First Highway Breakdown dilemma

First

Bad Gas How could it be Bad Gas? At over 4 bucks a gallon it has got to be the best money can buy!! Sorry just po'd about gas prices hope you get your problem worked out!!

While you are at it you may want to check all the electrical connections you have access to, battery terminals etc etc. I had a miss occur when I was under load like riding into the wind and accelerating going up hill. Turned out the miss was due to a loose connection at the circuit breaker. As mentioned you may just have had a piece of grit pass through and cause a miss until you blew it out, Check your fuel filter also. Al

One other thought. As insurance against bad gas and as a protective measure I have for years and years run the Harley fuel additive with Duralt. In an early copy of Easyriders they ran 2 shovel head engines, one with and one without the additive for I forget exactly how many thousand miles, but a bunch. When they tore down the engines you could easily see the difference the Duralt made the valve ports and the whole engine was significantly cleaner. A bottle lasts a long time and is not too expensive. For what thats worth. Al

Thanks everyone. Great advice. That's a good suggestion Al, I'll look into the additive with Duralt next time I'm at HD.

Hadn't heard of the Duralt additive, but then again I almost never go to dealers. I know some folks use a little bit of Techron additive.

I wouldn't trust that one station anymore either Hellboy, but the reason I was thinking ignition module is not only because I've seen it several times, but if you get a tank of gas with a good bit of water in it (wouldn't be the 1st time) the bike should be worse after sitting, not better. Simply because water's heavier than gasoline, when the bike's parked it's going to start to separate from the gas, settle to the bottom of the tank & if your petcock is on the left side like mine, right around the petcock. So when you start back up after a good while, there would be more water going to the carb, not less.

That make sense Art, thanks. I only put a little more than a gallon at the gas station I don't trust. I was topping it off to begin my trip and zero the odometer. I'll keep at it until I get to the bottom of this issue. It's undermining my confidence to take the bike anywhere too far.

Spoke with the top mechanic at NY HD today and he echoed Art's suggestions exactly. He said it's the heat, not the speed. From what I gathered, if it happens again it will keep happening and get worse as time passes and I'll need the ignition module changed. I'll try to run long and hard locally ASAP and see if it shuts down again. The mechanic said it will start up again after it cools a bit, so I'll probably be able to make it back. I won't go too far until I know for sure either way.

Had the exact problem in a Triumph TR-7, bad electronic ignition module, back in my sports car days (I grew up! :roflmao: ). Sucks when you're flying down the highway and then the motor stops, especially on the 101 in San Francisco during rush hour traffic. Not a lot of helpful people 'round there. At least not that I saw. Beautiful city: totally friggin' selfish people - in my experience, at least.

I'd get the new module ASAP, if the money wasn't too tight. Riding in fear is not what ya need - that is a cager thing.

Thanks Red, I know you're probably right.

i'm just prayin it isn't them damn olde road gremlins at work:devil:

why, certainly he must have a bell. Al

I did have my bell (given to me by my best friend/Dyna rider) and hung it on my forks. I kept noticing little dings on my fender and couldn't believe it when a Harley mech said the bell was doing it. He showed me how the bell hits the fender when I hit big bumps. I've moved the bell to the chassis below (thanks to Sportsterboy's suggestion) Now, I've got to figure out what to fill the little chips with and how best to sand it down before putting some touch up paint on it.

My friend thought I might see an improvement in performance if I change the ignition module. Is this possible?

Yep, getcha one o' them-there "Screamin' Eagle" 7500 rpm modules & ride the bike like a Yamaha !! Might wanna getcha couple sets o' lifters, pushrods, rocker arms & valve springs too :roflmao:

Seriously though, the SE modules (there's also a 6800) are less expensive than the stock one - don't know why that is. Advance curves are the same as stock too. Several people have gotten the SE as a replacement to save some $$$, but they also don't use the higher rev limit (stock is 6000 on an 883). I hear the SE line of such parts has been discontinued, but people are still buying those modules.

There are also aftermarket programmable modules (expensive) but I've never seen the need for one, except in applications with serious engine modifications. The basic Sportster engine design is 50 years old which is a good thing, but would you put a Ferrari ignition on a '50's pickup truck??? :roflmao:

I have not seen one single HP increase on the dyno with a programmable module on a bike that didn't need one due to high compression, serious headwork & cams, etc. One team bike we took to Bonneville did have one that you can program with a laptop computer, but the speed difference was only a few 10ths of a mph, which could easily be attributed to other things, such as changing track conditions.

The stock & SE modules work fine if everything is right, but they do not like heat & they do not like low voltage. I know the last time I put a new battery in my '95, it felt like I just picked up 10 HP. The charging system is not powerful enough to charge up a weak battery, so although the bike still ran OK, the module wasn't getting full voltage.

The module's just "plug 'n' play" & there's no sense hoping a suspect one will keep on working or to spend a lot of $$$ on a new one - when in doubt, just change it out & be done with it.

Thanks Art. I'll definitely just have it changed. Only thing stopping me is the weather. I've been waiting for the nice weather to arrive and will try to enjoy using my Sporty locally until I won't be riding for a few days and then drop it off at HD, since I'll need a tune up soon anyway.

If you're going to have the dealer do it (or go to an indy shop & save a ton of $$$), have 'em look @ both ignition & fuel - hair-dryer trick on the module, check the wiring that goes to it, plus drop the carb float bowl & look for any trash or signs of water. Also pull the petcock & clean the screen. None of that is particularly difficult or time-consuming.

Thanks Art, I wouldn't have known as much as I did when I dropped off the bike at HD today without your advice ( and others here as well). I rode around town last night for a couple of hours and sure enough, it stalled out as before. It's most likely the ignition module, but I'll be sure and ask the tech guys there to look at the other aspects you mentioned.