Scary Electrical Issue

[Cerberus]

Good Morning everyone,

So this morning on my ride to work, after about 45 minutes on the highway it seems like my electrical cut out. I say this because the engine died and the radio shut off. After a second it seemed to start backup like it was push started. It did this intermittently over the next 5 minutes till i reach the work parking lot. Bike idles fine, started again fine, no burning smells, no recent changes to the electrical system, good full tank of gas from a reputable station. If i hadn't seen the lights and radio cut off and knew i had a full tank of gas id say it felt like it was sputtering out on fumes and then catching back after a second. After the first time this happened i killed the radios and spots but that didn't seem to help. Battery is at least a year old but was on the tender last week and the bike hasn't had any starting issues. Any idea?

[RiseLikeRa]

Definitely sounds electrical. Very hard to locate. Pull the side covers and take a good look at your connections. A mirror may be helpful.

Ra

[cnc]

Remove and clean both battery terminals really good and tighten well would be my first step. If it continues get the battery load tested as a second step to eliminate it as a possible cause.

[GIBBY]

Originally Posted by cnc

Remove and clean both battery terminals really good and tighten well would be my first step. If it continues get the battery load tested as a second step to eliminate it as a possible cause.

What Norm said!

[Cerberus]

Now would a loose terminal cause the engine to cut out? i figured the stator would power the plugs

[tomm]

Where does the radio get its power from, since whatever the problem is affects both the radio and the bike. Like Norm said, battery and connections are the first place to start.

If the radio has its own fused circuit off the battery, then I would look closely at your ground connections, since they would be common to both. If not, then start where the radio gets its power from, and work backwards towards the battery from there.

Since it is very intermittent, try moving the connections to the radio around and go ride. If all of a sudden, the engine cuts out but the radio doesn't, your problem is between where it was connected and where it is connected. Can also do the same thing with a test light. Hook it up to various places, both power and ground, and see if you get it to flicker with one connection but not another.

Had a bad fuse once. Would work fine till it heated up. Then would open up and bike would cut out. Then fuse would cool a bit and reconnect.

[Cerberus]

Radio is on a fused line off switched power, When the power would cut out the dash lights would flicker as if the bike was being started.

[JayJay]

Mine was doing pretty much the same thing turned out to be just a loose terminal.

[tonik]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

Now would a loose terminal cause the engine to cut out? i figured the stator would power the plugs

Bad batteries and connections to it do weird things the FI/ECU on these bikes. VERY common. Happened to me at 70 on the freeway...has happened to many of us. But yours got really bad really fast, that surprises me. Usually you get a few minor warnings before it gets bad.

Certainly look a the battery connection and test the battery first as that is almost always the problem but after that you are going to be chasing a bad wire or bad connection down. One thing to look at quickly is right in front of the battery is a big bus connector that is where most all of the grounds for the bike come back together. Check it for burning, the connections get dirty...resistance goes up and them melt from time to time.

[Cerberus]

Thanks, i wish this seat didn't require a socket as i cant even get it off till i get home

[Sin City Stan]

Originally Posted by cnc

Remove and clean both battery terminals really good and tighten well would be my first step. If it continues get the battery load tested as a second step to eliminate it as a possible cause.

Also, while your at it check the battery connection to the frame.

[cnc]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

Now would a loose terminal cause the engine to cut out? i figured the stator would power the plugs

Not not necessarily. There is more than power for the plugs involved. The fuel injection is also electrical and the brains of the system is the ecu. If you had on lots of accessories, radio driving lights etc add to the load.
A momentary drop in voltage regardless of the source, battery connection, bad connection where the grounds gang together etc can upset the ecu. Since the radio and lights flickered as well as the engine, it would appear to be a bad connection common to all. Another thought is the contacts in the ignition switch, you don't happen to have a bunch of keys on your key ring do you?

[Cerberus]

no i have a rotary ignition to prevent just that

[Cerberus]

I limped her home (long time) and she cut out under and throttle randomly, but would drop to idle fine. After I did finally get her home and open her up your first call was right. loose negative terminal, cleaned it up took Destiny for a short spin with no problems.

[CajunVulcan]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

I limped her home (long time) and she cut out under and throttle randomly, but would drop to idle fine. After I did finally get her home and open her up your first call was right. loose negative terminal, cleaned it up took Destiny for a short spin with no problems.

The usual tell tale sign of a loose battery connection is your clock will reset itself to 12:00 when starting the bike. Hope that was all your problem. Electrical problems can be tricky to correct sometimes!