage meter so will keep you informed.

Fossil

Mongy, does you bike have lights but they go off when you try to start the engine? Then you have no lights at all. That was one of the problems I had on my Harley. Glider and others helped me solve my electrical problems. I suggest you first load test your battery. Either the dealer or Auto Zone will do it for free most times. If the battery is good then charge per the manual and put it back in the bike. It should start and that is when you put the volt meter on the terminals. It should read 14 volts or more per your manual. If it reads 12 volts with the engine running you have a charging problem. Stick with Glider and others here and they will get you running like they did me. Fossil

Phantomrider

My bike died unexpectantly too. After checking all fuses, battery, cables, etc., it turned out to be an ignition wire. Good luck.

mongy

Hey guys, thanks for all the advice. Stll waiting on the meter, long weekend here so everyone's buggered of on holidays and most places are closed. Mate's gone awol too. Fossil at the moment the bike is completely dead, no lights nothing. Its hard to pinpoint anything without a voltmeter so just resigned myself to wait for now.

Fourdogs

If ya got a battery charger..connect it to the battery and then see it the lights will com on...don't try and start it just see if the lights will come on...if your charger has a trickle mode set it to that and try your lights that will answer the battery issued...keep us posted...its heck working without test equipment for sure.