2013 Tri Glide suddenly quit running

[Rusticwater]

My neighbor has a 2013 110th anniversary Tri-Glide that I'm trying to help him with. Last week he and his wife rode from Denver up to Estes Park, about 1.5 hours or so. My understanding is that while he was waiting at a traffic light the engine suddenly died, but he still had power to the headlight, etc., yet the engine would not crank over.  20 minutes or so later he tried again and the bike started right up and they rode back. No problems since then.

I checked for codes doing a WOW test and no codes are present.

Aside from that I know he has another ongoing issue where his bike will only start in neutral, I suspect a bad clutch switch, but that wouldn't cause the engine to quit running. I only mention that perhaps in the momentary panic after the engine died he forgot to shift back to neutral which kept the bike from cranking and it was something else, maybe fuel related, that caused the engine to quit in the first place.

Any ideas would be appreciated, thanks.

[rigidthumper]

On my trike, you either have to be in neutral, or, have the clutch pulled in and the front brake lever pulled in, to activate the starter.

[Fugawee]

Well now...I learned something today.
I knew about the Clutch Lever pulled in, and the Bike in Neutral to start...but did not know about having to apply the Front Brake Lever.
Thanks for that bit of info.

[Rusticwater]

Rigidthumper thanks for the suggestion. The owner's manual I downloaded from the Harley SIP for a 2013 trike makes no mention of the brake activation requirement for starting the engine??? I'm more puzzled about what might have caused the engine to die to begin with. I'll reach out to my neighbor and try to clarify the exact chain of events again. He's in his 80s and still rides!

[Tacocaster]

Hate to highlite his age cuz we're all going to be there eventually but I wonder if he accidentally hit his Kill switch. Hard for our elders to admit they made a mistake but it happens to all of us.

Other than that, Idle Air Controllers on pre-TBW bikes was a likely culprit for "stalling when it should be idling" issues. Not sure what they call this controller on the TBW-equipped rides. If it only happened the once and has not repeated, I wouldn't overdo any investigation until it repeats at least once more.

[tomcat64]

Hate to highlite his age cuz we're all going to be there eventually but I wonder if he accidentally hit his Kill switch. Hard for our elders to admit they made a mistake but it happens to all of us.

Other than that, Idle Air Controllers on pre-TBW bikes was a likely culprit for "stalling when it should be idling" issues. Not sure what they call this controller on the TBW-equipped rides. If it only happened the once and has not repeated, I wouldn't overdo any investigation until it repeats at least once more.

this is a common occurrence with trike riders, along with short shifting, leaving the lights on, and other age related problems,, BTW the only time you need to engage a brake is when the bike is in gear..

[Rusticwater]

It appears the brake actuation requirement for starting a trike in gear began with the 2014 models. Regardless I suggested to my neighbor that he have the clutch switch interlock fixed, hopefully he'll have the bike checked out thoroughly. I talked to my other neighbor who was on the same ride and coincidentally has a 2012 trike, he wasn't able to shed any further insight into what happened.

One of the problems faced by Denver riders is that a beloved dealership, Rocky Mountain Harley, was forced to close by the MOCO last year and some haven't found suitable options for service.

[roadkingdresser]

I was just in Myrtle Beach for the fall bike ralley and we took the wifes 18 trike. The thing would start when it was cool in gear with the clutch in and brake applied. But when it was hot it would not start with out the clutch pulled and the brake on. I didn't care for that especialy in traffic. Seems like a safety hazard to me. Also don't care for the hydraulic clutch.

[kd]

I was just in Myrtle Beach for the fall bike ralley and we took the wifes 18 trike. The thing would start when it was cool in gear with the clutch in and brake applied. But when it was hot it would not start with out the clutch pulled and the brake on. I didn't care for that especialy in traffic. Seems like a safety hazard to me. Also don't care for the hydraulic clutch.

That sounds pretty consistent to me.  It won't start in gear whether hot or cold unless the clutch lever is pulled in and the brake applied.  Working as intended.

[Rusticwater]

[Tacocaster]

Rusticwater? By any chance, are you "Harold from Smithfield, Maine"?? If yes, kudos to you for the suggestion to Doc!

[Rusticwater]

Ha! I saw that but no, that's someone else. I lived on the Blue Hill peninsula across from MDI/Acadia National Park. I actually came across that video a few days ago researching my neighbor's issue and then downloaded the 2014 trike owner's manual to confirm the starting procedure was different from a 2013 model.

I do like some of Doc's videos, he had an interesting one awhile back that featured specialized tools, some of which I hadn't seen before:

[roadkingdresser]

KD, Sorry I left out the thing had to be in nuetral and brake and cutch applied when hot. When cold it would start in gear with clutch and brake applied.