Well after much time going back and forth to Texas I actually managed to put aside some free time this week and tackle the electrical fault on my bike. That being the complete lack of power when turning on the ignition.
I didn’t run any continuity checks or impedance checks on the loom as I new the wiring problem was located to either the internals of the ignition barrel or the wiring just below it, at its ‘u-bend junction’. Proved out by doing some calibrated wiggling of the wire and getting things to come to life.
First thing was to get the side fairings and then front fairing off. All easy stuff and just a 6mm allen key required for the fairings and a 10mm socket for the mirrors. Side panels first then ease off the front and disconnect all the lighting connections. Put these aside somewhere safe so they don’t fall over or get in the way of your size 13’s
Next is to access to the mounting point for the front light and instrumentation assembly where it meets the headstock. Undo these allen headed bolts (while maintaining some control of the assembly so it doesn’t drop) and ease it down to rest on the front mudguard. Suggest a cloth folder over a couple of times to protect the mudguard. I also used a couple of cable ties together to hold the assembly up using one of its metal arms and the lower triple tree on the forks.
-- See: light assembly removal --
From this position you have good access to the ignition barrel and it is held on by two allen key bolts. It can be removed from its location to allow better access to it, but the lower section of the barrel is security protected. You shouldn’t ever need to get in amongst that area anyway. Note that the barrel could be completely freed, but a lot of wiring would need to get moved and/or disconnected under the light assembly.
-- See: ignition barrel 1 --
-- See: ignition barrel 2 --
-- See: end connector --
Once removed the bottom plastic part can be unclipped to allow access to the wiring. From here you will be able to see if the wiring at the connection points is the cause of the fault, or if it’s good you’ll need to strip back the wiring loom sheath to dig in further.
-- See: wires 1 --
In my case it was a very easy spot as you can see from the photos. Given the indication of the failure and the fact the wire could not fit into the available connection point, it seems that the original installation was not as good as all the others.
-- See: wires 2 --
In order to make a good connection, I couldn’t just re-solder (tried it and failed). I had to drill out the old remaining solder and tidy up the end of the wire. From here I soldered the end of the wire and cut it into a point and shaped some solder to fit into the connection beside the wire. Then soldered it and made a good connection.
-- See: wiring fixed --
Did a quick check at this point to make sure it all appeared to be working – it was! Woohoo!
-- See: power on --
Tidied up the wiring and put the ignition back together and then reinstalled it all – just a reversal process. After completion took it out for a quick test ride and all worked as expected, including on full lock.
Time will tell if it all holds together, but I think it should.
Cost to me was a soldering iron ($15). Much better than $200 plus from the dealer.
Electrical Failure - advice please
Wiring fix completed!
Linear Mode
