Dead, dead, dead

[srj999]

Anyone using the Dartford crossing during yesterday's rush hour (25 September) may have seen a stranded rider and SV on the tunnel approach. That, ladies and gentlemen, would have been me and my 2008 Pointy. As I casually filtered my way through the slow-moving traffic, the bike shut down.

The rev counter stuck at 5,000 but when I turned the ignition off and on, there was nothing else on the display and nothing when I pressed the starter button. The only things that worked were the indicators.

The bike is now at a friend's workshop. His company builds bikes but not Suzukis, so has no knowledge of the SV. When I phoned him today, he said a fuse had blown but as soon as they replaced it and turned on the ignition, it blew again. He thinks that the instrument cluster may be the root of the problem, his suspicion based on that tacho needle still being at 5,000 RPM, rather than returning to zero. "Normally, the needle only stays like that if a bike's been involved in a crash. It shouldn't be up there otherwise."

He's going to disconnect and reconnect everything from the harness, one item at a time, in an attempt to isolate the issue but I wondered if anyone has had a similar issue or whether his suspicions about the clocks being the likely source of a short circuit may be well-founded. I hope to then give him some potential pointers.

There have been two occasions in the past when the bike has been dead when I turned the ignition on. In both cases, switching off and back on had everything operational again. It's possible that thisshut down was just waiting to happen.

One more thing: I installed a USB charger over the weekend but that's on a permanent live feed from the battery and not connected to the harness. The live and negative leads are connected directly to the battery. I am amssuming that has nothing to do with this issue.

All and any advice welcome.

[Talking Heads]

Friend of mines gixxer did exactly the same thing and it was corrosion in some connectors.
After all were cleaned up it went back to normal.

[srj999]

I can only hope. Thanks for that.

It's odd that when I have a car that starts playing up, I want shot of it but I love this SV so, as soon as it's up and running again, I'll be smiling.

Had this happen to a friend before, turns out that it was a wire under the seat that had snapped and was touching things. We disconnected anything that was connected to the battery, taped up all of their connections (alarm, tracker, USB etc), replaced the fuse and it was good to go.

[Bibio]

if a fuse is blowing its usually a short from live to frame.

do you have to wiggle the key to get the steering lock off or turn it on?

do you have an alarm fitted?

other causes are sidestand and clutch safety switches.

the K8 will still run without the clocks being attached.

[SV650rules]

As Bibio says, blowing a fuse is normally a short from live to frame, corroded connectors would result in something not getting power, but this is because they stop power getting through to where it needs to be. Did you have to remove tank or disturb wiring loom to fit your new socket, sounds like a cable has got trapped and is shorting.

[ophic]

Originally Posted by srj999

he said a fuse had blown but as soon as they replaced it and turned on the ignition, it blew again.

Finding out which fuse would narrow it down somewhat.

[srj999]

Originally Posted by ophic

Finding out which fuse would narrow it down somewhat.

First blow was the sidestand switch. Now replaced.
Second blow was when the instrument cluster was reconnected. Not yet refitted, as the bike is only being worked on between jobs. They're not sure if the clocks are the issue or whether it's a short in the connection. They'll reassemble on Monday then see if the bike can run without the clocks being connected. If not, I'll arrange to get my bike trailer up to bring her home.

Anyone in East Sussex/Kent with a spare 2008 clock I can borrow to test out the theory/buy?

[Bibio]

common wiring between sidestand and cluster is negative (black/white) which is also used for lights and indicators so i'm going to presume that you have aftermarket indicators fitted yes/no?

[srj999]

Update:
The guys in the workshop disconnected everything and then reconnected items one at a time. The side stand switch was the first issue as it was shorting, so that was replaced. Next blow came when the instrument cluster was connected. Everything else seems to check out all right. With the cluster disconnected, the bike will turn over but not fire up.

Should I get a replacement cluster on eBay (or in here, if someone has one), or do people have another suggestion? It's possible that a wire is still shorting in that part of the harness and hopefully I can access the area and take a look while the bodywork is off.