Lerker looking for wisdom. '94 R100GS. Had some problems on a ride the other day. When I would come to a stop, the motor would die. Finally got home and found that if I hit the brake the motor would die. Unplugged the front brake wire and hit the rear brake, motor would die. Unplugged the front and hit the rear brake the motor would die. Looked at the wiring harness, can't find anything pinched or worn. Any ideas?
Will it idle just fine? Without applying the brake? I had a bike that when you applied the brake the generator wouldn't spin enough to charge and fire the plugs because my wiring wasn't correct, but that was an old 60's bike. It sounds like there may be some electrical issues happening here.
first check the battery and make sure the charging system is actually charging..if those are fine, tank off and start tracing wires and making sure the ground connections are good. Could be something impossible to find like a broken solder in the kill switch to a pinched wire inside the wire harness.
From the first post .. it looks electrical ... so Press the horn button ... does the motor die? Turn on the headlight .. does the motor die? --------------------- When you say you braked .. that would be when your stopped .. so not moving .. thus not a float bowel problem? ------------------------ Have you check the battery voltage? As in .. before you start the bike .. and then after it has run for a while and then measure it at say 3,000rpm ... This would demonstrate that the battery is ok and charging. -------------------- Might be charging system - flat battery. bad fuse/connection .. fails with higher electrical load Need to check the wiring diagram to see where things join if it is electrical.
Thanks for the input. Checked battery voltage, 12.5, 13.6 and climbing at 3,000 rpm. Horn, high low beam are fine, blinkers are OK, but no brake light. Unplugged connector for the rear sub frame, now idles fine, front or rear brake level moved, keeps on running. So it is something in the wiring harness for the rear sud frame. Something is pinched, or corrosion in the connector, I'll let you know.
thats wierd. Taillight electrics andengine wiring are kinda separate animals. It may not be in the rear harness, it might be farther up, and the lighting up of the brakelight causes the ignition to go to ground, (?) which is why it runs fine when the harness isnt plugged in..
I was coming to a stop and the whole bike just died. No lites, no ignition, no moto.... WTF?:huh After doing nothing, the system came back on line and off I went. In the comfort of my driveway later, I found the battery ground cable had loosened at the chassis ground. The cable was stiff enough to maintain continudity most of the time, but not all. Tightening that sucker down, with a dab of Loctite this time, resulted in a bike that ran MUCH better, didn't die unexpectedly, and a fully charged battery.
This thing is driving me nuts. Chased a ground in the wiring harness to the voltage regulator, unplugged that, 10.6 volts at the brake switch, but no brake light. Going to pull the bulbs for the rear flashers and super secret dubble verify that there is not a problem in the rear wiring harness. can't figure out how I have 10.6 volts at the connecter for the rear harness and still no brake light!
Because probably the resistance of the brake light filament kills the forward voltage without hearing up the wire to incandescence. 10.6 is lame-0
Ok, it's running, don't ask me why. Cut zip ties on wiring harness, checking with a meter for a change, there were none. Found some wires that looked a little pinched at the tach plug, same power circut, no change. cleaned connectors for voltage regulator, same circut, no change. cleaned contacts at right handle bar switch, power goes though there before it hits the fuse. Still died when I hit the break. Key on. not running, 2 volt drop when brake applied. Put in new bulb, which I had done before, break light worked, checked voltage, same 2 volt drop. Engine running, break light worked, engine didn't die. XLRacer, you were right! Now I just have to put it back togather. Thanks for the help!
No way a bulb is going to kill the engine. I suspect moving the wires around did it, a likey short somewhere.
I know, something crossed or dirty connection. The bulb was bad though, no brake light till I changed it. The power for the brake light hits two places before the fuse, then the brake switches and the tach. It's back to gather and running well.
Okay, traced it to the starter- kill button switch. Cleaned it a few times and it would work for a while, but would end up doing the same thing. Bike would die and then be hard to get restarted. would twist the kill switch back and forth a few times, it would run, but have issues when I hit the brakes. I replaced the switch assemblely and every thing seems to be fine. I think the PO was a kill switch guy. I think the switch was just worn out. So far so good!
