Could this be a coil problem?

glider

Only one way to tell and that's remove the head. Did you check compression in that cylinder?

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hyfax

I meant to check compression last night and didn't. I was just going to see if there was a difference between the two cylinders. Wasn't sure if the compression would drop only when the problem is happening, or if it would be lower in the rear all the time. I want to know just to be sure, but I'm already sure I'm losing power just before it shuts down. The bike also starts running so rough that my eyeballs vibrate before shutdown.

I'm giving up. I'm headed out of town and don't have the time to fix it myself, and since it's already on the trailer, I'm dropping it off at the shop tomorrow morning. It'll be done when I get back and my wallet will be easier to carry around with all that money taken out. I'll report the outcome.

88Heritage

A quick test to check for leaking head and intake gaskets is to spray a little carb cleaner around the joints while its running, if it stalls or sputters when you spray a gasket area that's a good indication that its leaking.

softailsteve

could be the coil carry some tools ,ride till it does it again when it kills see whats missing spark or fuel . Had the same symtoms on a shovel I had trash buildup in the petcock it ran fine for awhile guess when the fuel got stirred up the outlet clogged up after about 30 minutes the fuel would find it way through the trash and run again (for a little while anyway) could have bet money it was a coil some times when a coil gets hot the winding risistance goes up but make sure before you spend money for nothing .

hyfax

It wasn't the coil, plug wires or plugs. I did the base, head and rocker gaskets, inspected the rings & cylinder and valves. They were all good. Now I'm putting a new ignition in it. I'm running out of ideas. Won't have the ignition until tomorrow.

hyfax

In case anyone is interested, the problem is fixed. It turned out to be a mis-matched ignition and coil. The guy who owned the bike before me put a 3-ohm ignition on the bike and a 5-ohm coil. I had to take it to the shop, and they had to call dynatech to get it figured out.

glider

That will definitely do it and it's difficult to diagnose too unless you happen to check the parts that were added.

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cansel kansu

the symptoms are exactly what I experienced during my 1000km trip from Istanbul to Cyprus 1.5 half month ago. Malfunctioning timing module was the cause of my case. was happening more often when the weather was hot, rare when cold, like night rides. it was the electrolytic capasitor inside the timing module that was short circuiting when hot. I tried my chance to replace it and I won. try yourself if you feel lucky. or you can try to borrow a timing module from a friend and check if the problem is still there.
since you are sure that it is not the coil, it might be the same what I experienced.