Triumphrat

04-15-2007

Something strange happened to me on my ride this afternoon. I rode for about 150 km and then stopped to have a smoke. I turned the engine and ignition off and when I wanted to get going again, I put the key in, turned it and ... nothing happened. No warning lights on, no nothing. It just looked as if my battery was dead. I checked for loose wires and I came upon this one. (right-hand side of bike)

I messed about with it for a while and suddenly the electrics were back. Now my question was it just pure dumb luck? (I think so) Or let me rephrase this question: What is this cable / What does it do?

Also during my ride, I noticed a loss in power everytime the bike had to deal with a (serious) bump in the road. I guess this has the same reason as the problem I explained above.

Oh yes, I ride a 2004 Bonneville, just put 21000 km on it, and it just went in for the 20000 km maintenance (replaced brake pads - oil - synchronised carbs - ... ).

Motley · 04-15-2007

That looks like the carb heater connector and if disconnected it shouldn't cause the bike to quit. It sounds like you have a short somewhere else.

sweatmachine · 04-15-2007

yep, carb heaters.

Check your battery terminals, sometimes they wiggle a little loose and cause what you described.

jojje1963 · 04-15-2007

Also check ground wire at the engine crankcase, goes from minus on battery to rear of engine

[ This message was edited by: jojje1963 on 2007-04-15 14:55 ]

04-15-2007

Thanks for your help everybody. I'll check it out.

AVMECH · 04-15-2007

On mine this happened and it was the wire for the main battery fuse. The wire is just in there and it seemed the only thing holding it on was it's connection to the fuse itself. I foud it out by wiggling things, mabey when you reconnected the carb heater it wiggled it just right. anyway, just a thought.

Sheepdog · 04-15-2007

I second the thought from JOJJE 1963. I pinched (and cut) that wire when replacing the sprocket cover and had the same symptoms. Its a bit of a vulnerable spot on the bottom of the motor, but I only had trouble the one time...