'05 RoadStar, 12000 miles - About 2 weeks ago while on the highway, I noticed that all my instruments had quit working - speedo, odo, gas gauge, etc. Bike was running fine, but I turned around and went home to check things. When I got home and shut down then tried to restart, no response whatsoever - no headlight, no gauges, no fuel pump, etc. About an hour later I tried it & everything was fine. Checked all my connections, everything looked good, no corrosion on the battery, etc. Rode almost daily since then until last night...about half mile from home the bike sputtered once, I heard an unusual noise down by my right foot (kind of a 'whirring', and all the symptoms above came back, only this time the bike totally died on me. Nothing electrical worked at all. After I pushed it home & into the garage (THESE THINGS ARE HEAVY), tried starting it and it fired right up! I checked with a voltage meter to see if it was the regulator, but that looked normal, now thinking maybe the generator??? Has anyone got any ideas? Thanks!!!

Welcome to the clinic Backspin

You pulled the dash off and checked under there and the wires going to your ignition switch?

Did not do that, but I'll check...I hadn't thought about looking under there, mainly because of the other symptoms and the noise I heard from the area of the generator....That noise has not returned yet, though. Thanks for the suggestion!

Stock bike, nothing changed on it lately?

Doc

Pretty much stock - everything on it has been there for at least 7k miles, so nothing different....vance & hines longshots, baron big air kit, carburated rather than fuel injected, as far as anything performance-wise that's about it....I did pull the 'dash' off & check things there tonight after I got home from work, but everything looked fine....It fires right up, now, but now I'm afraid to ride it any further than I want to push it! I rode it around the block several times tonight - neighbors probably think I'm nuts - but couldn't replicate the problem - yet.....I keep thinking of a trip I took last summer - between Price, Utah and Green River, Utah I probably went 45 minutes without seeing another car - fabulous - but if this happened then it would have really sucked....I'm sure you all understand that!!!! I appreciate any suggestions or thoughts.....Thanks!

To me it seems like the ignition switch but that's just a guess from someone who isn't very good at electric stuff.

Backspin wrote:
'about half mile from home the bike sputtered once, I heard an unusual noise down by my right foot (kind of a 'whirring', and all the symptoms above came back, only this time the bike totally died on me.

Probably just the typical noise you hear when the bike shuts down.

These types of electrical problems are very difficult to find. It's better when they die completely as then you can pull out the meter and start checking.

Until she dies again, I can't think of anything for you to do.

Check out the battery terminals for contact and check the battery to see volts. Maybe you have a loose connection somewhere.

Doc

Could you maybe have hit the kill switch a little? OR maybe there is a bad connection in it.

Check the kickstand switch too. They are notorious on some models for getting crap in them and sticking and arching.

I know I didn't hit the killswitch, and don't think it's ever even been used, but will look at it...I'll check the kickstand, too - that's something I hadn't thought of checking - thanks!