Ignition shut off fixed

[1BADK9]

Hey ya'll I had been banging my head against wall for about three months with an electrical problem.

My bike would just shut off while riding, only the ignition turned off, lights EHC, horn, blinkers, everything woudld still work it just shut off the ignition.

Well I took it all apart myself looking for the obvious (that's about the extent of my V-twin knowledge), anyhow, I ended up taking it to a shop. After a new ignition and a few hundred dollars in t-shooting labor, the shop found pinched wires in the switch housing (throttle side), where the run/off start buttons are. Didn't seem to make much sense, it was the wires to the brake light. But with the new ignition all was fine for about 60 miles then it started doing the same damn thing again.....

Back to the shop, they looked deeper into the switch housing on the handle bars and discovered tiny little aluminum shavings were wedged between pins on the connector. Enough that the shavings would contact the housing and a pin at the same time, VIOLA off switch intermittantly shorted to ground. The shop ACCURATE ENGINEERING (Dothan AL) were cool about it, charged me no addional labor and offered to take the ignition module back and refund me the cost for it. I kept it for later as a spare.

Now what pisses me off, is the source of the aluminum shavings....... the place where I bought the bike SUPER STREET CUSTOMS (Ringgold, GA) installed the cruise mate throttle lock for me. When they drilled the switch housing for the cruise mate they let the shavings fall into the housing and onto the circuit board and connector. They also pinched the brake wires in the housing when they put it back together. I contacted the owner and told him (in a nice constructive manner) about the expenses that their sloppy careless mechanic caused and he hasn't bothered to respond. So just learn from my experience if you have an unexplained ignition shut off problem. Oh and Super Street has been added to my shit list for service or standing behind their work.

 

[Big Mike]

Sorry to hear about that.

Cruise-mate warns you about that right in their instructions, which you wouldn't see if you didn't buy it yourself of course.

I try to do as much as I can myself just for reasons like that.

 

[HotRod]

Glad to hear your running again.Sucks about the what caused the problem.:angry:

 

[mobsta]

i had a problem with my bike shuttn off caused by awire shortn,happened rt after i changed my bars so i knew where to look,trouble was it was my own fault,doh!i hate when that happens,knowone to blame:lol:

 

[bdmridgeback]

I took my throttle side apart last week to install a CruiseMate and found a ton of those shavings as well. It is where the grip part that holds the cable furrels rotates inside the throttle housing and grinds aluminum/chrome shavings off the grip. Very poor design I thought myself. I just cleaned it out and added some grease.

Everyone may want to check their ride.

 

[1BADK9]

THANKS JAKE, glad you noticed that, I will make inspecting the inside of that housing a PMI. I am pretty sure by the size and shape of my shavings that they were from the hole drilled for the cruise-mate. I should have framed them after what they cost me in shop trouble-shooting hahaha. All good it is 70 degrees in North Florida today, the sun is shining, and the K9 is sitting in the parking lot at my work.

LIFE IS GOOD!

 

[Rally]

sorry to hear of the bad responce from the owner as I've spoken to him also about a new K9 purchase.

 

[lrgk9]

I still can't figure out why so many bike shops are so sloppy. With the $$ we have invested and the way we care for our bikes how in the world can these slack ass shops keep going? I have really tried to gain technical knowledge from the guys here BigDog Biker, because they obviously take pride in their bikes - and even go the extra mile to try to make a "non-mechanic" (me) understand. From what I've read over the last few years here - there are several of you guys out there that could open a shop and blow the established ones right out of the water. I wonder how many owners out there are satisifed with their shops? I sure as hell am not.

 

[lrgk9]

I still can't figure out why so many bike shops are so sloppy. With the $$ we have invested and the way we care for our bikes how in the world can these slack ass shops keep going? I have really tried to gain technical knowledge from the guys here BigDog Biker, because they obviously take pride in their bikes - and even go the extra mile to try to make a "non-mechanic" (me) understand. From what I've read over the last few years here - there are several of you guys out there that could open a shop and blow the established ones right out of the water. I wonder how many owners out there are satisifed with their shops? I sure as hell am not.

 

[2004BC]

I still can't figure out why so many bike shops are so sloppy. With the $$ we have invested and the way we care for our bikes how in the world can these slack ass shops keep going? I have really tried to gain technical knowledge from the guys here BigDog Biker, because they obviously take pride in their bikes - and even go the extra mile to try to make a "non-mechanic" (me) understand. From what I've read over the last few years here - there are several of you guys out there that could open a shop and blow the established ones right out of the water. I wonder how many owners out there are satisifed with their shops? I sure as hell am not.

I think mechanics are a casualty of the modern technical/digital/computer world we live in now. I learned my skills the old way many years ago basically being an apprentice to the older mechanics. That's how a lot of electrical/pneumatic/hydraulic/welding/machining and of course mechanical knowledge was transferred from generation to generation. Now look at the last 30 years with the attraction of computers, the closing of vocational programs in schools (like BOCES) due to budget cuts, and the proliferation of "change the part and see if the problem goes away" mentality and you have a shrinking percentage of qualified knowledgeable mechanics in this world.

Best advice? If you can find a pro from due diligence and recommendations (and there are some definitely great bike mechanics out there) then all is well. If not then learn to work on your machine yourself and build up your own skill set utilizing the knowledge base located in the membership of this forum.

 

[1BADK9]

sorry to hear of the bad responce from the owner as I've spoken to him also about a new K9 purchase.

Yeah Rally I was actually pretty suprised since he had been very helpful and responsive the whole time I dealt in getting the bike. Seemed like a great guy with a good reputation. Hell he even replaced the front tire at the last minute because of a small tear in the rubber, I thought that was cool. I worded my letter telling him the facts about my findings and that I would leave it up to him to do what he thought was right. He never repsonded. So that answers that.

And 2004BC, I have in the past relied on my own wrenching to keep everything I own on the road, but at nearly 50 years old, I wanted to finally own something I don't have to fix myself all the time. That's why I forked out 27K on a scooter. Ironically the tech that found this hard to diagnose problem is a yougster, mid twenties, but loves what he does and loves motorcycles. I have one last project a 1959 Chevy truck, then I am retiring from taking shit apart.

 

[Chris04Masitff]

most of the problem is people (techs) arent held accountable for what they do. Things happen of course.. but at my shop, Negligence by my shop techs ( blatant disregard of what they should do and how) comes out of their pocket. been that way for years . keeps comebacks to bare minimum. i dont pay them for shit work. i wonder what other places do ?.

 

[mobsta]

i work in the auto world wrenching,come backs are on us,we work flat rate so any time your working on a come back is money your not making on another job you couldve had

 

[2004BC]

Yeah Rally I was actually pretty suprised since he had been very helpful and responsive the whole time I dealt in getting the bike. Seemed like a great guy with a good reputation. Hell he even replaced the front tire at the last minute because of a small tear in the rubber, I thought that was cool. I worded my letter telling him the facts about my findings and that I would leave it up to him to do what he thought was right. He never repsonded. So that answers that.

And 2004BC, I have in the past relied on my own wrenching to keep everything I own on the road, but at nearly 50 years old, I wanted to finally own something I don't have to fix myself all the time. That's why I forked out 27K on a scooter. Ironically the tech that found this hard to diagnose problem is a yougster, mid twenties, but loves what he does and loves motorcycles. I have one last project a 1959 Chevy truck, then I am retiring from taking shit apart.

I hear ya 1BADK9!!! I'm 53 and tired of rusty restorations, projects, etc. That's one reason I bought my BD too. Already built custom chopper. BUT, real life throws curve balls and so long as the repair work is "tinkering" I find it still fun. Best of luck from now on!!!!