Complete Electrical Failure

[Stuarty]

I was heading home from work today when my bike (1992 FXRS-C) suffered complete eletrical failure. Everything just stopped working. I was in the outside lane at the time

Called the recovery guy out and explained to him that I had recently replaced the battery after having a similar problem when taking the bike out the gararge. Ign on and no power at all. Nothing. Thought the battery (2+ years old) wasnt holding a charge so bought a new battery.

The recovery guy stuck a meter on the battery in the bike and it showed 12.7ish volts. He said he could hear something clicking like an electrical connection. I too could hear it. On closer inspection the circuit breaker seemed to be clicking, when the ign was turned on and a finger rested on the breaker it could be felt to "click". The battery live cable was disconnected.

Anyway, loaded bike on to trailer and headed home, a journey of about
30 mins. Got home and pushed bike in to the garage. Took the side panel off again to have a look at the breaker. There are 3 breakers (I think) and it was the one top left which was clicking. I noticed it was very loose in its clip, unlike the other 2 which are secure. Turn on the ign and the power was back, the bike started fine.

Can the circuit breaker breakdown when hot and reset itself when it cools? Could it be an intermittent short? What throws me is the complete electrical failure which might suggest the main power feed to the CB?

Was planning on buying a CB and just running the bike hoping the fault will reappear. Swap the CB when it happens and hopefully all would be well.

Any ideas?

[4valve]

Circuit breakers can play up sometimes , could be worth replacing it , if the main one trips out it will cut ALL power exactly as you describe so if it does trip with a new breaker fitted then chances are you have a short somewhere, depending on which breaker trips out you can narrow down where the short is.

[Trevor]

There is somewhere on this site where you can check if your bike got the recall. I got a recall for my 1991 FXRS-CN at the begining of 1993 to have the main circuit breaker changed. I never had a problem before or after with it. A mates 1991 Sportster, which has the same breaker never got the recall and he had the same problem as yourself. Changed the main circuit breaker and he has not had a problem since. They are not expensive and easy to change.

[SJC69]

Main circuit breaker, everything goes through it. If it is original or of any age replace it.





Being loose in the clip will not cause any real issues.
The ignition switch will also wear get high resistance and can cause similar issues over time but I would recommend replacing the main circuit breaker first, not that expensive.
They are only a bi-metallic strip which will degrade and eventually start to malfunction over time, H-D have replaced them on most models now with fuses.

[Stuarty]

Thanks for the responses.

I have a couple of CBs on order.

[FXSTC Dave]

See of this helps.

Auto Recalls: Vehicles - HARLEY DAVIDSON -- Nolo

[kiwidave]

Can the circuit breaker breakdown when hot and reset itself when it cools?

Stuarty that is EXACTLY what they are designed to do. But age can weary them, and it is good cheap insurance to replace every few years. This has happened to me.

Of course, if replacement breaker does not fix, you have a short you need to find.

I once scored total electrical failure through a wire coming adrift on the rear brakelight switch. Funny shit does happen....

[Trevor]

I also have had the bike shorting out when it was three months old, traced it to the solenoid that isolated the air in the handlebars from the forks when you braked. Removing the tail light bulb got me home.

[Stuarty]

Will replace the CBs and *hope* all goes well.

Only one rally left to do this year and dont want to start tearing the bike apart right now.

Thanks again guys for all the input

[Hawkeye]

This happened on my FXR just recently, turned out to be the ignition switch