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2006 Bonneville sudden and complete loss of ignition

1K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  Tornadof3 
#1 ·
Hoping that someone out there can be of assistance.
My pride and joy is a 2006, 865 Bonneville black. The bike has about 80,000 kms (50,000 m), it has developed a very annoying intermittent problem. While riding along, in fact even on occasions while idling the bike will suffer a total loss of ignition power literally like you have hit the kill switch. By the time I have coasted to a stop by the road the bike will easily restart with no problems and off I go. Sometimes I can get a whole ride but other times it happens every few minutes and apart from being very annoying its bloody dangerous on a busy road. What is so strange is that the bike will otherwise run perfectly, it's hard to believe it's a failing component when the bike just runs so well. Naturally I have checked all the obvious battery terminals, tried shaking the side stand switch, looked for anything loose or disconnected but just nothing. Has anyone experienced this behaviour, any ideas how to attack it?
 
#2 ·
Might be worth having a look at the inside of your ignition switch, there have been a number of threads on here if you do a search for corroded ignition switch.


Here's one of them
 
#7 ·
Might be worth having a look at the inside of your ignition switch, there have been a number of threads on here if you do a search for corroded ignition switch.


Here's one of them
Ade, thanks for the pointer. I'll have a good at that but you have raised a thought that I hadn't considered before. I very rarely venture out after dark and I have not noticed whether the lights actually go out. I head always goes to igniter or coils or some other components, I will just have to head out at night and see what happens. If the lights actually go out than its fair to say it's a power supply issue which could be the ignition switch or something in the wiring. I'll give it a run tonight.
 
#9 ·
Hello mate, I had similar for a little while ago, where the main fuse would vibrate out of the terminals in the fuse box...
Are the idiot lights on when it cuts out, or do they go out as well?

Kind Regards


Chris
Chris you make an excellent point, I've never actually noticed whether the lights are still on which would narrow things down a lot. Mate the Australian sun makes it almost impossible to see the lights by day so I guess I'll be heading for a night run. Thanks
 
#4 ·
I put my money on 2 things:
1 - Pickup coil (a.k.a Crank Position Sensor or CPS). These have a habit of working fine when cold then bombing out when they get warm. Its usually a sign that it requires replacement. I think this is the most likely of the two.
2 - The seat. On carbed models like yours, it is a well known problem. Sometimes your weight can force the underside of the seat pan down, putting pressure on the igniter connector block. The effect is as if the ignition was just turned off. People who have had this problem have got around it by raising the seat slightly (sticky pads on the seat/rail rubbers) or by cutting a hole in the seat pan so that the connector block pokes through.
 
#5 ·
Similar symptoms in my bike were caused by the OEM ignitor becoming gradually intermittent over a period of months. There was no diagnosis; after the usual checks of connections, ignition wires, spark plugs, and such, then replacing the crank position sensor and ignition coil without solving the problem, replacing the ignitor (with a Procom) immediately fixed it.

Hopefully, yours will be something less expensive. I replaced the ignitor as a last resort, didn't want to spend the money for it without ruling out other possibilities.
 
#10 ·
Mate that is the problem, the possibly unnecessary cost of parts but another response suggested borrowing the parts if possible. The intermittent nature adds so much uncertainty as it can run for a couple hours without failing, I'll just have to start trying some of these great suggestions out. thanks heaps
 
#11 ·
A second vote for crank position sensor. Your symptoms are an exact match for a cps that has reached end of life. When it warms up, it stops sending its signal so the motor quits. Once it cools down, the bike will fire up and run fine until the cps is once again hot. It's relatively inexpensive and easy to do yourself. Good luck! I look forward to reading about your successful sleuthing and repair!
 
#12 ·
If you decide to replace the crank position sensor (also called the "pickup coil" by some), order a gasket for the alternator cover at the same time, and have some silicone sealant on hand for the wire grommets when you replace the cover. Set the gap to not more than 0.8mm. Mine was less than that after I tightened the screws, but that's alright.

You can do this job without draining the oil by leaving the bike on the side stand.
 
#13 ·
And I was about to add: The connector for the crank positing sensor, on top of the airbox, is difficult to access. Just so you know.
 
#14 ·
I recently had a fault which caused the engine to stop. After fruitless investigation it restarted, only to fail a few miles from home. After about 8 hours of searching and head scratching I found a little mark on the loom which is to the left of the tank at the front, this bit flexes due to handlebar movement. Inside I found three burnt out wires ! A careful bit of soldering and some self amalging tape(that's the tape that self welds to itself) I was back on the road. Check this area of the loom.

Philip
 
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