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[moscooter]

 

My buddy has a 2002 Electra Glide,  I think it has the 95" kit in it and the logo on the tank says it's a Police bike or something like that.

Anyway,  He has had pretty much the same problem (on occasion) over the last four years.   The bike is carbed and I think they said it was a Mikuni.

What happens is...............He rides the bike somewhere,  and then stops and goes in for lunch or a beer or whatever.   He comes out and the bike starts out OK.   Problem is,  he gets about a quarter mile or less away,  and the bike shuts down.

Four years ago,  the first time he had the problem,  he called me for any advice.  I suggested he remove the gas cap in case it was a "venting" related problem.  He did that and the bike cranked right up and away he rode to home.

Since then,  basically the same scenario has repeated itself three or four times or more.  My (remove the gas cap advice) did NOT solve the problem.

He had it towed home multiple times and next day,  it cranks right up again.

Back in the Spring,  when it happened again,  he took it to a guy in Charlotte to resolve it.  The guy replaced the fuel line from the tank to carb,  he replaced the petcock and also a vacuum line that runs from the petcock.

After that "fix",  the bike gave no more trouble....................until today.

By the way..............His prior (problems) all seemed to occur on extremely hot (95 degrees out or more) days.

Today,  we rode in mid 70 degree weather and stopped at the Beaver Bar in Murrells Inlet.   Had a beer and once back on the road, his bike quit running about (3 blocks away).

I'm semi-convinced it's a (fuel) problem.   It appears to me that when ever he stops somewhere,  the float bowl on the carb is loaded with gas and when he starts back out....It runs till the float bowl is empty and then quits.

Wish we had a can of Starting Fluid with us,  I could have sprayed the air cleaner inlet with it and if it had of started (for a brief few seconds),  I would then indeed know it was a "fuel" problem

Spark was checked and not a problem.  He tried pooring two cups of water on the Crank Position sensor....No success.

Any thoughts on this problems.........

[2k]

My Son's 99 Softail he had 5 or 6 years ago did the same thing. Had a SE Carb. Couldn't get it. After about 4 times of going home and getting the trailer, tore the carb to parade rest. Looked like tiny flakes of varnish in bowl. Didn't think that was it but put it back together and no more problems, 3 yrs until sold.

[grc]

Possible main circuit breaker failure under high temps, which was recalled on 2001-2003 models if memory serves me correctly.  Does he lose electrical power when it stops running?   Or if it is indeed fuel starvation then perhaps that vacuum operated petcock is the problem.  Next time it happens remove the fuel line from the petcock and apply vacuum to the vacuum port of the petcock to see if fuel will flow.  It seems from your post that replacing the petcock fixed the problem once before.  Check the actual vacuum line from the intake to the petcock as well.

Jerry

[Rimjam]

Problem is either electrical or fuel.  Two quick roadside checks w/ minimal tools: (1) When it quits remove cover & air filter, twist throttle smartly & look for fuel squirting from accelerator pump nozzle into venturi. (2) Remove either sparkplug wire @ sparkplug, insert Phillips screwdriver into end of wire, hold near (+/- 1/8 in.) engine head, crank engine over & look for spark jumping from screwdriver shaft to head.  (3) (optional) If you're really brave, stick your finger in the end of the plug wire & crank the engine.

[2k]

Problem is either electrical or fuel.  Two quick roadside checks w/ minimal tools: (1) When it quits remove cover & air filter, twist throttle smartly & look for fuel squirting from accelerator pump nozzle into venturi. (2) Remove either sparkplug wire @ sparkplug, insert Phillips screwdriver into end of wire, hold near (+/- 1/8 in.) engine head, crank engine over & look for spark jumping from screwdriver shaft to head.  (3) (optional) If you're really brave,or somewhat stupid, stick your finger in the end of the plug wire & crank the engine.

[ltank]

When the motor is hot and the bike is turned off, the heat from the motor vaporized the fuel in the bowl.A 1/2" spacer between the manifold and Carb shoud cure the problem but you also need to space out the crankcase vents to the carb

[kansaskim47]

Had a cracked coil on the "98" RK that gave me the same problems. Let it sit a bit and it would generally re-start and run.

[moscooter]

 
"Does he lose electrical power when it stops running? "

No,  he does not lose electrical power.  Plenty of gas,  don't think it is getting to the carb.

[grc]

"Does he lose electrical power when it stops running? "

No,  he does not loose electrical power.  Plenty of gas,  don't think it is getting to the carb.

OK, that eliminates the breaker idea.  If I read the first post correctly you also said the bike would start but then die shortly thereafter.  That could be as you surmised, it runs until the fuel level in the float bowl drops and starves the engine for fuel.  That tends to lead back to the petcock idea.  Vacuum operated petcocks have caused many a problem for Harley riders over the years.

Jerry

[Rooster]

Had that same kind of problem with my old 96 Wg when it was new changed to Pingel and never had another problem.

[Twolanerider]

Dealt with two bikes over the years that behaved similarly but were not the more common petcock or carb problems.  Perhaps and probably not your problems but just to be thorough at least keep the ideas in the back of your mind.

One had debris in the tank.  Once in awhile when stopped would settle on top of the petcock screen and starve the bike for fuel.  The other had an aftermarket petcock screen.  Only one like it I ever saw but it's cage was a softer rubber and the thing started to degrade.  It would collapse in on itself sometimes and plug up the nipple of the petcock.

I'd change the petcock again on the bike with the problems described.  Go with a good Pingel and, feel good that would fix it.  But sometimes these things will surprise us.

[moscooter]

 

Does the Pingel gas tap require the vacuum line or is  it just a gravity feed and the damn vacuum line could be eliminated.

[grc]

The one most folks recommend is an old fashioned fully manual petcock, with no vacuum line.  If he can remember to turn it on and off manually (like we all did back in the day), there is no downside I can think of to this modification.  And if he wants another vacuum operated valve Pingel also offers one of those.

http://pingelonline.com/powerflo.htm

Of course there are a ton of bikes still running the Harley vacuum operated petcocks without major problems as well, so if he isn't too confident about the manual on and off thing he could just replace the current petcock with another vacuum operated petcock and hope he gets a good one this time.  There again, he needs to verify first that the problem really is the petcock.

Jerry

[Twolanerider]

Does the Pingel gas tap require the vacuum line or is  it just a gravity feed and the damn vacuum line could be eliminated.

Pingel makes both.  I always removed the vac operated petcock and replaced with a manual piece on my own bikes due to how often the vacuum pieces gave problem.

[phato1]

Personally I would change the fuel petcock to manual model and change ALL the filters and lines - sometimes a fuel line will degrade and internally and pinch off the flow. While installing the new petcock and lines you can verify the flow of fuel from the tank to the carb. Also if the bike sits a lot between uses with no stabilizer in the fuel system the carb might be partially gummed up and need service -- could have a small piece of whatever interfering with float operation or flow through an internal passage.