Complete Electrical Failure

[kbh]

I don't seem to be having a lot of luck recently.....

I posted a thread up recently as my instuments had a mind of there own and worked only randomly....this has now been resolved thanks to Maclovins advice and i put a new set of clocks on (http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=126913).

Took the bike out the next day for a ride, did about 15miles then driving through a high street suddenly the bike went dead and stalled - no electrics, lights, nothing and wouldn't start again and i was having to paddle the bike into a side road. It had a datatool alarm on it and that was quite happily giving me random chrips and being yellow it was sounding like a canary and was making funny noises when the ignition was off and on even though i had no electrics and it would arm/disarm. 15mins later after me cooling off went back to the bike and the alarm disarmed and all electrics came back and the bike started on the button, so off i went.....1/2mile down the road it did the same thing again.totally stuck and realy cheesed off by this point i managed to get the bike recovered home from a random white van man (very helpful) for the price of his diesel. So i decided to remove the alarm that afternoon as i thought this was causing the problems. Bike started fine again after this.
The following day i thought i'd try the bike on a run out again. 20mins in it did the same thing, total failure. no electrics, lights and not any noise from the starter button - totally dead. Walked away and came back 15mins later again, turned the key - all lights working and bike fired up again on the button no problems and i managed to get home (although i was only 5mins away this time). Pulled up switched the bike off, then out of interest i turned the ignition on again - guess what - eveything was completely dead. Went back out again 1/2 later and eveything worked as it should and it started fine on the button.

This did happen one i think before i changed the clocks but i didn't really think much of it but now seems to becoming more of a problem.

Now obviosuly all the fuses are ok as everything still works as it should when it is running and i have checked/swapped thee fuses on the starter relay and they are fine and contacts are not corroded up there. I know the earth on the bike is good as i had a friend check with his multimeter when i was trying to find out the fault with the clocks.

Does any one have any suggestions as to what could be wrong? is the reg/rec on it's way out? I don't have a meter to hand and wouldn't know how to use one as electrics are not my strong point and friend who has got one lives about an 1hr away so he can't just pop over.

Cheers - KB

[dizzyblonde]

I seem to recall Vardypeeps had a problem similar. Waggle the wiring under the tail light. He only found that out when we'd been on a rideout, and we found the poor lad pushing his SV up a steep hill on the A65. I thought it may have been a fuse, and asked for his tool kit....only by chance he knocked the wiring under the tailpod and all his electrics came back on.

worth a shot? could be a loose terminal.

[dizzyblonde]

oh yeah what bike is it?

[kbh]

Sorry...might help if i told you the bike wouldn't it! - 2000 Curvy.

Funny enough i did double check all the connections at the back when i removed the alarm as it took the feed into the indicators there and with my big hands in small places it's normally bound to have knocked something but it still did it before i removed the alarm.

[dizzyblonde]

righto, is it faired?. I shall explain. I've had an intermittent fuse blower on one of mine, its bloody taken an age to find it.
We've checked the loom back to front a zillion times over!
But yesterday we disturbed something that stopped the rev counter working. As we waggled the loom round the headlights, it became clear the thing that was causing it, was a loose terminal on the red wire in the white connector on the left fairing side. We took both sides out and attched then directly to each other, and that solved that. After cleaning off the green fur, and nipping up the terminal, they were put back in the plastic connector.
Worth a shot?

edit, just looked in your profile...tiz the curse of the yellow curvy...lol

[kbh]

Yep - Bikini
I could try that tomorrow. Although none of my fuses have blown and i literally lose everything - lights front and back, indicators, horn, brake light, neutral & oil light, no backlights, no starter - Go back 20mins later and everything is ok again till 5mins down the road. It only seems to be happening after i have been out riding on the bike for a shortwhile?!
He was lucky for you to find him pushing it, i know if it was was me i would have ended up very frustrated and just left the bike there and wouldn't even have contemplated the hill!

[dizzyblonde]

well when we found this red wire jobby on mine yesterday, everything was bouncing on and off. At first everything seemed like there were nowt wrong, but just gently pulling the red wire at the back of the connector block, everything went on and off.
Im Indoors couldn;t believe he'd missed it, he must have looked at that side a gazillion times.
Is worth checking all your connectors for loose terminals

Think about it, your riding down the road and everything is vibrating about, it'll make it intermittent with the right pothole to run over!

[kbh]

OK Cheers.I'll have to get out there tomorrow and check it. Seems like there is always problems with the wires in those connections up there.

Similar issues with mine yesterday (only mine is a pointy).

Immediately identified mine as the main battery positive terminal being loose.

Yo Man.
I bet it's the very same problem that I have been having.
On the right hand side take off the triangular plastic cover and there is your starter relay with a main fuse and a main connection going into the green box.
It you wiggle these wires I'm guessing that everything will come back on when you find the sweet spot.

To fix this I have taped the wires to the frame so that the loose connection is seating correctly and I'v not had a problem since.

Best thing to do to see if it's that, is turn your ignition on and wiggle the wire/hold it in certain positions to see if the lights etc come on.

Hope this helps.
I think when I broke down and moved the tail piece wires it nudged the starter relay connection which made it fire up again.