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Bike "shuts down" while moving!

12K views 28 replies 19 participants last post by  broggyr 
#1 ·
I've found threads on "sudden stalling" but couldn't find an exact description of what is happening to mine, so apologies if this is a duplicate of another thread.

My bike shuts off and does what appears to be a complete "reset" electronically while riding. The dash goes black, all gauges go to zero, engine stops running. It will come back on within a second or two, with the dash going through it's normal sequence of light checks, and within 5 seconds I've regained all electrical and the engine is running. (Engine is probably running only because when electrical came back, it was equivalent to popping the clutch to start.)

This has happened in both town and highway driving. 4 times thus far. A couple of times at 20-30 mph. Once cruising at 60mph in no traffic, and once at 70mph in freeway with cruise control set. Sometimes the radio has been on, sometimes not. Sometimes the cruise is on, sometimes not. When everything comes back my radio is no longer on, nor is the cruise. ("Victory" in the display) Also the odometer has changed to display total miles. I normally run with "Trip 1" displaying. Basically the reset is similar to when disconnecting and reconnecting the battery.

I took the bike to my dealer and he checked, reconnected, and put dialectic grease on some of the connections near the battery compartment. (It happened again at 70 mph after that.) I haven't washed the bike recently, nor have I ridden in the rain.

This is both scary and dangerous.

My bike is pretty much stock except for what's shown under my signature. I plan to call the dealer again to set up an appointment. The bike is under 5 year warranty.

Is anyone aware of a fix? Or something more I can take to my mechanic as suggestions?

Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
he checked, reconnected, and put dialectic grease on some of the connections near the battery compartment.
Some of the connections? Need to verify if the connections to the battery are TIGHT. Loose battery connections are hell on this bike.
 
#4 ·
There is a loose primary connection (ground or power) or a short in a primary power line, the ignition switch, or the cutoff switch. Nothing else is going to cause symptoms like that. If you are SURE that every power and ground connection is clean and tight then I would move onto the ignition and cut off switch connectors. If those are clean and tight then check the switches themselves for floppy contacts that might be making/breaking contact while riding.

I had the EXACT same symptoms on my honda 919 years ago (random loss of engine power, dash resets, any settings in the dash lost). I double checked the battery connections and they were all tight but it kept happening. Then I checked them again and what I discovered was that one of the extra ring terminals that I had put on (for my battery tender) was wedged in funny so that the battery screw felt like it was snugging down when in reality it was just snugging down on the ring terminal, the battery cable itself was still loose. Cranked the screw down until the ring terminal deformed and actually tightened up against the battery cable and never had another problem with it.
 
#7 ·
Maybe the ground wire that goes to motor is loose.
You could have a bad ignition switch or the wires on the back of it are loose.
If the problem doesn't throw a code or if it isn't broke completely the dealers computer will not find it. Am guessing dealer did a load test on battery.
See if you can barrow a ignition switch from dealer.
Good luck I'll keep thinking of what it might be
 
#9 ·
One thing I forgot to mention. After the first two times, I removed the battery terminals myself, put on dialectric grease, and tightened them down. The mechanic did this also when I took it in.

I do not know if he did a load test on the battery but I'll definitely find out.

I'm currently 150 miles from home. Heading back tomorrow and a bit nervous.
 
#11 ·
Need to get a good wiring diagram, loose connections on the battery (on normal charging systems) don't affect a running motor. The battery is only for providing power to crank the motor and provide spark during starting. Once running, the motor supplies energy to the motor to run, to the instruments, and to the battery to replace the energy used to start the motor.

The problem you are having is power to the ECU is being reset, this may be only a momentary interruption to cause all systems to reset and go through their startup routines. Without a wiring diagram it's going to be difficult to trace a most likely cause for these resets. Without the diagram, I would look to the voltage regulator as a possible culprit, either the regulator itself or a connection to it. The regulator usually takes battery power to run all the accessories (radio, horn, lights, etc.) when the motor isn't running. Once the motor starts and the charging system begins to provide output the regulator or other electrical device senses the voltage and routes it the accessories (this is why you see everything reset as soon as you press the starter button). I'll try to locate a charging system diagram so I can provide a more educated guess on what is causing the issue.
 
#12 ·
loose connections on the battery (on normal charging systems) don't affect a running motor. .
Well , on a Victory a loose connection at the battery will cause all kinds of engine malfunctions ....
 
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#14 ·
djsams: Per soofle616's post, do you have some ring or U terminals added to your battery bolts?
 
#16 ·
Here's an update. On my trip back home, I was within a mile of Sport Rider in Altoona, WI so I stopped in. What a great experience! Their mechanics skipped lunch to take a look at my bike.

They listened to the symptoms and went to work. He checked and found an error code for "low voltage". He suspected the "circuit breaker" (the thing with 2 posts) was faulty and, for $11, why not replace it?! He also found that the positive battery terminal still had the protective coating that they come with from the factory. (He told me that part of the dealer prep is to remove that, however it hadn't been removed.) He scraped it off with a razor blade. He also redid the connections to the battery and the ground, all with a generous amount of dialectic grease.

If this doesn't fix the problem, he told me the next thing he would try is replacing the automatic turn signal module. He has seen a couple of bikes that had similar issues and, believe it or not, a faulty turn signal module can cause some very strange electrical problems.

As and "added bonus" he pointed out that my shifter was loose and about to come disconnected so he tightened that nut down.

I then rode 140 miles home with no glitches. So far so good! Prior to stopping in, the voltage gauge had been reading 14 volts. On the way home it was clearly higher - closer to 14.5. Something was obviously different.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this is the end of the problem! Thanks to all of you for your input. I mentioned many of your ideas while describing the symptoms.
 
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#17 ·
I guarantee you if the motor is running and you unhook the battery the bike will die.
We have stators in our bikes not alternators like cars. Alternators will run a car with the battery unhooked
 
#18 ·
Thats not entirely true on all cars. Some have a voltage regulator running through the ECM and the alt does not use an exciter wire to regulate the voltage.

Although the old system worked just fine, manufactures have a tendency to take the most basic of systems and run it through a module or computer, with no known benefit.

The average EFI system needs 6 volts to operate, some more. With a loss of base voltage the voltage regulator shuts off killing the engine.

And this insanity is becoming more common.
 
#19 ·
I haven't been on here for awhile. I would have mentioned the main circuit breaker. It is fairly easy to replace and a napa version is less than 3 bucks. I think with what those mechanics did to the battery and replacing the breaker you will be fine. The breaker is self reseting. I have seen a lot of other Vic's with the problem and it will make you think the darn fuel pump is going out!
 
#22 ·
If you still have the original breaker, its a good idea to have a Busmann on hand and whenever your battery is out, install the Busmann. The original one will let you down and usually far away from home.
 
#23 ·
I agree with Ricz... the originals are garbage. When i repleced my battery, i replaced this AND keep a spare on hand
 
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#25 ·
The stock one is 40 amp

[ame]https://www.amazon.com/Bussmann-BP-CBC-40HB-Circuit-Threaded/dp/B001BXMRHE[/ame]
 
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#28 ·
These bikes need a good battery, not just a charged one but one with great health too. This past week I bet I have sold 5-10 battery's here just for the locals getting the bikes back on the road. The one guy has both a CC and a X1 both on the battery out of the crate and they are on the way out, it would start and run but pop and miss sometimes, replaced the battery and fixed.

The engine light is coming on as well I assume? Check you battery not just for voltage but for health, if its under 75% health, see if a good deep charge will bring it back up, if not, replace it.
 
#29 ·
Agreed. Just because a battery might show 12v doesn't mean it has the amps to back it up.
 
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