97 M900 - Bike dies/died

[greenohawk69]

Ride the bike to work two days last week. Day one, hit two bumps and the engine quit and was able to pull off freeway. Lights were on. Shut bike off and then on and it restarted. Figured my foot hit the gear shifter (was in 6th @ 60+ mph) and that is what caused the engine to quit. Had a similar experience with my Harley.

Day two, hit the same bumps again and nade sure foot was not under the gear shifter...engine died again.

Concern was rose considerably as now the LED head- & tailights both blew their fuses. Looked for bare/broken wires and did not find any.

Rode home with no lights. The bike surged, going 60+ then felt like it was dying and then back to speed.

Looked over bike on weekend, no broken wires and grounds were tight.

LED lights still blow fuses and tail smelled like it was burnt.

OEM head- & tailight work after new fuses installed.

Ran bike for ~ 30 miles and all seemed ok. No surges. Ran it Sunday night and close to home it surged again before the engine died 2 blocks from home.

What problems do I have (will be looking at over weekend again)? Seems electrical to me...maybe regularator/rectifier? Looking for solutions. Thanks.

[greenmonster]

Electrical, yes.

Fuse box is a known problem area, so is wiring around steering stem and ignition relay.
Check those f bad connection/shorts f a start.
Check the yellow relay under saddle, lift the hood and when turning
ignition ON, see that it works properly.
I had the bump-dead issue, was fusebox.
And, as always, make sure battery is good….
Maybe unhook your latest LEDmods and see what happends?

[koko64]

+1 with Gert.
Also, check the tail light wiring as you noticed a burning smell back there. A frayed or pinched wire could have shorted on the frame or vibration may have dislodged led tail light components.

[Howie]

Fuses burn from excessive amperage draw, which means either a short in the wiring or a component with a higher than normal amp draw.  You probably have two separate problems.  For the stalling I would suggest wiggling the harness at the steering head and turning the bars while the bike is running.

[greenohawk69]

Problem appeared to be a wire to an ignition coil that was just about severed. Re-connected wires and it started and ran...and the headlight and tailight worked.

Test run tomorrow.

[greenohawk69]

Test ride was a fail. Rode around two blocks and it'll surge then quit. Replicated this is the rear stand.

I yanked on the wires, including the fuse box, while it was running and it did not affect it running.

Revved it up to ~ 7500 rpms and then down to ~ 4000 and back up to ~5500-6000, back down and it just quit.

Had multimeter on the battery (tank was up) and it started at 12.89 and eventually up to14.34.

It has started right back up and the halogens lights are ok.

Any suggestions?

[Howie]

Over the interwebs this is difficult, though surge makes me think maybe fuel.  How sudden?

[greenohawk69]

Within 5 minutes on the road and when it was up on the rear stand.

[Howie]

Does the bike sputter sputter cough die or just cut out?

[greenohawk69]

It has sputter / surged and also just cut out. I can then re-start and run it back home (this is a few blocks from my garage).

[Howie]

I'm thinking you might now be suffering a fuel issue too.  Do you still have the original vacuum fuel shut off?  Tank hoses not pinched?  When the bike stalls open the carb bowl drains and see how much fuel comes out.  Look for contamination too.

[greenohawk69]

All new fuel lines and shut-off valve. I'll re-check that as planned.

[Howie]

If all checks well you might want to try bypassing the fuel pump.  Fuel level in the tank has to be higher than the carbs.

[greenohawk69]

Tank 85%+ filled.

[greenmonster]

Loosen fuel line at carbs, run a few seconds on starter.
Fuel should pulsate freely.

Opening fuel cap gives swoshy sound? If so, tank pressure relief clogged/faulty.

Short fuel line tank-filter not kinked?

Did you test run without your LED mods?

Go you have the original ignition boxes? If so, test run w them.