Bike shuts down on highway

[Charlie1Horse]

Ok, lets see if I can describe this. I can be running down the road, at any speed and sometimes my 92 1500 Interstate will just shut down. As I am still in gear with the clutch engaged, the engine is still turning, but won't restart. I have had the BAS recall done so if it has triggered the shut down I should be able to turn the ignition off and back on and restart. But that doesn't work. I have pulled off the side of the road and it will start right up. So I have tried, as I am still at some speed, to shift down to Neutral and press the start button and it immediately starts. Then shift all the way back to OD and everything is good again. This happens maybe once a week but nothing seems to be common each time. Sometimes I am at 70 MPH and sometimes 40 MPH. Once this happens it never happens again on the same ride. I thought about ignition (spark) but with fuel constant because I have the throttle cranked partly, I think it would backfire upon restart, but it doesn't. Once I get back to Neutral it jumps to life as soon as I press the starter button without fail. Once I stop I can't diagnose anything because it will fire right up every time. Anybody got any ideas??
Russell

If I don't do Facebook or Twitter, do I still have to do Social Media Distancing??

[DenverWinger]

Restarts while still rolling only if you shift to Neutral? With bike stopped try starting in gear with kickstand up, should be able to if you pull the clutch. Clutch switch, maybe?

Still sounds like BAS even though you say recall was done. But I don't think a shift to neutral is needed for BAS reset, just cycle the ignition off and on.

[Charlie1Horse]

From what I understand, to reset the BAS you have to turn the ignition off and then back on. I am not having to do that. When I shift down to Neutral with the ignition still on, it starts right up.
The starter only works in Neutral or First Gear. So, when it quits I have to shift down to Neutral for the starter to operate. Starting in First Gear or Neutral is fine.
When this first started, it would quit and I didn't even notice that it had quit for a second or two and then it would start back up, the engine still spinning with the clutch engaged. But now it doesn't start back up until I shift down to get the starter to function.
Russell

If I don't do Facebook or Twitter,do I still have to do Social Media Distancing??

[Swagonmaster]

I find it interesting that your bike will only start in first or neutral as mine will start in any gear other than reverse as long as the clutch lever is pulled in all the way. There are two micro switches on the clutch lever, the first disconnects the cruise if it is closed and the second one alows the starter to work with the engine in gear. Sounds to me like there is a contact problem in one of the (many) micro switches or possibly the kill switch.

[bellboy40]

I would take a look at the side stand circuit. If it is in gear and running, then you put the side stand down, it will kill the ignition. If the ECU thinks the side stand is down, it will kill the engine and it will start again if in neutral.

[bellboy40]

Another thought I had is, since they have been working on the BAS, was it having any trouble like that prior to them working on it? You could bypass the BAS for a while and see if it does it again. That would tell you if the BAS is causing it. Here is a picture showing how to bypass it.

BAS bypass

[raven41951]

Sounds like a loose or frayed (shorting) connection. I was going to suggest checking the neutral safety switch as it starts when you get it into neutral. If it does it again, try shifting to neutral then back up to jump start it (in the proper gear for your speed). If that works I think it could be the NSS.

[Wingsconsin]

What is your fuel level when this happens ?
My bet is 1/2 tank or less -- if so -- check for a weak fuel pump -
The 1500 will gravity feed the fuel until the tank is under 1/2 - then the fuel pump must help move the gas to the carbs
If it is weak (and usually hot) it will not move enough fuel to keep the higher RPMs going on the highway -
The fuel acts a pump coolant and keeps the pump from overheating
When you pull over the pump 'catches up' and all is well again and/or if you fill the tank it's 'fixed'

[Charlie1Horse]

I have been checking different things and find the side stand switch is working properly. The Neutral switch is functioning correctly. This happens at highway speeds mostly because the majority of time is at that speed but, it has happened a couple of times at 5 MPH while parking. I have the larger Kuryakyn grips and found that the bushing in the clutch lever is worn so, it doesn't activate the micro switch. I 'shimmed' the lever with some metallic tape until I get that part so, now the lever activates the switch and I find that at any speed I can pull the clutch and the starter works in any gear, so, I don't have to stop and don't even have to slow down now that the clutch switch works properly. This happened 4 times the other day on a 100 mile lunch ride and then the next day 2 times on another ride. I am beginning to think that it may be the ECU. This happens with full tank, half tank or low tank, no difference. I have, a year or two ago, replaced all three ignition coils when I had trouble starting first thing in the morning and corrected that problem. Thanks for any more ideas.
Russell

If I don't do Facebook or Twitter, do I still have to do Social Media Distancing??

[Rambozo]

So you can pull in the clutch and start it back up with the starter while rolling, but the rear wheel spinning the engine over won't start it back up?

[bellboy40]

So you can pull in the clutch and start it back up with the starter while rolling, but the rear wheel spinning the engine over won't start it back up?

That is a good question. That behavior doesn't make any sense to me. Pulling in the clutch shouldn't do anything but allow the starter to work.

[Charlie1Horse]

So you can pull in the clutch and start it back up with the starter while rolling, but the rear wheel spinning the engine over won't start it back up?

That is a good question. That behavior doesn't make any sense to me. Pulling in the clutch shouldn't do anything but allow the starter to work.

Crazy, but that's exactly what happens. With the rear wheel spinning the engine, it won't start back up. But, since I got the clutch micro switch to operate, the engine will restart if I pull the clutch in and just tap the starter switch. That happened again today four times on a 120 mile Patriot Guard mission. For some reason, when I tap the starter switch it must bypass something electronic and then catch back up. If it were a bad connection somewhere it would act random and sometimes not start right back up. That's why I am starting to lean towards a bad ECU. Thanks for the replies.
Russell

If I don't do Facebook or Twitter, do I still have to do Social Media Distancing??

[Rambozo]

Since it seems like it happens pretty regularly, I would do some additional testing. Like wire up some lights, LEDs, or volt meters to some points so you can see what goes away when it does happen. (coil power, ecu, pulse generators, etc)
The ECU doesn't get any signal from the starter or clutch switch. So that doesn't really support your theory of a bad ECU. A couple of tests that may help narrow things down is when it dies, cycle the kill switch and/or the key switch and see if it comes back. That would reset the ECU.

One thing that is different when you start with the starter vs roll starting, is there is a large current draw from the battery. While this usually makes it harder to start, from voltage sag, it can often burn through corroded ground connections. That would be easy to test when it happens by checking things before you try to start it. I do agree that since it always starts right back up, a bad connection is less likely. But it seems like it is very inconsistent, so that doesn't really point to a bad part. Things like ECU and pulse generators, usually do things like fail after warming up or after about the same running time. And they often do not start right back up after a failure.

[WingAdmin]

One thing that is different when you start with the starter vs roll starting, is there is a large current draw from the battery. While this usually makes it harder to start, from voltage sag, it can often burn through corroded ground connections. That would be easy to test when it happens by checking things before you try to start it. I do agree that since it always starts right back up, a bad connection is less likely. But it seems like it is very inconsistent, so that doesn't really point to a bad part. Things like ECU and pulse generators, usually do things like fail after warming up or after about the same running time. And they often do not start right back up after a failure.

100%, as soon as I read what he wrote, this is exactly what I thought as well. An intermittent electrical problem (probably a bad ground) - he hits a bump, the ground goes bad, the bike shuts down. A massive inrush of current from the starter, and it burns through the bad connection and re-welds it in place again until the next big bump.

[Frantisek]

Hi, it did me too. The new petrol filter was bad.

[newday777]

One thing that is different when you start with the starter vs roll starting, is there is a large current draw from the battery. While this usually makes it harder to start, from voltage sag, it can often burn through corroded ground connections. That would be easy to test when it happens by checking things before you try to start it. I do agree that since it always starts right back up, a bad connection is less likely. But it seems like it is very inconsistent, so that doesn't really point to a bad part. Things like ECU and pulse generators, usually do things like fail after warming up or after about the same running time. And they often do not start right back up after a failure.

100%, as soon as I read what he wrote, this is exactly what I thought as well. An intermittent electrical problem (probably a bad ground) - he hits a bump, the ground goes bad, the bike shuts down. A massive inrush of current from the starter, and it burns through the bad connection and re-welds it in place again until the next big bump.

Do any of your lights change brightness or not work at anytime Russell? How long have you owned this bike? Lots of added lights and accessories on it?

I have found many burnt ground pins on 1500s, in multiple connectors of the wiring harness, mostly on bikes that someone has added extra lights over the years using the bike's ground(green) wire (rather than running a new ground wire block from the battery to an accessory ground block then to the added lights and accessories, an added accessory fuse block is also necessary to add lights and accessories to prevent overloading the bike wire harness capacity). The bike's harness was not designed to carry the extra loads from added lights and accessories.
The 1500s came with no side lights in the saddle bags, trunk, or fairing, no center lights in the trunk or rear fender. Many bike owners over the years added plug and play lights(and other accessories) and jumper harnesses to power more lights through the small wire bike harness with harness kits that plug into the stock connectors which inescapably overloads the capacity of the small wire size of the ground circuits on the bike. I have found multiple pins burnt in the various multi pin connectors and the hidden orange ground blocks (covered by the harness tape at both sides of the bike frame near your knees) and also found burnt connectors in the relay box behind the left saddlebag on bikes I've worked on(#3 relay is a common relay that powers the rear lights) so all your connectors will need to be opened and inspected for burnt pins.
After all is checked and fixed and properly wired accessories with added fuse and ground blocks, if you have added lights, change all the bulbs to LEDs.

[luck]

Checking for a bad ground make sense and it could be because of to much accessories on one circuit, when i had my 93 goldwing i added some trunk lights and after that the bike start doing some free games from no display to motor stopping . With all the accessories on the motorcycle the circuit amps was near limit causing similar problems.

[agedbikeman]

My bike did something like this, it was the plug that plugs into the solenoid that came loose, I had to squeeze it in with a pair of pliers as my old arthritic fingers could not push hard enough.
Got to be worth a look.

Agedbikeman

[Charlie1Horse]

Checking for a bad ground make sense and it could be because of to much accessories on one circuit, when i had my 93 goldwing i added some trunk lights and after that the bike start doing some free games from no display to motor stopping . With all the accessories on the motorcycle the circuit amps was near limit causing similar problems.

So far I have found no bad grounds or any other connections. The only additional accessories are LED lights on the saddlebags and trunk sides. All lights have been changed to LEDs and even the headlights, so, less draw on battery and charging system. There are no other extra gizmos hooked up anywhere. I rode several hundred miles in the last couple of days and had no 'shut off' incidents. The problem is that you can't diagnose a problem when it is working.
Russell

[Corkster52]

Partially off-topic, but on my 99 I changed the switch below the clutch master cylinder and it still wouldn't start when in gear, so I put a blob of epoxy on the tip of the plunger that connects the switch and it worked for a while until the blob came off. Long story short, the problem was the hole that holds the lever in place was "wallowed" out just enough to not let the lever complete its intended travel. Changed out the lever and it now works perfectly!

[Greenwinger]

Don't know if you have solved the problem yet. My 97 had a similar problem and finally traced it down to the kill switch. The movement had become very soft and mushy there should be a definite click from the run position to the stop positions in both directions. Maybe next time it happens try tapping the kill switch and see if it changes things.