On my way home from work today I was riding in the left lane of traffic at about 40 mph. With no sputtering, coughing, farting, etc. the engine just died :yikes . I pulled in the clutch and coasted across traffic and got to the side of the road. I did a once over... no oil spilling out.... all switches, keys, etc were in there proper state. Lights were on. Tank was more than half full. All I could think is "what the :censor just happened to my :censor bike?" I have a little under 3000 miles on the sporty.

I hit the starter and the bike popped to life with no hesitation. I rode the rest of the way home, ready to make a quick diversion out of the line of cagers.

Anyone have an idea as to what the hell may have caused this? I'm going to call up the stealer tomorrow and see if they know anything (not likely).

:helpsign

Check to see if your battery terminals are tight. I had a similar incident happen a while back.


Bart

Handlebar kill switch loose or bumped unintentionaly?

Loose or dirty fuse(s)? Let us know if you find out what happened. My bike has a little over 3800 miles so I'll keep my fingers crossed. Also check the ground wire on the motor side. I think people have reported theirs coming loose.

Control ful line and spark plugs too...

--
Mr. Mechano
Kawasaki ZRX1200 152hp
Finally today (at 11am +1GMT) '04 XL1200C

G'day All.
Mine did exactly the same thing about a month ago. I coasted to a stop by the side of the road and hit the starter. The engine turned over but would not start so I turned the key off and then on again and hit the starter and it fired right up.

When I got home I did all the usual loose connection checks and the only thing I found was some oxidization on all the fuses so I cleaned 'em all up and sprayed the fuse box with electrical contact cleaner/lubricant.

Dunno if that was what caused the problem but it might pay to check your fuses too.

Handlebar kill switch loose or bumped unintentionaly?
That was my first thought too.

Thanks for all the good input. I double checked the handlebar kill switch when I stopped and it was still in the run position. I had my right hand on the throttle so I don't think I could have bumped the switch. I'm going to do a loose wire and fuse check today to see if anything stands out. I'll let you know if I find anything.