Just shuts off..!

[diego]

97 Standard ; riding down the road and all is fine. Come to stop at a light idling and the engine just shut off. No indicator lights. Turn key off and on and no start. Sit for a few minutes and turn the key on and now have the neutral light on and it starts and runs. Drive 10 miles home no problem. Don't want to get caught out on the road with it. Just wondered if anyone knows what happened. I am knew to Valkyries don't know where to start looking. Any help appreciated. Thanks Diego...

[signart]

I don't think a vent will choke off electrical such as your case, but  starter switch maintenance may be in your future. Others will chime in, so hang in. Help is on the way.

[Skinhead]

check battery cables and grounds.

[diego]

Yes, what has Me worried is, there is NO power or neutral light when it happens. It won't turn over it has no electrical power. Then after a bit you turn the key on and it lights the  neutral light and then the starter switch works and then it starts and runs fine. I don't have anybody around who could come and get Me if it happens again and the power doesn't magically come back on. So I am not riding it...HELP...

[diego]

Cables are all tight. Ignition switch..?

[Black Dog]

Here is a link to a long time members web site, and more specifically, good info on the starter button and starter relay fix/maintainance (about half way down the page at the link).

http://www.rattlebars.com/mtz/starter.html

Once the relay fries, issues like you are experiencing will surface.

Good luck 

Black Dog

[Gryphon Rider]

I suspect alternator problems.  With the information given, here's what I think happened.  Your charging system failed and your bike ran out of battery power, draining it until it couldn't fire the plugs and it stalled.  With the key off for five minutes, your battery recovered enough to start the bike and get you home.  Get out your voltmeter.  Check battery voltage with the engine off; a fully charged battery should show 12.8-13.2V.  Check battery voltage with engine running at 2000 RPM or more; battery voltage should definitely be greater than 13.4, probably more like 13.8-14.3.

[hubcapsc]

It is possible to rock the stop switch halfway between on and off.

I never use the start switch, I learned right away that I leave the
key on when I use it.

Once, I guess while doing maintenance before a ride, I inadvertently
rocked the stop switch to that "bad place".

A few miles from home, on the way to the ride, my bike just stopped.

I finally looked at the switch... I always think of it whenever someone's
bike "just shut off"...

-Mike

[Gryphon Rider]

BTW, I can't see how a bad starter switch would cause the bike to stall, or affect power to the neutral light.  The kill switch also would have not effect on the neutral light.

Diego, do you know if the alternator has ever been replaced?  I know that earlier Valks, I think up to at least 2000, had alternators that had a tendency to break one of the winding wires on the rotor.

[Daniel Meyer]

When you checked the cables, did you check the ground where it hooks to the bike end as well? That one can corrode.

Also, the plug of wires at the starter relay...known to get corroded/bad on the 97's.

[Chrisj CMA]

Check all battery connections and grounds as stated, these are the primary suspects.  But I seem to remember a very few Valkyrie owners eventually determining this mysterious cutting out was attributed to the ICM.  As I remember no one ever really nailed down a cause or a fix and it was as I remember a sort of thing that happens and then all is fine for a long long time if or ever it happens again.

[pancho]

He lost the neutral and indicator lights, and the bike shut down,,, as mentioned, I would be checking battery connections and the plug at the starter relay.  Also as mentioned, that plug failure has caused a lot of trouble.

[trout dude]

Check the ignition switch plug also I'v had a wire burn up on one and did the same thing.
  Dennis

[diego]

OK guys, thanks for all the tips. Where is the main ground on the bike. Is there more than one..? I think I checked all the wires that I thought were part of this problem. So I will look at the relay and check the battery for voltage. Hope I find something that  looks like it will fix this cause I hate intermittent electrical problems .....thanks again...Diego...

[pancho]

Left side of bike on the rear of the transmission,, follow the negative battery cable. Certainly a suspect as the bike would shut down if it was intermittent when the engine RPM's dropped low enough that the alternator could not support the load.

It is a connector and has been known to cause problems for others....

[blackvalkyrie]

first thing I'd do is check the battery.. if one or more of the cells are bad you may get those symptons

97 Standard ; riding down the road and all is fine. Come to stop at a light idling and the engine just shut off. No indicator lights. Turn key off and on and no start. Sit for a few minutes and turn the key on and now have the neutral light on and it starts and runs. Drive 10 miles home no problem. Don't want to get caught out on the road with it. Just wondered if anyone knows what happened. I am knew to Valkyries don't know where to start looking. Any help appreciated. Thanks Diego...

[Firefighter]

Sounds exactly like the others have said, bad connection, could be ground or positive. I would turn the key on or even start the bike, take the seat off and start wiggling wires, see if you can recreate the problem. Start at the battery and work out, fuses etc. Grounds are just as important as power. Sounds to me that everything is ok except for a bad connection. Check battery voltage at battery and then check it at the frame, should be the same (multimeter). If its not its a connection, I ran an extra ground wire from battery to frame, made everything work better. Got me all fired up, wish I could help, Firefighter

[Quicksilver]

I would suggest you remove your battery cables and clean down to metal. They might look ok but may not be. Corrosion builds up on them in a thin layer.

[R J]

I would suggest you remove your battery cables and clean down to metal. They might look ok but may not be. Corrosion builds up on them in a thin layer.

It will also build up inside the battery cable cover from the connector that mounts to the frame.      In time it will eat through the cable.

When ya clean the cable, be sure and clean up under the cable covering.   Green stuff will build up in there and eat a cable in to.

I use a wire brush (hand held) to clean the cable & the frame mount.   In fact I just cleaned MGM up this afternoon.  It had a bunch of crud on it and I cleaned it about a year ago.

[diego]

Thanks for the additional info. Tomorrow I will tackle the connections and clean and look at each. What a great group of Valk fanatics with a miriade of usefull information. After 40 + years in NHRA drag racing as a crew chief/ crew member plus owning a chassis shop for 10 years I am too used to everything being made to take apart in minutes to fix. Been awhile since I had a bike that I had to work on, so all this help is certainly a real help...Diago ...

[Bill anderson]

Check the 30A fuse on the starter relay. If you're not the original owner the previous owner may have
replaced that fuse with a 30A breaker.Given the heat in FL at idle at a light the breaker may trip and reset after after a few seconds. Just a thought.