Interesting electrical Problem

So I'm at the gas station. Filled her up. Seated her upright. Hit the start button. Sometimes she starts right up after I've been riding, sometimes I gotta bump the throttle to get it all burnin.
First bump of the start button, nothin. So i was just about to hit it again and throw some throttle, when my neutral light went off.. then my headlight started flickering simultaniously with my Tach goin wild. Neutral light clicked back on. Tach settled back to 0...
Started her up, rode fine home
What gives?? Anyone ever see that before??
-SLKid

 

A safety Switch or Relay might be sticking.

The usual one is the Side Stand Switch. The Activating Rod that is at the Top of the actual Kickstand Pivot ... sometimes gets lazy because of so much grime and takes a moment or two ... to move through the muck.

Shoot it Clean with Brake Cleaner.
Douche-out the Bore the Activating Rod travels within.
After its cleaned-out nice ... hit it with Silicone Spray.

 

Heard. I can add that to my list of things to do tomorrow. Its a big one

 

Just the neutral light or the starting problem would make me thing safety switch or relay.

The fact that your headlight was flickering and your tach was wigging out makes me think :

1. loose or corroded multi-pin connector in the headlight bucket
2. bad ground from the cluster area
or
3. aliens

I'd start by pulling the headlight, turning on the ignition, and playing around with connectors in the bucket to see if things start flickering again.

Cheers,
Paul

 

Thats a good idea too SQL I'll pop that out and check it out was well. I'd hate to be goin down the road and BAM dead. There was a mess in there when I first got the bike, so i cleaned the connections. Maybe one got loose after I snapped it back
-Chris

 

Do you still have the stock fusebox? I had similar issues with mine and the fusebox was the culprit...

 

i started to say the very same things... check your fuses and make sure they all have good contact as well as your ground from the battery to the block, frame etc.

 

I think it may be my kickstand relay.. I got off work this evening, and tried to start her up, and she didnt wanna hold!. Sounded like only one or two cylinders were trying to fire. I even gave her throttle and choke. Pulled my plugs, dry.
Squirted some wd40 on the kickstand relay, in and around the plunger, cause something in my head rememberd this thread, and she started up ok with a little throttle.. Wierd.. but checking fuses would be good. Where is the battery grounded at?

 

My battery is grounded to the engine on the riders right side, behind and below the air box. Also, I know it's not recommended but I was having similar issues and i simply clipped the wires from the switch on my kickstand as well as the clutch lever and I pulled the safety relay. I now must be intentional about pulling up my stand before I start off but at least my electrical issues are nipped in the bud. But seriously, bad things can happen if you ride with your stand down, so explore the alternatives first..

 

My safety on my clutch was already removed. Theres a nub where wires used to be, and my neighbors were appauled it was removed. I see no probs with it
But yes, i'd imagine probs riding with the kickstand down. Would SUCK on a tight turn. SouthernBelle Style
-Chris

 

It's weird that it would try to fire at all if it's kickstand, though, unless it's a short AND sticking. I had sticking issues with my switch for a while - it's easy to diagnose, if the bike starts up fine in neutral and then dies the instant you shift into gear, check for a stuck kickstand plunger. But it never caused actual starting issues, as long as I was in neutral.

 

You should get the Clutch Switch back in action.

Otherwise, you might stall-it, at a light, ... and wind-up playing "Hot Bike Neutral Fight" getting the Bike back in Neutral so it will Start.

You ALWAYS lose a Shifter NEUTRAL FIGHT because having to Put a lot of pressure on the Shift Lever is no-good for the Forks.