Need Some Help- Shades of Lucas

[britman]

Guys I need a little input some the electrical gurus on this forum. Here is the scenario:
2005 R3, PC3, Gipro, secondaries removed, stepper motor disconnected and idle manually set, K&N's with open claw, and Eastern Beaver relay kit. Bike has 30K on the clock, has had the TPS replaced once under warranty, along with paint can rattle fix, and rear bearing replaced due to be installed back wards. Ignition switch has been replaced twice by me and the wires soldered in during the last install about a month ago. Here are the symptoms which have come and gone for well over a year......

Bike is fine until it sets for a couple days, then it cuts off immediately after start up. Usually re-fires right away, but will cut off again right after launching going less than a 1/4 mile. ( It died four times this morning on my 6 mile ride to work.) When it goes the Gipro becomes erratic and runs through all of the gear numbers, headlights may or may die completely, and it takes several moments for the gages to re-swept. The pisser is the bike will run great for a month or so, then the cut offs begin. The problem seems to occur more during cooler weather and when the bike starts from completely cold. It's to the point where I don't trust the Old Girl on long trips until the problem is solved. I have been from one end of the wiring harness to the other looking for a loose connection or a bare wire, nothing. The Wife and I heading out of town this weekend so I thought I would throw this post up and see if anyone has any ideas before I head to the dealer and pull the checkbook out. Chances are even if I trailer the bike to the mechanic I trust, it will start and run fine while there. Thanks guys for any input, I am really at wit's end.........

 

[TURBO200R4]

you are right it could be about anything.
if you can read a volt meter i would go between ground and pos lead on #5 fuse.
there is a connector under tank that may be problem.
you could also take a wire install in line fuse go from batt to fuse #5(remove fuse and insert wire. hth herman

 

[idk]

Make sure your fuses are tight on both legs of every fuse. I had one connector in the fuse box a little loose on one 30 amp fuse and it caused intermittent problems and eventually caused the bike to not start.

 

[britman]

Just an update if anyone is interested. Took the bike out for a birthday cruise which would have involved a cold beer and crab cake sandwich about 40 miles from my abode. About 20 miles into the excursion the bike would die and then kick back in. Finally died completely and after sitting on the side of road for a couple of minutes fired back up with a check engine light on. Headed back home for a substitute baloney sandwich and barely thought I would not make it with the bike cutting off and then re-firing after a couple seconds rest. The check engine light did go out but the bike was still running like s$#t when I finally pulled in the garage. Pissed off I left it sitting until last night when I hit the starter button and it fired right up. It ran great so I decided to let it go through a 12 minute tune which is not easy since the stepper motor has been disconnected and the idle manually set. It did fine and I started checking again this morning for the culprit. The ignition switch looks perfect, no loose wires in the base, the harness under the tank also looks intact and wiggling it will not produce the problem. I changed all of the fuses in the block and did find the 30amp battery fuse had a bubble in the plastic but the metal taps did seem to be undamaged. Meter shows no problems on fuse #5. The weather today is on and off thunder storms but I got a short ride in and bike again ran perfect with no hesitation or problems at all. I believe my options are the following in order:

1. Hope for the best and believe the problem is solved. (Maybe Oral Roberts showed up and laid hands on the machine while I was sleeping.

2. By pass the ignition switch and re-wire everything on a toggle. (I absolutely refuse to put out another $170 bucks for another POS OEM switch from Triumph.

3. Trade the "Old Girl" on a new Roadster or Moto Guzzi California and say to hell with it......


The third option is really starting to gain momentum .....

 

[breeze]

Just an update if anyone is interested. Took the bike out for a birthday cruise which would have involved a cold beer and crab cake sandwich about 40 miles from my abode. About 20 miles into the excursion the bike would die and then kick back in. Finally died completely and after sitting on the side of road for a couple of minutes fired back up with a check engine light on. Headed back home for a substitute baloney sandwich and barely thought I would not make it with the bike cutting off and then re-firing after a couple seconds rest. The check engine light did go out but the bike was still running like s$#t when I finally pulled in the garage. Pissed off I left it sitting until last night when I hit the starter button and it fired right up. It ran great so I decided to let it go through a 12 minute tune which is not easy since the stepper motor has been disconnected and the idle manually set. It did fine and I started checking again this morning for the culprit. The ignition switch looks perfect, no loose wires in the base, the harness under the tank also looks intact and wiggling it will not produce the problem. I changed all of the fuses in the block and did find the 30amp battery fuse had a bubble in the plastic but the metal taps did seem to be undamaged. Meter shows no problems on fuse #5. The weather today is on and off thunder storms but I got a short ride in and bike again ran perfect with no hesitation or problems at all. I believe my options are the following in order:

1. Hope for the best and believe the problem is solved. (Maybe Oral Roberts showed up and laid hands on the machine while I was sleeping.

2. By pass the ignition switch and re-wire everything on a toggle. (I absolutely refuse to put out another $170 bucks for another POS OEM switch from Triumph.

3. Trade the "Old Girl" on a new Roadster or Moto Guzzi California and say to hell with it......


The third option is really starting to gain momentum .....

DISLIKE!

 

[TRIIICK]

My 2005 does the same thing if i let it sit for any length of time . I constantly keep it on the battery tender. I found if it slips under 12 volts your in trouble. I have some kind of phantom draw on the battery,but as long as it's on the tender all is well. I don't know how old your battery is but you might want to take it to Auto-Zone or some other parts store and have them check it for you. JM2C.. http://www.fixkick.com/drain/drain.html

 

[britman]

TRIIICK,

The battery is brand spanking new from Advance Auto and even though the old Odyssey Battery tested fine I changed it anyway since it was almost five years old. I did well over a hundred miles on the bike today and it ran great. I really hoping it was just a defective fuse, but time will tell.

 

[rash_powder]

I'm not familiar with the GiPro and what it interfaces with, but, if it were mine and I was having this problem, I would disconnect the power from that and see what happens. The reasoning is that if it were a simple loss of power to the bike the GiPro would simply reboot, but its not just rebooting. You said it is going through all the gears and such, which leads me to believe that isn't normal behavior (you wouldn't likely have noted it if it was). Run it long enough to feel comfortable that was/wasn't the fix. If that isn't it, do the PCIII. Move one step at a time back to stock, or as close as you can get.

 

[scot in exile]

Sorry to hear about your on going problem George, hopefully it was just the fuse, keeping my fingers crossed.
If not dump it and ride one of your other bikes.

 

[britman]

Dave,

Nice to see you are still alive and kicking. So far so good with the FBG, rode to work this morning and back with no problems at all. I did dissect the 30 amp fuse with a propane torch and there was a slight break in the metal so I am being totally optimistic. I do enjoy switching off with the TBS, the little yellow bastard is pretty quick. The 64 and 67 are mainly for Sunday afternoon ice cream rides when you are certainly not in a hurry.