[mroberto]

My bike just presented me with this problem yesterday. While running, the bike's electrical system will completely die for a split second, then return. The headlights, instrument cluster and engine all shut off. When the power comes back on, I haven't even had a chance to pull in the clutch so the engine fires back up, the instrument cluster goes through it's starting sequence, and everything is fine, until it happens again. I've had this problem occur when idling, at high RPM/high speed, low RPM/low speed. In a 20 minute ride, this can happen about 3 times randomly.

I checked the battery connections. Both are clean and properly connected.

Does anyone have any idea what the likely cause could be? The power is intermittent and I haven't blown the main fuse, so I'm ruling out a short unless a short could happen slow enough to kill the power but fast enough to not blow the fuse.

My other thought is the ignition switch.

Miscellaneous fact: I have a homemade GPI installed on the bike. It’s been on since the beginning of the season and I haven’t had any problems with it. It also returns to life when the bike turns back on.

Any help you guys can give me is greatly appreciated!

Thank you everyone!

 

[mroberto]

Thank you very much for your help! I've marked up a wiring diagram with the points you've mentioned as well as a couple of others. I'm going to try to have a look at it this afternoon.

I've already parked the bike. Once I realized that this wasn't a momentary issue, I stopped riding it.

But I do agree - I wish it would fail completely. Then it would be cut and dry. These intermittent failures are so hard to find sometimes.

 

[mroberto]

Thanks for the response hedgehog. The GPI is my Gear Position Indicator. I don't think that's the problem, however.

This morning I found some time to go look at the bike. My plan was to start it up and let it run while I removed the seat and propped up the tank to start poking around. Much to my delight, however, the bike wouldn't turn on. Turned the key, and nothing happened. I guess I got my wish of a hard failure!

So as a result, I decided to start with the ignition switch. I moved the air box out of the way and found the green connector. When I pulled it apart, and it took some effort to do so, this is what I found:

One pin was corroded and had melted the plastic of the connector surrounding it. This happened on both connectors. I de-pinned the three good pins and cut the two melted ones out since I couldn't just slide them out. Now I'll be able to remove the contact, clean (or trim) the wire, re-crimp a new contact on and replace the connectors. I just ordered the connectors/contacts/seals from Eastern Beaver Company for $9.74 USD (shipping included). URL:

http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Elec__Products/Connectors/Sealed/SM-HM/sm-hm.html

Specifically, it looks like part number 4P090WP-HM is the one I want because, a) it's a 4 position connector, and b) it looks like it has the appropriate clip on the side so I can mount it back on the tab that I removed it from.

If this doesn't solve my problem, I'll be back. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[mroberto]

TeeRiver, I'm sorry I forgot to answer your question. I had almost 20,000 KMs (not miles) on the bike when this happened. I've put a few thousand km's on it since then and I haven't had a problem.

Now to correct something I said earlier: I don't think this was caused by a corroded contact, but rather by a loose contact. A loose contact will arc which generates heat and, after causing the gap to widen, it will create enough heat to melt the connector.

 

[mroberto]

Another good reason to do the headlight relay mod .........
Get the most significant current load out of that circuit completely.

D'Ecosse, what is this relay mod you speak of? I did a quick search but couldn't find any solid info about it.