Failed ignition switch - again

Rode to Leicester yesterday approx 120 miles
Good journey no problems on any sort.

Left the bike for approx 6 hours

Came to start up for the ride home at about 8:00pm

Turned the key, got a brief flash of the lights then nothing.

I had a similar problem last year that turned out to be a burnt out ignition switch, so I had a horrible feeling.....

Anyway after a brief visit from the AA man, a biker who knew his stuff!
we concluded that the ignition switch had indeed failed again.

We were able to bridge the switch out using a fused lead, but kept blowing the fuses (10 amp)

So the options were
Bridige it out with an unfused wire, or , get taken home on a transporter

Not really liking the idea of losing lights and engine whilst pootling down the A14 in the dark I took the transporter option.

I would value opinions on the possible causes

Bike - K3 S
Electrical Extras
1. Uprated headlight bulbs (100, 80's)
2. Heated Grips (Oxford)
Grips are wired through the fuse box to come on with the ignition

I had the grips on yesterday.

Last time i had this happen the opinion of the garage that did the repair was that the additions were unlikly to stress the ignition switch, and that I was probably unlucky and had a bad switch.

Seems unlikly now!

What do you think is it the bulb/grip combination?
Do I have to look for something else?

Can anyone help with a circuit diagram of how to wire the grips through a relay, and will that reduce the load on the ignition switch?

And, finally, has anyone got an ignition switch for sale?

And, finally, finally, anyone want to buy a K3 S with 20K on he clock
(Good runner milord, just a bit of a cow to start)

Going to halfwits to buy some security torx bits now

Mutter mutter mutter.....

Not help unfortunately, but you weren't at Planet Bikes yesterday were you?

Hope you sort it tout suite.

Ok....this is going to be next to useless as I really dont know exactly what it is Im talking about !!!

I have had similar problems with mine.

Suzuki replaced all the lock set under warranty but the same thin happened twelve months later.
Took it to an independent mechanic who traced the problem to a faulty connector that was failing due to all the crud and muck flung up from the road.
He removed the connector and replaced it with a soldered joint.....no probs since.

Hope this helps (if it makes any sense).

Good luck with sorting it.

Petevtwin650:
Not me at planet bikes I'am afraid.

Leegriffiths128:
That gives me a clue at least, thanks.

Ive got the switch off now.
Cant smell any burning, and cant see how to get the switch apart.
It looks like some sort of security screw has been used to attach the bottom plate.
I dont mean the security torx bolts that attach the switch to the top yoke, but the screws that attach the silver plate to the bottom of the black switch body.

Can anyone tell me where the wires from the bottom of the switch connect to the main loom?
So far I can see them dissapearing under the bottom of the air box. Do I have to remove the airbox from the throttle bodies?

If so how?

Thanks in advance for any help

Chris

Yes you have to take the air box off because they connect just at the front and its hard to get to. I brought a new pattern ignition barrel off ebay 'cause i was having problems with mine. The pattern one cost £35ish and hasn't been any problems this last year

Originally Posted by seedy100

Electrical Extras
1. Uprated headlight bulbs (100, 80's)
2. Heated Grips (Oxford)
Grips are wired through the fuse box to come on with the ignition

I had the grips on yesterday.

What do you think is it the bulb/grip combination?
Do I have to look for something else?

Can anyone help with a circuit diagram of how to wire the grips through a relay, and will that reduce the load on the ignition switch?

I reckon that there be your problem. HOW are the grips wired to the fuse box? Explicit detail please Photographs if possible.

On my pointy, at first, I cut into the orange wire, and plugged the grips in series with that. The orange wire goes from the fuse box to the ignition barrel.

Being seriously tight with all things electrical, I just happened to put a DMM (with Graph function - expensive type) across it with it in different situations. With the grips at half power, and engine at idle, the current draw was so unstable that the LCD panel on my pointy kept vanishing & re-appearing. ****** if I'm riding like that! So I changed it, and put a Bosch relay (40A) so that the coils were now in series with the ignition. The NO legs of the relay were then connected to the battery & grips in series. Hey presto, result.

Basically, if yours is wired to go from fuse box to grips to ignition, I reckon that will be the root cause of your issue. Not so much that the ignition has failed, more that the grips take too much juice. On mine, below 7.3v down the orange wire, and no LCD.

I can happily give detailed explainations of how mine is fitted, with/without diagrams.

Are the headlights on a relay? if so the bulbs wont be a problem.
As Baph said, wire the grips through a relay or stop using them for a while. (you can connect them straight to the battery if you need them to work just dont keep leaving them on like i do.)

Thanks for your help guys

Well Ive just written a long reply that disappeared when i tried to preview it!

So

Balph

Wireing is as follows
1. Wire A connected to the bottom left output from the fuse box.
It then runs via a 5A inline fuse through a connector to the switch / power control

2. Wire B connected to the battery -ve terminal through the same connector to the switch / power control

3. Output from the switch / control is through two cables with connectors to the grips themselves

I would greatly appreciate the details of how you wired yours, including which relay to buy!

Ivantate

The headlight wireing is standard, all I have done is repalace the bulbs
(Which now seems like an expensive mistake)

Since i have a memory like a sieve I dont dare wire the grips directly to the battery, it would only be a matter of time!

Thanks again

Chris