Sudden total loss of power at speed

Doug760

Member
I've been searching but have not come across a post with the exact same issue that I had tonight. I was just cruising along at 55mph and lost power. Totally surprised me as the speedo needle went below zero which I thought was odd as I thought it always stopped at zero on power down. Anyway just wanted to see if anyone else has had this before I start troubleshooting. The key switch seems suspect as the key used to be nice and tight. It is now all sloppy... I turn the key on and there is absolutely nothing lit. The battery was fine but I still need to check that. I just need to start tracing this issue down and get it fixed. I'd really like to hear what the forum has to say as I am troubleshooting this. 2009 Ridgeback is the bike...

Thanks in advance,
Doug
 

Kdub

Active Member
Check your ground wires really well. Make sure all connections are tight. This is my problem 95 percent of the time.
 

Doug760

Member
I have only had a chance to check the connections to the battery itself and they are tight. I will be checking it all soon... DVM time!
 

steveo

Member
same thing happend to me once it was the tiny screws that hold the main harness plug in the EHC broke off and let the plug back out might want to check that
 
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Nukeranger

Nukeranger
Doug,

There are posts on this. I have a 2008 Ridgeback and I can tell you that it is important to have a good clean battery connection, good clean ground to the transfer case, and a good path to the ignition switch. All of this is important assuming your EHC is good which it is most of the time. There is a thread on disconnecting, cleaning, and spreading Dielectric Grease on the pins when installing the two connectors for the EHC.

What I figured out on my bike is the ignition switch grounds the EHC to turn it on (Bob Lockwood explained this to me). Hence the electrical circuit is critical. I tested my ignition switch and it appeared to be good. There are two (I don't know why) connectors between the EHC and the ignition switch. One is under the coil cover and the other is under the gas tank on the backbone. I replaced the one under the coil cover with a deutsch switch and instead of daily shutdowns, I get about one a month. If the condition changes, I will solder the connection under the gas tank. But I feel extremely comfortable with the monthly hicups so I am leaving it alone and riding.

I don't even think about it when I ride. But when I get a shutdown, I reach down to cycle the ignition switch, hit run, and then start. It takes very little time and the last time it happened when riding with CurtK, I was out in front of him and he didn't even notice I had a shutdown.

It is also important to eliminate one item as the possible issue one at a time so you know you fixed it rather than going crazy and replacing everything and not solving the initial problem. Having said all this, I was lucky enough to get a WP via the very last group buy which is sitting on the shelf in standby in case I need to replace the EHC.

You just need to understand that an interruption of milliseconds via the ignition switch will cause this.
 
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skidmark racing

Active Member
Take the seat off. Turn the key on. Wiggle the plugs that connect to the EHC. It could be a broken pin at the connector.
Been there, done that.
 

Doug760

Member
There is no recovery to this situation as it stands via cycling the key and the engine on switch. I have the manual and plan on following the troubleshooting flowchart. The key fitment is weird though. That was the first thing that I noticed as it was not like that prior to this. I will post my findings once I get this solved.

Doug
 
R

Ridgeback Boy

Guest
Happened to me....was the Thunderheart Programmable. Put a Crane Hi Fire in the nose cone and no more problems thus far.
 

Nukeranger

Nukeranger
What does it mean when you say "the key fitment is weird"? There is one wire in and one out. This circuit which includes two JST plugs grounds the EHC to turn it on. It's going to be one of the three that is causing most of the shutdowns. It only needs to loose this ground for a few milliseconds to cause this. Of course, your battery connections have to be good also.
 

BigDogBro1

Made in the USA
There are many post on this forum related to electrical power loss. All include possible solutions which many have been suggested above.
 

Doug760

Member
Forgot to update this thread... EHC is fried...

My key was really loose in the housing. It just kind of rattled around so I bought an updated keyswitch and it is nice and tight...

I will most likely go the PDM route as I really like the controls. I may consider a WP or that M-UNIT... A complete re-wire is in the back of my mind but I will take some time to plan that out...

Doug
 

Whistler

Active Member
One small suggestion: don't attached anything to your key but a simple string lanyard. I use a nylon string made into a loop that I loop around the rear ignition wire before inserting the key into the switch.

:flag::flag:
 

Nukeranger

Nukeranger
How do you know your EHC is fried? Did it respond the same after you replaced the key switch and is the key switch good or did you get a bad one?
 
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