2004 Suzuki Bandit - Cut out, won't start

[frisken]

Hey guys,

bought my second 250cc bike a few weeks ago, what an absolute shit of a bike it has been. The doucher from Gisborne ripped me off somewhat proper (my own fault for not getting it properly checked) and have had nothing but issues. Thought I'd sorted everything until I finally got it back up and running today, took it for a ride, was going about 80km/h when the engine just died.

Didn't make a noise or seize up, revs just dropped completely and the thing shut down. The dash lights were still going (not battery) and now it won't start at all. It won't even try to kick over, I hit the ignition and nothing. At the moment it is sitting in a stranger's garage, until Tuesday when I can organise getting it picked up.

I have just recently replaced the clutch cable, and noticed a few things a behaving a little strange, like the bike not wanting to go into neutral comfortably (or it's sitting in neutral but the neutral light isn't going etc). Sounds like something is preventing the bike from running, as opposed to something actually being broken. Stand switch perhaps?

Has anyone had something similar happen to them, does this sound like something simple I could fix after some Googling? I'm no mechanic myself, but am comfortable enough to have a look around etc. My biggest fear right now is sending it off to the mechanics and them having a field day trying to find what's wrong and charging me a $700+ for something simple.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. If you need any more info, I will be happy to provide it.

Thank-you.

[AllanB]

Check the kill switch - it is possible you bumped it while riding.

[sinfull]

Check the kill switch - it is possible you bumped it while riding.

Laugh like hell if it is ! Or it could be a short at the kill switch ?

Stand switch could just fuck out i guess or short out ? By pass that and see !
Does it have a clutch switch also (some wont start without clutch pulled in) though that wouldn't make it die while moving !
I'd put money on stand switch ! If Allan didn't nail the problem lol

[Madness]

I find it interesting now in the age of LAMS that people are still buying old shitter 250's that have had the snot kicked out of them by noobs for the past 20 years is succession and to top it off they're still seemingly paying top dollar for said shitters.

[Akzle]

wow, that sucks, new homie. who ever would have thought a biker would be a cucking funt,
you'd never know... round here.

anyway. yeah, check all those things. sounds loose connection esque.

site rules: if it turns out you are a fucking moron and it's the k/sw, you have to admit it. then we give you green font.

[Banditbandit]

I find it interesting now in the age of LAMS that people are still buying old shitter 250's that have had the snot kicked out of them by noobs for the past 20 years is succession and to top it off they're still seemingly paying top dollar for said shitters.

Yeah .. I wasn't going to be that rough on him - but that is what I was thinking - it's a 21-year-old bike ... I would expect several issues with it ..

Sorry Frisken ... either sell it and get some money back or spend some money fixing it up ... I'd take the first option

[BigAl]

Yeah .. I wasn't going to be that rough on him - but that is what I was thinking - it's a 21-year-old bike ... I would expect several issues with it ..

Sorry Frisken ... either sell it and get some money back or spend some money fixing it up ... I'd take the first option

The bike is only 9 years old, title says 2004.

Another option is you can't sort is take it to a shop and ask them to only spend an hour troubleshooting or get a fixed quote then you'll know where you stand.

[frisken]

Hey thanks for the suggestions so far, no I'm not that retarded that it's the kill switch haha. I've checked the clutch switch, gave it a blow out and plugged it in etc, seems to click in nicely but haven't looked into the wires or its termination inside the bike. Also had a look at the stand switch, looks to be OK but I haven't cut it and manually rewired it. I guess I could try that?

The bike isn't 21 years old? It's a 2004, so it's 9 years old. I don't have a lot of money, and I couldn't afford a newer/bigger LAMS approved bike. TBH I could have gone with an older 400cc bike but they had either done 80,000km + or were out of my price range. Thought I'd go for a 250, bit better for me to commute on and insure etc.

I'm assuming the issue lies with the stand/clutch switches. Is there any trouble shooting I can do that would be easy enough?

[frisken]

The bike is only 9 years old, title says 2004.

Another option is you can't sort is take it to a shop and ask them to only spend an hour troubleshooting or get a fixed quote then you'll know where you stand.

Yeah that's a good idea actually. Would it be worthwhile me suggesting where I believe the problem lies? ie Tell them to look at the stand switch and clutch switch and if it's not there, let me know?

[Banditbandit]

OK .. sorry - Yes, it is not a 21 year old bike ...

Sounds like the main power source to the engine ...

Is the battery charged? If the battery is really flat, it may be because the charging system is not working and the bike was running on the battery only - if so, the battery may have run flat - which is why the bike stopped and why it won't turn over .. IF you charge up the battery and the bike runs, trhen your charging system needs looking at ...

If it's not that, have a look at the kill switch - maybe it is shorting out or not connected ... This sounds likely .. as it would stop the bike turning over ...

If it's not that, have a look at the leads into the CDI unit - this is where the plug leads go ... if it's electrical it's cutting out before power gets to the plug leads (if it was plug leads it would be only one and not all four) .. trace the wires and see if one has become disconnected (have a look at the base of the on-off switch (key switch) ... have a look at all the connections (pull them apart and check they make good conntrections - then push tem back together again firmly.) But if the bike won't turn over then the fault is likely to be before this anyway . ..

Check all your connections anyway ... a loose, danmaged or disconnected wire could be why the charging syetem might not be working ...


It may be something simple like a lead come off .. (maybe you accidentally loosened something when you put in the new clutch cable? )

I hate chasing electrons - you can't see the little shits .. so you can't see if they are going where they are supposed to or not ..

[frisken]

Yeah, after the feedback here and researching/asking around myself it definitely sounds like a loose/broken switch connection either around the stand switch, clutch switch or the kill switch. So I will trace these back and have a better look tonight (or when I get the chance). It's not battery related, as all the lights crank when I turn the key on.

Anyways, have some good food for thought and troubleshooting steps to take now so will have a look this week and let you all know what I found out and if I fix it incase someone has a similar issue in the future.

[Drew]

If you were riding and it cut out, the issue is not the clutch switch. Providing of course it is just one issue.

Sidestand switch is possible, but I really don't see how it fucked out while riding. Does the Bandit clutch cable still go down to the front sprocket cover? Maybe pinched the wires to the stand switch and it took a little while to ground out.

I'd check all the fuses first if you haven't already. You still get a muppet award if it's one of those.:msn-wink:

[Banditbandit]

I'd check all the fuses first if you haven't already. You still get a muppet award if it's one of those.:msn-wink:

Bwhahaha .. yeah .. never thought of that one ... we might all deserve the muppet award for missing it ..

[frisken]

Hahah alright, haven't checked the fuses so you might still have me there. :) Would the clutch switch not cause the engine to cut-out while running? Is there any trouble shooting to be done on the stand switch, or would I have to cut and rewire them?

[Akzle]

go buy yourself a 50$ pocket DMM, with 2mm probes and continuity/ohmic functionalism.
Handiest thing you'll ever.

Bandito is correcto in that you cunt see um, so hav to rely on what can be tested.

1-spray all electric connections with crc 66

2- ground your dmm's black probe and with the red: start stabbing the shit out of any wires that arent black, if you find continuity, youv got an earth leak, mark it and continue stabbing.
Once youv found all your problems, trace the circuits and fix em.

For switches, hook probes up on eithr side of. Obviously should be 0 or infinite resistance when switch is 'off' and continuity/fuckall resistance when 'on'

[Akzle]

switches will be N/O or N/C.
One at a time, try alternately grounding them, or ungrounding them.
Whichever way makes it less-fucked, duct tape it in place.

[Drew]

Hahah alright, haven't checked the fuses so you might still have me there. :) Would the clutch switch not cause the engine to cut-out while running? Is there any trouble shooting to be done on the stand switch, or would I have to cut and rewire them?Clutch switch wouldn't cause the bike to stop running. Would only stop it from starting.

The stand switch will plug in to the loom, rather than being hard wired. Unplug it, and stick a piece of speaker wire in the two holes in the plug...The plug on the bike, not the stand switch. If it starts, there's ya problem. If it doesn't, take the speaker wire out and try again. If it still doesn't, plug the stand back in because the stand switch isn't the problem.

[Morcs]

Could be a hundred different things. Being a JDM 4 Cylinder 250 - unless they are thrashed everywhere all the time they will give you problems - plus they are all rather old now.

My money however, is on a CDI unit (if it isnt something obvious)

[Theantidote]

OK .. sorry - Yes, it is not a 21 year old bike ...

Sounds like the main power source to the engine ...

Is the battery charged? If the battery is really flat, it may be because the charging system is not working and the bike was running on the battery only - if so, the battery may have run flat - which is why the bike stopped and why it won't turn over .. IF you charge up the battery and the bike runs, trhen your charging system needs looking at ...

If it's not that, have a look at the kill switch - maybe it is shorting out or not connected ... This sounds likely .. as it would stop the bike turning over ...

If it's not that, have a look at the leads into the CDI unit - this is where the plug leads go ... if it's electrical it's cutting out before power gets to the plug leads (if it was plug leads it would be only one and not all four) .. trace the wires and see if one has become disconnected (have a look at the base of the on-off switch (key switch) ... have a look at all the connections (pull them apart and check they make good conntrections - then push tem back together again firmly.) But if the bike won't turn over then the fault is likely to be before this anyway . ..

Check all your connections anyway ... a loose, danmaged or disconnected wire could be why the charging syetem might not be working ...


It may be something simple like a lead come off .. (maybe you accidentally loosened something when you put in the new clutch cable? )

I hate chasing electrons - you can't see the little shits .. so you can't see if they are going where they are supposed to or not ..


wot that guy said...start with all the basics and work from there one thing at a time...battery condition is so important it should be the first place to look...if it's flat check the rec/res type thingo if you have on...and so on

[frisken]

Alright, I finally solved the issue and have an answer for everyone wondering what went wrong. This was a bit of a tricky one, and I am so grateful a friend of a friend came to the party and saved me sending it into a shop to be looked over.

After a lot of troubleshooting and fiddling around, it turns out that one of the screws inside the clocks instrument had wiggled itself loose and hit a metal bar which runs across the instrument keeping it attacked to the bike. Just so happened that the screw was the connected to the power cable so it was grounding itself and short circuiting. This was causing fuses to keep blowing.

After replacing the fuses, rewiring the instrument and securing everything in place we hooked it all back up and its running again. I would hate to think how much fun a mechanic would of had with that; realistically I don't think they would've found it and I think they would've charged me the Earth for having a look. But; that was the case and I'm glad it's back up and running.