Gentlemen,

I'm really puzzled and troubled.

About 2 months ago my 85 K100RT (21,000 mi.)

Totally shut down as I was rolling to a stop on a highway.

No lights, No engine, No NOTHING.

I tried to jiggle the stop switch and the ignition switch and a few other things.

No help.

In about 2 minutes it popped back on and ran perfectly for another month till I garaged it

for a winter layup.

I put a battery minder on it to keep the battery topped up.

This morning I took it out as the weather was very warm.

Put on the "choke" hit the start switch and it started running as usual for warmup mode.

Then, all of a sudden, same thing. DEAD.

After 2 minutes it popped back on. Same way as before.

I understand the ignition swich was replaced about a year or two ago.

With much trepidation I went for a ride at low and high speed for an hour or so, 35 miles + and it ran perfectly.

Whats going on here.

I'm starting to distrust this bike.

Gerry

Near Philadelphia, PA (USA)

what have you done about prevention of corrosion ..or should that be cleaning up all electrical connections ?

the fuse holders (clips) the relay sockets etc all need to be checked if you are having issues like that .

kinda sounds like the ignition switch to me anyhow ....but also check the starter motor brushes ......they provide the ground signal for the load shed relay and are a known issue for acumulating dust and are on the list for checking ..

we have seen similar issues of cutting out when a short was found on the brake light power cable ...after the brake switches ...turns out it was a crushed cable under a washer for the rear suspension unit along the frame .

hope that helps

I had similar issues last year and a strip of the ignition switch, fiddly but fairly simple , fixed it . Mine wasn't dirty but a spring had got out of position . Followed the advice in a thread here and stretched the springs slightly , better of course would be to fit new springs.
In retrospect the switch felt rough , now smooth as .
Hope your issue is that simple .

Similar experience here, ended up being a break in a cable under the tank that would open and close circuit with bumps in the road or a turn of the bars.
Best of luck mate, dont be discouraged , these bikes sometimes just want our attention .

Hi there, I'll go with Charlie regarding the starter, I´ve been there.
Best regards
JAP,

Hi there, sounds similar to an issue i had, this is what i found
http://k100rt.aforumfree.com/t2391-ignition-switch

yep a good find captaink ,,,,cheers for the reminder !

One thing that may play into the mix is the often found habit of having many keys on one ring and when your ignition key is in the ignition the rest of then weigh on that ignition key and pull it off centre which can lighten the load on one side of the barrel and allow corrosion to do its best in there. Do you have such a key ring? Perhaps this may help point you in the right direction. keith

charlie99 wrote:yep a good find captaink ,,,,cheers for the reminder !

+1.



Here is a link to a "how to" dismantle the older type of ignition switch.

Inge K.

OH HELL,

My German is a little rusty. You see, when I was younger I had a Ducati so I had to study Italian. I guess I'll have to enroll in some new language classes

If the starter brushes are had it the engine will still run just the headlight and horn, blinkers etc dont work.
I would go with the ign switch for a first port of call.

Captink's link is the one i used too to fix my problemo .
This forum is the "duck's guts " for keeping these old nails on the road , may not be your answer Puccini but these guys will get VERY close !
How reassuring is that? Very very reasuring IMHO

Just to add a bit more
I had a fuel pump do a similar thing a few years ago and again last year so It may pay to keep that in mind as well.

Rick G wrote:If the starter brushes are had it the engine will still run just the headlight and horn, blinkers etc dont work.
I would go with the ign switch for a first port of call.

Wen I had the starter failure, the engine would not start. Had to put the bike on gear and sligthly move it back and forward to then start the engine.
Best regards
JAP

japuentes wrote:

Rick G wrote:If the starter brushes are had it the engine will still run just the headlight and horn, blinkers etc dont work.
I would go with the ign switch for a first port of call.

Wen I had the starter failure, the engine would not start. Had to put the bike on gear and sligthly move it back and forward to then start the engine.
Best regards
JAP

That is quite right but the starter brushes being bad won't stop the engine from running so it also won't make it stop. It is the starter motor that prevents it from starting not a lack of power to the ignition system.