Electrical Problem

[the_gambler]

Originally Posted by jpr1968

Won't be the stator. Bike would still run on battery power until the battery ran down. Do you have a multimeter? If not, how do you know that the fuses are good. I would suspect battery, emergency stop switch, kickstand switch or main fuse.

What if that was the last of the juice in the battery? I drove to work, it sat for about 12 hours, then started driving home. I was on it for about 5-10 minutes before it died.

[the_gambler]

Originally Posted by chasec

Just out of normal posting, if you are having problems with your scoot you should always start your post with year and model and engine size of your scoot so we know what your working with.

But most bikes have 2 main kill fuse's. One near the battery/fuse panel depending on bike type and year and the second is usually under the seat on the starter motor or nearby.

I would start there, and just out of dumbness sake, have you checked your battery terminals for looseness, frayed connections, corrosion. A bad ground can have detremental affects on a bike, but dont believe would cause all those issues, however a main fuse can kill everything. I'd start fuse hunting if I were you..

Also now thinking about it....possible ignition switch. Go buy a 10 dollar DC Light tester from your nearest auto part store and start testing hot leads coming off battery terminals....if you get power all the way to the ignition switch but nothing coming out when the key turns on, then you got yourself a bad ignition switch.

Sorry about that completely left the make/model/etc... out. I will start with a test light to the ignition. That would probably be an easy start.

[93gc40]

Originally Posted by the_gambler

What if that was the last of the juice in the battery? I drove to work, it sat for about 12 hours, then started driving home. I was on it for about 5-10 minutes before it died.

I might suspect the battery if you original one had tested bad and if the new one you said you got was also testing bad. Battery is my first suspect for most issues on my Shadow. When most start tearing apart the carbs, I'm testing electrical connections and outputs. if your issue is Electrical, the problem could be any thing, with a wire attached to it. It is literally possible for a short in a completely unrelated circut to cause issues for other circut. Just depends on the location and manner of the short, and the ease of repeatability.

[chasec]

I agree with most post prior, except that a short in a wire would not kill a whole bike, unless the short is coming from the main power patch to the distribution box. Even a frayed wire wouldn't do this. For a whole bike to go down like such you are looking more for a dead ignition switch, loose or broken battery terminal, bad battery major things. Possible main grounding issue.

It would have to be one hell of a short to completely put a bike down and it would most certainly pop some fuses. Best advice is start small work big.

1) Test Battery
2) Check all fuse's (even the sneaky inline ones...yes there in there)
3) Check to see if your getting juice to and from your ignition

I had the same thing happen to me, was riding bike just shut off....turned out the ignition switch just decided to break connections due to age and use....it happens.

Not trying to undercut anyone's experience or expertise, you are all wise yoda's!

[chasec]

Originally Posted by the_gambler

What if that was the last of the juice in the battery? I drove to work, it sat for about 12 hours, then started driving home. I was on it for about 5-10 minutes before it died.

put jumper cables on your batter from your car...bikes run on a 12v system, it will be ok for a few minutes. If it runs....presto alakazam bad battery, easy fix. if still has no juice see post above and get huntin!

[John Hopkins]

Originally Posted by the_gambler

It's completely dead.

That's got to be the easiest fault ever..

You haven't said if you have a digital multimeter..If not you can buy one for $10 that will be good enough for any fault finding on your bike..

Test one..switch the multimeter to 25v DC or any dc voltage above 20 volts. measure with the red lead on the positive terminal of the battery and the black lead to the negative terminal. expect about 13v.

Test two..move the black lead to the engine block..expect the same voltage as test one..

Test three.. move the red lead to the fuse box and with the ignition switched on test all the fuses, expect the same voltage again.

Test four.. locate the 30a main fuse, somewhere near the starter solenoid and put the red lead to that, expect the same voltage again..Note that this is the probable cause..

John.

[Scrapdog2grand]

Originally Posted by John Hopkins

That's got to be the easiest fault ever..

You haven't said if you have a digital multimeter..If not you can buy one for $10 that will be good enough for any fault finding on your bike..

Test one..switch the multimeter to 25v DC or any dc voltage above 20 volts. measure with the red lead on the positive terminal of the battery and the black lead to the negative terminal. expect about 13v.

Test two..move the black lead to the engine block..expect the same voltage as test one..

Test three.. move the red lead to the fuse box and with the ignition switched on test all the fuses, expect the same voltage again.

Test four.. locate the 30a main fuse, somewhere near the starter solenoid and put the red lead to that, expect the same voltage again..Note that this is the probable cause..

John.

I thought you had an intermitent failure.
If totally dead,as John stated check the batt first. go to Johns test one and two, if all is good.
the main 30 amp fuse at the starter solenoid, is most likely blown, its behind the right side cover.
the main fuse box has 4 fuses.
if the main fuse is blown, Then check for chafed, burnt and shorted wiring.

If no power at the fuse, and checking for bad grounds using voltage drop test if you are familair with that.
then go with the suggestion of testing at the ignition and so on.
it is easy to do as others have stated, just new to you perhaps.

[1996shadow]

I really truely doubt that it is the battery. If the bike started and ran for 5-10 minutes, and then died after hitting a bump, it is likely a bad connection, bad fuse, or switch. A battery bad enough for the engine to die, would still provide some power for lights. The ignition systems on these things are very tempremental, so lower voltage will prevent them from firing the engine, but lighte are lights. A little power normally gives a little light.

Follow the checks that John gave. He seems to eat and sleep these things, atleast the electrical parts. A bad connection will lose the power completely, as will a bad fuse and switch.

[chasec]

Status of the bike, curious if you have found the fault yet and if so what was the issue for future readers.


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[herbyreed]

The big Shadows have a main fuse under the seat (35 amp I think). Pretty sure if that one is out you would not have anything. To kill that quickly it sounds like a main fuse or a connection. As someone mentioned, a defective kill switch would not affect the lights. I think it is either a fuse or a connection. So check connections around main fuses and the ground connections also. On many bikes there is a main ground on the frame somewhere that all the other grounds feed into. If the bolt worked loose on that there could be a sudden loss of pretty much everything also.