Total electrical failure

[Beaver]

It has happened 4 times in total now. I am riding and the bike suddenly dies. Each time it is on my way home from work and has happened within the same ˝ a mile each time. When it does it, the headlight continues to work, but the starter and horn die, and of course any form for ignition. As far as electrics goes I have done the ignition relay mod as specified on basscliffs site. When I bought the bike it already had after market fuses which I have now moved under the seat. Other than that I can't think of any changes that should affect it. If left to stand a few hours then the bike will start again without a problem.

Any ideas on where to start looking?

[tom203]

It has happened 4 times in total now. I am riding and the bike suddenly dies. Each time it is on my way home from work and has happened within the same ˝ a mile each time. When it does it, the headlight continues to work, but the starter and horn die, and of course any form for ignition. As far as electrics goes I have done the ignition relay mod as specified on basscliffs site. When I bought the bike it already had after market fuses which I have now moved under the seat. Other than that I can't think of any changes that should affect it. If left to stand a few hours then the bike will start again without a problem.

Any ideas on where to start looking?

Four times! Since headlight stays on, but other stuff doesn't, you will have to carefully review wiring especially if someone has put in aftermarket fuses. Maybe some wiring is coming loose when motor gets hot. Headlight on means power to key switch and back to fuse box, but the other fuse circuits are loosing power. Are horn and ignition on seperate fuses? double check the coil relay modification.

[JEEPRUSTY]

Could this not be as simple as a failing relay in the modification?
A lot of nasty car issues creep in because of faulty relays.

[Matchless]

Intermittent faults can be quite hard to find and many are caused by poor connections and resulting heat. If I can suggest, do the following:

1) Get a volt meter
2) Determine which fuse feeds the ignition and horn
3) When the fault occurs try not to disturb any wires and immediately check the voltage on both sides of the fuse for the ignition and horn with ignition on.
4) If the fuses are showing that battery voltage is going into the wiring, hold in the horn button and carefully move your wiring, under the seat, the connectors under the tank and those in the headlamp. If the horn suddenly blows it means you have moved a poor connection, which could be your problem.
5) You could also start the bike and juggle the wires and connections to see if she dies at some stage.
6) If this does not give you a solution, you need to use the wiring diagram and trace the horn and ignition power feed and test at various spots for voltage, while the fault is on.
7) bad connections on fuses are quite common, especially those with no weather proof covers. It is more common on glass fuses, but not unusual on blade type fuses. White corrosion on the tags could be a clue.

[hjfisk]

The starter dies too?

1. Kill switch/starter switch assembly
2. Battery terminals
3. Bike ground


Test voltage at your headlamp. It can still light with lower voltage than starter and coils will run.

Test voltage from Large, red wire on starter solenoid to negative terminal on battery. Compare that when you test the same red wire to bike ground Test to frame AND compare it to using motor as ground (your engine should have a ground wire on it going to the frame)

If the relay and/or coil mod was bad, the starter should still work.

I'm really leaning towards the starter/kill switch assembly on the handlebars. Here's why:

If the coil relay mod was done, it may have been needed to compensate for weak connection in the kill and/or starter switches. A failure here would stop both ignition and starter function, yet rest of bike would remain electrically okay.

This assembly can also be sensitive to vibration, especially when borderline.

I'd say open that assembly first, test the voltage incoming to both switches, clean it well with DeOxit to be all nice and shiney, add some dielectric grease to help with moisture and reassemble. See if it helps. (If not, it is still something that should be done )

Hope this helps!

- JC

I have to agree here , At first I was leaning towards a bad connection at or bad ignition switch, except that the headlight was still getting power next in line is the kill switch in the right side handle bar