Break down on the Pacific Coast Highway

It’s been way too long since my last post and I apologize for that. I’ve not had a chance to do much riding this year – been a combination of schedule and mechanical issues. I do have a backlog of updates that will hopefully be interesting. Let me know if there are any specific topics you want me to cover and I’ll do my best to pass along what I know (or don’t know). Topics in queue include:

• Installation of Race Tech Caddies front-end kit
  
• Installation of Progressive 440 Series rear shocks 
  
• Installation of the Harley-Davidson garage door opener kit
  
• Installation of the Harley-Davidson tachometer kit
  
• Installation of the Harley-Davidson Screamin Eagle Stage I intake kit
  
• Installation of the Terry Components Terminal Velocity-3 fuel management system 
  

But first the partial reason I’ve not been riding much these days (besides a very hectic work and family schedule). At the end of last year I had some time of work, the holidays had passed and I wanted to get a decent ride in. I planned to ride North along the coast to Monterey and then head back. About a thousand miles with the route I planned. I figured I could do this in two to three days depending on where how the ride went.
The route I planned was not direct and I started by going East and North up to Temecula so I could ride the Ortega Highway. That ride was pretty cool though I’m not sure it was worth going out of my way to hit that stretch of road. I started late morning and got to San Juan Capistrano a little after noon, headed for the coast and then North on the Coast Highway (Highway 1).
I’d never been up the Coast Highway and thought it would be cool to check out the beachside communities. Turns out that while the area is nice and the scenery pretty good overall, the traffic sucks. It took me far longer than I had planned but by late afternoon I was past LAX (the Los Angeles international airport) and into Malibu around sundown.
The Malibu stretch was right out of Entourage but the traffic was very heavy. I took the opportunity to pull over for fuel and switch up the playlist on the iPod. Tank full I went to start the Sportster and nothing happened, no crank, no click, nothing. I checked the to make sure everything was on, turned the key … nothing. The electrical system was full on dead, no headlight, indicator lights, nothing.
Now I learned an important fact about the Harley-Davidson extended warranty; the marketing materials state that the warranty includes towing costs but this is only partially true. The costs are reimbursed if the tow is related to an item that is covered under the warranty. A battery is not covered but the charging system is. And by the way, unlike Auto Club, Harley can’t help you get a tow – that is not part of the service so you’re on your own.
Harley-Davidson being absolutely no help I called Auto Club – I did not have motorcycle coverage because I thought the HD planned had my back. Even without coverage the Auto Club dispatcher sent a truck out to assist no questions asked. The driver arrived within 30 minutes, helped jump start the bike, again no questions asked.
Now the real fun began. It was dark, traffic in LA was bumper to bumper and I was hell-bent to get the Sportster home. I split lanes (legal in California) on the access roads and freeway until I got to the HOV lane (for cars with multiple passengers or motorcycles) which was clear. There it was throttle open headed South. About twenty minutes into the ride the XL1200 started acting strange, the engine momentarily cutting out, like a heavy engine misfire, then the indicator lights flickering on and off, then the headlight flickering on and off.
I’m thinking this is not an ideal situation as I’m doing 70 miles per hour in the far left lane, with a concrete divider on my left, a steady stream of cars and trucks to my right, and a car about 100 yards and closing behind me in the HOV lane. If the bike’s electrical system had a catastrophic failure not only would there be no where for me to go, there is no “break down” lane, I’d probably get hit by the car closing from behind. Saying a few “hail Mary’s” I managed to weave the Sportster through the surrounding traffic, all the time the electrical system cutting out, and get to the right-most lane. Here I would have room to pull over if needed. As long as I could keep a safe speed I was not going to pull over, especially on a dark stretch of freeway.
I found that at around 55 mph in 4th gear the Sportster would not cut out and the electrical system stabilized – the headlight stayed on and the instrument lights stopped flickering. I pulled into a well lit gas station, kept the bike running, pulled the battery cover and checked the connections – everything I could see appeared okay (you can’t see the negative terminal without disconnecting the positive and pulling the battery from the bike.
I got back on the Sportster and continued the ride home. It took me about 90 minutes to get back and as long as I kept the bike in 4th gear and didn’t go over 60 miles per hour it performed pretty well. Needless to say I was happy to have made it home.

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