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Thread: First ever 'issue' with the bike - would love some electrical help (lights fuse)

  1. #51
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    I'll take a picture when I get the bike back...

    It's a small - two wire 'slide in' plug right at the clutch lever (underneath it) - directly beside left switch gear housing (inboard of it). Apparently its purpose is to keep the bike from starting if it is in gear and the clutch lever is not pulled. Kind of a bear to get to (as far as it's placement - right underneath clutch cable and switch gear housing cable bundle).

    As an extra bonus, I was able to cancel the parts order I was having shipped to Kevin for what I thought was the issue. That was fortunate :-)

  2. #52
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    Loosen the allen bolts and rotate the clutch perch for easy access to the screw that holds that switch. If that is circuit with the actual problem, I'd check the wiring really well. Can't even imagine how the switch could short to ground. Its plastic.

  3. #53
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    Yeah - I'm going to let Kevin take care of it that way. We're going to terminate the wires, and neatly zip tie them away as well...as I don't want that safety in the circuit at all. Just something else to fail and really (just my opinion) shouldn't be needed for a bike the caliber of an XB.

    I can understand the safeties on my Blast (which most of us Blast-folks defeat anyway by swapping a fuse around, etc.). A bike really leveraged as a training/beginner bike probably needs a few safeties (kick stand, clutch, etc.).

  4. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by vicenzajay View Post
    I'll take a picture when I get the bike back...

    It's a small - two wire 'slide in' plug right at the clutch lever (underneath it) - directly beside left switch gear housing (inboard of it). Apparently its purpose is to keep the bike from starting if it is in gear and the clutch lever is not pulled. Kind of a bear to get to (as far as it's placement - right underneath clutch cable and switch gear housing cable bundle).

    As an extra bonus, I was able to cancel the parts order I was having shipped to Kevin for what I thought was the issue. That was fortunate :-)
    you're referring to the clutch interlock switch. still no idea what a "left gear housing" is. the switch is a plain nippon-denso button switch. it's the simplest of "circuit interrupter" switches ever installed on a cycle as is the side-stand switch. it cannot short-to-ground causing a 15 amp fuse to blow. impossible! you have something else going on there.
    Last edited by user_deleted; 12-09-2017 at 05:17 AM.

  5. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by lunaticfringe View Post
    you're referring to the clutch interlock switch. still no idea what a "left gear housing" is. the switch is a plain nippon-denso button switch. it's the simplest of "circuit interrupter" switches ever installed on a cycle as is the side-stand switch. it cannot short-to-ground causing a 15 amp fuse to blow. impossible! you have something else going on there.
    Hey John - always appreciate your wisdom.

    So, first - obviously (at 10 p.m. Thursday night after 6 hours in the car, loading, unloading, etc.) I forgot to type the word "switch" and typed "gear" instead. I've seen it called a "switch gear housing" any number of times on the forum and elsewhere - so I was tired and trying to convey what we found.

    To your point here. Of course, this is obviously the case (i.e. there's a short somewhere in the wiring that feeds or returns from the interlock switch). I'm not the electrician, so I can't say anything other than when it's unplugged, the bike runs perfectly. When it's plugged in, the lights fuse pops. We can duplicate and reduplicate the problem and its mitigation at will.

    There is one person I would trust with tearing into the wiring harness and trying to find the point at which the wires feeding that tiny switch are 'messed up' - namely you. Understandably (with the amazing demands on your schedule and talents) you are unable to do that for some time - i.e. well into next year. Anyone else, especially the Harley dealership here, WILL create many more problems instead of just fixing the wiring issue - all for the price of several hundred (or a thousand) dollars.

    After more than 20 years flying jet aircraft for the Navy, to include 15 months of my department head tour as the Maintenance Officer of the squadron, I am acutely aware of the fact that the ONE thing that inexorably kills vehicles (air or ground) is non-use. Airplanes that fly often, are 'up' airplanes for the flight schedule. Regardless of my own desire to ride, etc., my main motivation in this case is to not have the bike sit for 6+ months. Given that there seems to be a relatively innocuous fix that allows the bike to run normally (albeit without a clutch interlock safety - which I hope by now I don't need), removing it from the circuit seems to be the best solution for now - until I have the honor of being able to to bring the bike to you and we can sort out the root problem.

    Is that fair?
    Last edited by vicenzajay; 12-09-2017 at 02:17 PM.

  6. #56
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    He's just saying it's an odd problem.

  7. #57
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    jay: i understand and appreciate the kind words. whoever is wrenching on your bike tell them the below. it's the simple test to find the source of this short-to-ground since disconnecting the clutch lever interlock switch resulted in a positive result. tell him to do this if he hasn't already:
    1-remove the 2 wires from the clutch lever switch. jump those 2 wires with simple jumper wire.
    2-if he removed the lights fuse and start relay replace them. make sure battery is fully charged. now try to start it. fuse ok? replace the switch.
    3-fuse still pops? follow the wiring looms down from the right side and left side switch gear to the steering neck assembly and check for rubbing or chafing. that's where the problem lies. it's a simple ground-to-short situation.
    4-switch part # is 68645-96Y infinite amount in system as of today and cost is cheap.
    5-one more test of the switch to verify its operating as intended is to start the bike....get heat in the motor....let it settle to warm curb speed idle. on 2008 and later XB's with switch mounted correctly and both wires connected you simply pull in the clutch lever which bumps up the curb idle speed approx. 200 rpm. that confirms the switch is good.
    Last edited by user_deleted; 12-10-2017 at 12:33 PM.

  8. #58
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    Thanks, John.

    Will do - the person with the bike is Kevin Drum (Drummer mufflers)...I'll pass this along.

    At some point next year, I can still see this bike coming your way when you have time

  9. #59
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    Follow up on this longer thread from quite a while back.

    Short version - didn't get bike back until May. I wanted to get it in Jan, but timing was never right down south. I'll stop there because I want to be kind and stay positive. When I did get the bike back it was in 'not good' shape. And nothing had really been fixed on the bike (other than the O2 sensor getting replaced, which was good to get done). All the little stuff that happened in the thread above was unresolved, and the bike sustained some environmental exposure as well unfortunately.

    I literally spent 3 weeks on purely aesthetic and material condition rehabilitation. She looks beautiful again. I then did the following with great directions and help from John:

    - Bike started very roughly, and John recommended changing plugs. I did so and also replaced wires as well. There was an interesting sound at 2K rpm (rattle from rear of bike it seemed) that also sent me on a fastener search expedition all over the place. Good opportunity to check integrity for the entire motorcycle. Noise is gone now.

    - Rode the bike a few times to get fluids through it/warm it up/etc. Bike ran "okay" - but idled terribly badly (throwing codes, etc.). This was due to the hot-wired clutch sensor switch (taking it out of the equation, but this is something the ECM does *not like). John helped greatly here - the codes were mainly idle related (and then voltage dropping, causing related codes).

    - As a result of codes, I cleaned the IAC thoroughly, checked the IAT, and changed the speed sensor (which really did need changed - the interior of the sensor portion was trashed). Also spent about 4 hours and painstakingly and slowly removed, cleaned, protected and re-installed *every* ground I could access. I also installed an additional rear ignition module screw-to-subframe ground wire discussed at length in numerous threads.

    - Clutch sensor switch replaced (took a while for this to arrive in the mail) - this *fixed* the lights fuse issue completely. This is the issue that resulted in this thread. That said, some 'idiot' previously had cross threaded the screw for that switch into the handlebar housing and it took 2 days of painstaking work (I was channeling 'zen' thoughts furiously) to free the screw without damaging the housing. For anyone's future reference, that screw is a 4-40 countersunk head machine screw. Do *not use a finer threaded screw (as my predecessor did) and force it into the housing. What a pain in the ass.

    - I changed the rear tire (it was definitely time), and then rode the bike some more. No more codes simply as a result of new clutch sensor - so somehow that switch's failure *can* result in the circuit tripping the breaker. By the way, cleaning the grounding points netted a full half a volt more of resting voltage on the voltmeter (that I got from John several years ago). There was obviously a point or two of higher resistance that got corrected in the cleaning process. Everyone should have one of those voltmeters on their bike.

    - So the other big issue was the frozen fender screw (which simply would not come out with EZ outs, heat, etc.). The issue with those screws on my bike is described more fully above. Once I got the bike back, I contacted some friends at a local shop (they do suspension) and asked about them servicing the forks and additionally drill-pressing out all the screws with the forks off the bike. Note that John has seen inside my forks just 4K miles ago and pronounced them in perfect shape. So I really didn't need to have them serviced, etc. at this point. Anyway, this past weekend (and because the shop had still not called well past their forecast date to call me) I bit the bullet and drilled the screws out myself (on the bike), taking my time (hours) and being super anal about the process. 3 out 4 fasteners drilled out perfectly - didn't even mess up a single original thread of the mounting holes. One was a bit off, but it was close enough to be easily tapped by an original fastener and some penetrating oil. It just took time, of course. Given that the fastener issue was resolved, there was no need to remove the forks (i.e. lots of saved money on my part).

    - Lastly, my son and I swapped out the front tire as well (now have a set of Q3+ tires on there) following John's procedure exactly, and put everything back together again.

    Bike is running great again - still frustrated at the fact that these 'smaller' issues (most notably fasteners) resulted in 8 months of non-use and environmental wear and tear that never should have happened. I should not have taken the bike out of the house in this case. That was a mistake - I suppose I should be thankful that I had been religious about cleaning and protection after every single ride, so any exposure was mitigated (and reversible - even if it meant replacing some bolts, etc.).

    Hopefully that's the end of these issues. Sorry for the longer post, but I wanted to follow up on what was an interesting saga for me.



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