XJ900 intermitent electrical issue

Hi all,

new to the forum and new to XJ's.... I recently brought a 1983 XJ900R that has been cafe converted, absolutely love this bike! she is beautiful.

but, I am having an issue with an intermittent loss of power. every (lets say 10th time) I turn the key, the bike has no power, lights no nothing. if I hook up a jump pack, everything comes to life straight away. then it's fine all over again, until that... (lets say 10th) time.

I know the battery is fine, everything seems fine, I hooked up a multi meter and measured only 3 volts, add the jumper and it starts fine. then remove the jumper, turn it off and start it again, I'm back to +12 again....

I will also mention, this has had some custom wiring and is running a motogadget M.unit (which is amazing as well) so I know this might be a little more complex to figure out... but I'm committed!

I'm at a loss and have watched and read everything I can find......

Hence, I'm going to the experts... any help would be amazing! thanks all!

 

Hi, where did you hook up the multimeter when you read 3 volts and then 12 volts?
On the battery?
If so, you would think it could be as simple a dodgie battery connection/cable crimps.

 

yeah I went off straight from the screws on the battery..... I can't believe I didn't think of that. I do have a live wire going to the battery (was used to charge) that I hooked on to with the jumper pack and it worked fine though, then it didn't have the issue again for a while.

I was honestly about to replace my ignition... I figured it had to be that. I'll check out the connectors, thanks mate!