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intermitent popping and dieing of my bike

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skiphd

Member
i have an 86 softail. the problem is intermitent. one ride you can ride all day not miss a beat. the next cant make it a mile from home. it pops and back fires out of the exhuast then dies as if no spark. i know it is getting gas and i put all new wiring harness on it along with a new coil. i know all the connections are tight b/c it did this before i rewired it and ive been over every connection a few times over. it is getting worse now b/c when it does die it take a few minutes of sitting before it will fire again. the longer it sits the farther i can go. my question is what could it be? tired of wasting money on things that dont fix the problem.... help thanks
 
check your ignition sensor it will cause those problems when the sensor gets hot it will act like that then when it cools it will run fine till it gets hot again. you might check that out.
 
Sounds like a heat problem that is effecting the breaker. Do you have breakers or fuses on that year? I believe it has breakers.
 
Check what Glider said, and check the battery, Soft tails are hard on batteries, Vibration is the killer here. Is the ignition stock? I would be checking the wires at the cone and check the pick up assembly:s
 
Copy and paste what you posted yesterday from the new thread to THIS thread in order to have some continuity to your problem.
 
i'm still having trouble with ignition cutting in and out on my 86 softail. sometimes can ride all day others cant make out the garage. its popping out the exhaust or just dies. starts back up and does the same. after awhile it runs fine. (sometimes). i replaced all the wiring, the main and ignition breakers, and coil. i have used a jumper wire to bypass switches, still does it. checked the wires at cone, those are fine. stock module and sensor. could that be it? ive tested them with a meter and says its bad but why would it run some days and others not? i dont want to blow 350$ for nothing. any help? btw sensor tested fine.
 
skiphd said:
ive tested them with a meter and says its bad
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The closest manual I have to a 1986 is a 1991. The '91 ignition is breakerless, electronic module with a VOES switch. Single fire system using a 3 wire Hall device sensor mounted on a sensor plate under the nose cone.

Is this similar to what a 1986 has.
When you said "ive tested them with a meter and says its bad" exactly what tested Bad, how did you test it and what readings did you get.
 
the 86 does have breakers but other then that it does sound the same. i have a blue wire and a white wire that goes from the module to the coil. from what ive read it says disconnect those wires and test with ohms meter for resistance. white and blue against the ground on the module. i did so and there is resistance, but i feel if the module was bad wouldnt it act up all the time? not intermitent?
 
When I used the word "breakerless" I meant no "breaker points" not circuit breakers (fuses).
So your system uses a solid state hall effect trigger sensor.

(I have a friend who has a early Sportster and he has points so that's why I asked.)
 
oh i see. sorry yes no points. would it be better to convert over to a point set up? that would mean id get rid of the sensor and module correct? is that even a option? i think i would also change the coil over to? i have a 3 ohm now.
 
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