[khayden2013]

Ok here is..

Time of day : 11:30 am
Temp 30 degrees

Ok - so I purchased a 2009 Harley Davidson Fatboy with 1,800 miles on it. I had the bike sitting at friends house and I was chomping at the bit to get it into my garage. So yesterday I hopped on and decided to get it home, (even though it was very cold) so I was on the bike for about 5 min before I pulled out onto the road and pulled up to a light. While waiting at the light I noticed the battery light and engine light came on, I thought wow thats wierd, but with in a min the both went off - I looked at the fuel and noticed it read 1/2 a tank. I finally pulled out from the light and was riding about 200 feet and the bike started to putter, I pulled in the clutch and shook the throttle a little then let the clutch out and went a bit faster, I put into 2nd gear and the same thing happend, I repeated what I did the first time and went in to 3rd, finally the bike just shut off - so I limped it to the shoulder. I was not able to get the bike fired back up. I called a friend with a trailer and towed the bike home. My one friends seems to think that the oil thats in the bike is too thick for the low temp outside, another friend (who use to fix bikes) and still rides told me to pull the spark plugs he wanted to put his eyes on them...

so fast forward to tonight I just came home and tried to start the bike before I pulled the plugs and the bike fired up. The bike stayed running for about 20 seconds then just as I was going to cut off the bike turned off on me. I tried to refire and the lights around the speedo were flashing with a wierd clicking noise...as if it had a dead battery... I also noticed that the fuel needle didn't move....

anyone have any thoughts. I will call harley I just dont want them to take advantage of a new rider.... please some helppppp

 

[DueceDog]

Hey Hayden,
Welcome aboard. What part of Jersey are you from?

I wouldn't think it would be a dead battery if you were able to start the bike. Try to pull up any trouble codes that may have been thrown. You can go from there on the fix. Do a search here for 'trouble codes'.

This may help:
http://www.v-twinforum.com/forums/v-rod-engine-technical-discussion/13293-engine-check-light.html

 

[strokerjlk]

sounds like a loose battery cable. it takes 23 amps to run a FI bike,so a loose cable will act goofy as you describe

 

[jgc89]

check your battery cables that happened this summer to a friend of mine .

 

[khayden2013]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I pulled the plugs today and cleaned them off. I started the bike up with no problem, I let it run fr about 30 seconds - I put the stand down as i was going to let the bike run for a bit and as i started to get off the bike shut down again.... I am lost - I am a total noob - so I guess it is time to call Harley. THis is a huge lesson learned on buying a preowned bike and not having someone to show me the ropes... UGH!

 

[LowRiderCustom]

Sounds like bad or stale gasoline to me. Drain the tank and fill it with some fresh gas.

 

[claydbal]

i was gonna help, but you asked for harley techs. sorry, but cant go that far backwards.

 

[LowRiderCustom]

You can waste your time posting that, but you can't help the guy out? Wow what a low life!

Is that how you got so many posts, by responding with useless comments?

 

[JesseR]

Did you find any trouble codes for the bike?

It is cutting out on you, but does the head light remain bright?

If you hook up a multi meter, does it show juice and amps?

Have you had a chance to refresh the fuel? Maybe add Sta-Bil to the existing fuel?

You pulled the plugs and cleaned them, what did they look like?

Confirm you have the cables firmly connected to the coil and the spark plugs, no loose connections here.

The clicking noise... did it sound like the starter trying to engage?

If you feel it's the battery, pull it out and have Autozone or someone test it for a bad cell. I did have one that would run poorly as it had a bad cell. Only problem is once the bike is running, the Stator should be supplying power through the system so a battery isn't as important when under normal RPM's.

Most of the posts have given you some good items to try. Post as much information as you can on this and we'll do our best to help you out. By chance do you have any factory warranty left? That would be the first thing I'd do if it's an option.

Let us know!

 

[chopperb]

Check the battery cables. Make sure they are clean and tight.

 

[trozenhorse]

fuel gauge, carb or fi? i learned the hard way never rely on the fuel gauge reset the mileage every fill up, i had the same issue, first it was the battery, g0t the bike running than i had to re-build the carb, did it all myself with the help of the forum!

 

[ffatboy03]

I think checking the fuel and fuel system is the thing to do. Could be a pin hole in your fuel injection line inside the tank or even the fuel injection pump. Hope you you find out what the problem is and its not to expensive to fix.

 

[Citykid]

Sounds very similar to what happened to me once.

And now learned never to believe the fuel gauge. Use the trip-ometer and actually look in the fuel tank.

 

[Hogpro]

2010 is EFI. To check if you have a pinhole in the fuel line from the EFI in the tank fill the gas tank all the way up. If you have the pinhole the bike will run fine until the fuel gets below the portion of the line with the hole in it at which time it will start to suck air which will cause the bike to run poorly. I recently fixed this in my bike and the bike was also making a loud sucking noise.

I don't think that is your issue. Number 1 check battery connections. Number 2 check the voltage on the battery while off and while the bike is running. Is the bike still under warranty? If so take it to the dealer and let them monkey with it. If not let us know the answers to the questions below.