Is my Harley overheating?
I have 1988 1200 sportster, air cooled of course. Recently while riding in stop and go traffic the engine has shut off on me and it keeps shutting off so I let it rest for a little while then try again. If that happens and I ditch the city streets for the free way then it’s fine. It hasn’t shut off on me there.
I recently got new pipes that curve next to the oil tank, is it possible that the pipes are heating up the oil because of the proximity to the oil tank?
Is that even a symptom of overheating? The engine dies, but the electrical is fine.
Two more possibilities….
Possible bad cam postion sensor (ignition trigger plate), these are NOTORIOUS for getting hot and killing the ignition, then after about 5-15 minutes, they cool down and the bike will start again…especially with the age of the bike, this sounds like a good candidate for this problem…and the next idea…
The next time it happens…..OPEN YOUR GAS CAP and put it back on and try to restart the bike immediately…if it starts right back up, your gasp cap vent isn’t working, get a new cap.
You can test the cap now…pull it off, wipe it off, stick the tank end in your mouth, you should NOT be able to blow air out, but SHOULD be able to suck air in.
Harley Sound1960 XLH Ironhead Sportster Chopper