Very elecrically weird

[Zanzibar]

I stopped at a level crossing and switched off the engine. Restarted, and then put on the headlights. The engine cut. Repeated, same result. Again, and all was normal. But the tripmaster needed resetting, the way it does when you disconnect the battery.

Any thoughts? I'm stumped.

[StumpyFingers]

Check that the Earth lead is tight on the battery. if it is check the plugs into the front of the bike, something is loose.

[AlanH]

Also check the connector on the solenoid as that's the main 12v feed for the entire loom. A loose or corroded contact here can cause odd problems as it can break down when under load (e.g. putting the lights on).

While you're checking the battery earth, also check the +ve

[Lumiya]

Check the headlight earth, normally means that for some reason the headlight is earthing out through the coils (or something else attached to the ignition or inhibitor circuit) hence causign the engine to stop

[BobA]

I seem to remember that Richard Dreyfuss had a similar problem at level crossing in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"

Where there any alien spacecraft or UFO's in the vicinity or above you at the time??



Bob

[BobA]

and errrrrrrrm failing extra terrestrial meddling, I'd also suggest an earth problem.

[doglegdon]

Zanzibar, quick question for you. Do you ever have a problem getting the ignition to switch on? (ie key in, switch on, then neutral, stand and oil lights to come on?) If none of the above mentioned causes, maybe corroded contacts/loose wire in your ignition barrel. Have had this twice in the last couple of years.
I'm a techno numpty, so please ignore, if this sounds stupid!

[Zanzibar]

This is a terrific help. It comes down to poor electrical contact somewhere along the line, based on all your good advice. I will follow up each idea with this in mind, checking/cleaning contacts. Thanks to all of you from one who is NOT good in autoelectrics.

And with an AT - I SHOULD be better than I am!

I don't base my faultfinding on old films and flying saucers, incidentally. For that idea, thanks, and I'll get Scotty to beam you up.....

[Zanzibar]

Zanzibar, quick question for you. Do you ever have a problem getting the ignition to switch on? (ie key in, switch on, then neutral, stand and oil lights to come on?) If none of the above mentioned causes, maybe corroded contacts/loose wire in your ignition barrel. Have had this twice in the last couple of years.
I'm a techno numpty, so please ignore, if this sounds stupid!

Thanks DLD, No I havent had this prob, but your idea goes in my memory bank for the future. It's a good one. Mine is a 110,000 mile bike and I can expect increasing problems.

[Lord Stig]

On the off-chance the fault isn't related to the light switch, another (ignition barrel-related) place to look would be the wiring under the barrel itself. A few years ago mine died, and I traced it back to the red wire connection to the terminal under the barrel. The wire was handing loose, but was easy to fix with a gas soldering iron. The cause was salt corrosion due to salty water getting trapped in the space behind the push-on plastic cap and the terminals themselves.

Last week I had another electrical failure - completely dead while travelling on the A90 heading south into Edinburgh. I suspected the same fault as last time, but as I fiddled behind the barrel, flames started in the wiring from the ignition barrel where the cable passes over the headstock. I had to disconnect the battery to stop it - it turned out to be the main feed (red and black), which had corroded and also burned through the insulation of the red (out) wire next to it. I got going by cutting enough wire back and twisting the wires together, and insulating the lot with tape scavenged from other parts of the bike. Now all fixed with new wire for all three terminals.

The block connector under the tank/airbox was also very corroded (one spade terminal parted company with the wire as I separated the block), so I replaced the block with bullet connectors to be on the safe side. I noticed there was a lot of water in the wiring - it appears to run down in there. It would be worth checking yours to make sure your wiring is still sound and that you don't have dongy connectors either at the barrel end or the block connector end. Mine is somewhere over 92,000 miles by the way, so this kind of thing probably is to be expected with your mileage.