Bike totally died then restarted

[Bulldogx11]

Hi,having a intermittent problem with my 1994 Voyager 87,000 miles . One day couple weeks ago went to start and nothing when turned the key on then turned off and on couple times and lights came on on the dash and started . Then I was riding down road yesterday at like 50 mph and the bike cut out no stumbling just shut off. Pulled to the side road no lights on dash turned key on and off a few times and the bike started everything was fine and rode 30 miles home. Can't make the problem occur by jiggling the ignition switch. Not sure if relay or connections that are known to cause this problem with this bike. Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated .thank you

[doug of so fla]

First step is to check battery connections for corrosion, must be clean & shiny on each side of connections, Next get a load test on the battery, free at most automotive parts stores.
Battery checks out good, check out cable from ignition to the left of ignition, to a large white connector, open harness and examine individual colored thin wires for any damage or deformity's. This harness was attached to the front frame tube right below faux tank cover with a ty-wrap, on the left side front, and turning the handle bars all the way right would stretch the harness and back to the right would kink the wires and over time they would break.
There is a large white connector you can get at on the left side where the above wires go to and it is kinda hard to get at but it is in a spot where it is vulnerable to get corroded from moisture,very common problem. Check and see if any of the above could be the problem . Let us know what you find..

[cushman eagle]

As Doug mentioned,the ignition switch harness has been an issue.
Do a search on this forum on the issue.
I bought my '99 10+ years ago with only 22,000 miles on it,and it had already had 2 of the wires spliced.I shortly afterward had all new wires put in the harness,and did not ziptie it to the steering head.
I have since put 64,000 miles on it with no more wiring issues.

[Nails]

I had a similar problem that turned out to be a dead and dying starter relay. Was getting stuck in a quantum state of being both on and off at the same time. Sorta.
Sometimes the key wouldn't turn the bike off, also. Dunno whether you're seeing that.

[Bulldogx11]

Had alittle time to look at bike today. Turned key on all lights on dash on , turn handle bars and wiggled wires lights stayed on couldnt make it shut off. Cut the strangling tye-wrap on frame and wiggled /bent wires lights still stayed on. Do I have to have bike running to do this test? I didn't think it would matter not sure. Checked and cleaned battery connections they seemed fine. Cleaned the connector from pos battery to fuse box seemed ok. Found the big white connector from fuse box wiggled that didn't shut lights off either. Was gun a try to clean that but couldn't really get at it , can you get it apart without taking fairing apart ? Thanks for the help

[doug of so fla]

Try with bike on, off, on ACC, in gear out of gear examine it every way possible!!!, as intermittent electrical will make ya crazy!! Once you lose the complete connection where nothing works it is much harder to find it, The white connector can be gotten to but it is easier if made accessible with faring apart. You could try to just spray some electrical cleaner on and much as you can get at. Did you open the harness and look at the wires?? a must do to eliminate that possibility.. the wire may have a kink or look thinner or just look different, if it does, open the wire itself and you will see damage to the strands if there is any. Also check all your fuses and make sure they are clean making good contact and no corrosion under the fuse box.

[Bulldogx11]

Tried to get the bike to die and it wouldn't die. Did the wiggle /bend wire test with it running not running on acc couldn't make it die, clutch in clutch out no difference ... The kill switch and the kickstand switch seem to function properly. Like I said earlier couldn't get the big white connector apart but will try again seems very clean in that area cuz bikes only been in rain handful of times by I Know that means nothing could be oxidation. I guess I will Have to cut into the ignition harness was trying to leave that as a last resort lol. Is there any relay or something else that could be causing this problem ??? Thanks for the help

[jorgeno]

You have a Electric gremlin some where. I would start to check the ignition switch. Sounds like a bad Connection in one lead.

[VoyKimmer]

Cut the 10 pin connector out and hardwire. You will never have an electrical problem again. Did that on both my Voyagers. Best thing I have ever done to them.

[mickier]

Cut the 10 pin connector out and hardwire.

Can you still take the faring off if you hard-wire?

[Nails]

The only connectors you need to mess with to remove the fairing are the side lights. Two connectors on each side.

[Barry]

With the harness hard wired it should be possible to remove all fairing plastics. This includes the plastic below the left speaker as well as the inner plastic. I'm slowing reassembling after replacing my coil wires.

[Bulldogx11]

Hi I cut about ten inches of the covering for the ignition wires in the area whe re the tye wrap was crushing it on the frame, didn't see any bad looking wires kinked or other wise. Did the wiggle test on individual wires and bike wouldn't die. I still couldnt get the big white connector apart guess I will have to take fairing off to get at it. When I do get in there and unhook the connection to the actual ignition switch how do I check the ignition switch ? Looked in my manual and couldn't find the test in there. I have been riding the bike still and it hasnt died on me again while I was riding it but don't hav any confidence that it won't happen again. Oh just remembered one time that the dash lights was on when I was guna start it when I hit the starter button the lights went out and wouldn't start then then I turned the key off and back on it started right up, this only happened once. Thanks for any info.

[VoyKimmer]

You will have electrical problems at the worst possible moments until you cut out and hard wire that pesky 10 pin connector. Yes fairing has to be removed to get to it. A lot of people worry about removing the fairings. It’s not that bad. I remove mine on both my bikes a few times a year for at least cleaning if not something else. I did think my electrical problems was the ignition switch and removed and replaced it reworked it and went thru hell with it and thought I fixed my problem. Then coming home from work one night after midnight 40 miles away from home and I lost all my lights. It was scary. Had to drive home late at night in total darkness. Talked to Carl about it and he told me get rid of that 10 pin connector. I did and haven’t had an electrical problem on either bikes since. Did the last bike my 96 over 8 years ago.

[Nails]

When I do get in there and unhook the connection to the actual ignition switch how do I check the ignition switch ?

You can remove the ignition switch with the top triple clamp. Something I once had to do on the road, to take it to a locksmith because the forks wouldn't unlock. My bike did fine, sitting on the center stand in that parking garage with only the lower triple clamp. (Glad I had repaired the center stand and carried a bike cover.)

Just unbolt the triple clamp, and then unplug the switch. I had mine in hand in just 30 minutes using my road tools. (You do need a big box-end wrench, about 27 or 28mm as I recall, which I bought and then returned to a local hardware store with nice people. It's the headset nut, if you want to make sure you have one ahead of time.) Look on this forum for a video Don made for adjusting the head bearings -- something you might want to do anyway. (There's another thread about this going on right now.) I had previously done this and remembered everything necessary to remove the triple clamp.

Here's a crappy drawing of the switch, from a "ZG1200_B1-B5_VoyagerXII.pdf" file I got somewhere off this forum. You don't need this PDF, as it gives no other information about removing the ignition switch -- but you might want it anyway. As I recall, it's fairly easy to remove the electrical part of the switch if you want the key part and the triple clamp out of the way.

Capture.JPG (11.87 KiB) Viewed 415 times

My point is that I'm sure the switch is easier to inspect/test properly having it in your hands. And you can get there fairly easily, and without removing the fairing.

[VoyKimmer]

A lot easier to just remove the switch than the whole triple tree with it. Nothing else has to be removed to get to the Allen bolts underneath. A little tight but not to bad with a long Allen socket.

[Bulldogx11]

I sure I can get the actual ignition switch out but where does the ignition switch harness go to? (The 10 pin connector?) Didn't see test procedure in manual so How exactly do you check harness to the ignition switch to see if it's working properly? What is recommended for hard wiring 10 pin connector cut out wires one at a time and solder together and individually shrink wrap? Thanks

[VoyKimmer]

Under the left fairing it plugs into the harness not the 10 pin connector. The 10 pin connector plugs into the fuse block. Unscrew the fuse block to give you more wire slack and yes one wire at a time. It’s a pain but well,worth it.

[Nails]

Under the left fairing it plugs into the harness not the 10 pin connector.

And I doubt you need to remove the fairing to get to it. I had the triple clamp out of the way, but there was plenty of slack.

[HMB Don]

No one has talked about loose or dirty battery cables. Have you checked those.

At home in the garage I use a long extension and come up from the bottom of the fairing to remove the Ign switch. But all of the different ways to remove the switch are good.