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Sportster 1200R cutting out

TomH65

TomH65

Active Member
Hi all,
I started my bike tonight and all of a sudden the whole thing died on me, no lights, engine stopped. I fiddled with the ignition key - no response. After pushing it back uphill into my back yard, I saw that the clock needles were going up and down ny about a quarter of an inch with a buzzing sound.
I put the key in and turned it a couple of times then the buzzing stopped and the red key security light came back on. I started it up again and it died again. After repeating the fiddling with the key, I managed to get the security mode back on.
Over the last couple of weeks, I experienced a chugging effect like it was misfiring while riding, I had to open the throttle and keep the revs high to keep it going.
Do you think it might be all down to the ignition switch being faulty? If so, is it easy to fit a new one?
Thanks.
 
In a situation like you have the first thing to check is the condition and security of the battery cables
Best to remove the cables from the bike clean both ends then re fit them and try the bike out

Brian
 
Hi Brian,
I fitted a new battery a few months ago. I bought a spare due to the old one discharging over winter. I also bought an Oximiser and recharged the old battery and tested it and it was ok. The leads looked ok too and carried a good strong current when I checked them at the time.
 
TomH65 said:
Hi Brian,
I fitted a new battery a few months ago. I bought a spare due to the old one discharging over winter. I also bought an Oximiser and recharged the old battery and tested it and it was ok. The leads looked ok too and carried a good strong current when I checked them at the time.
Click to expand...

I fitted a new battery in march about 6 weeks later turn signals started running intermittently stopped to check bike dead after that so i lifted the seat to find one of the battery terminals had come a wee bit loose got the screw fully tight bike was good again
vibration can loosen almost any screw on the bike and more commonly one that has only been in place for a short period of time

Brian
 
TomH65 said:
Hi Brian,
I fitted a new battery a few months ago. I bought a spare due to the old one discharging over winter. I also bought an Oximiser and recharged the old battery and tested it and it was ok. The leads looked ok too and carried a good strong current when I checked them at the time.
Click to expand...

Could be bad battery? It happened on my brand new bike!
 
Thanks for the link Hoople, I have downloaded the procedure and will try it out. There are some lines in there that don't make sense, but I'll get around them.
Also Fin, I checked the cables again and found that the positive cable was slightly loose, that is, that I managed to tighten it up by 1.5 turns of the spanner.
I've been away for a few days, so I will give it a ride over this weekend.
Thanks again folks.
 
That 1.5 turns of the screw may have made it loose enough to give intermittent cut outs of power as the battery tray is rubber mounted then the battery moves about a wee bit in relation to other bits of the bike due to the vibration of the engine

Brian
 
Went out for a ride today. After 5 miles, the engine started playing silly buggers again. It started misfiring when fully warmed up. Idling was intermittent, and when I opened the throttle it misfired between 1000 and 2000 rpm. Above 2000 rpm it ran smoother. i had to keep the revs up whilst stopping at the lights to keep the engine running. Got stuck behind a BMW at 20mph for over a mile and it ran like a bag of doggy doo. This was frustrating because usually BMW drivers are speed freaks, and when i wanted it to speed up it kept slowing down thus causing me to keep my revs high and slipping the clutch until i got home.
I have a bike mechanic friend who is going to clean out the carb on Monday. if that doesn't solve it then what next?
Regards, Tom
 
If the misfire starts when you push the choke knob fully in then i would suspect that the slow jet is blocked
If the misfire starts when the engine is fully hot i would suspect the ignition module
However as you have stated that the problem area is between 1 and 2 k rpm then i would guess that there is not enough fuel for the air flow at these rpm this could be caused by an intake leak between the carb and the engine either at the manifold to engine seal or the carb to manifold seal or insufficient fuel from the slow jet ie jet blocked

Brian
 
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