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Bike cuts out, won't restart

11 posts · Started by Spambone · 15 Oct 2009

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I hate this to be my first post, but here goes:

I bought a low mile 07 SD a few months back. It has now stopped dead on me twice, cutting out immediately while running (no sputtering). When I go to restart, the headlight / dash come on, the starter turns over but the bike won't start.

When it happened the first time, it died abruptly while going through some twisties and elevation changes. Battery still had juice and all fuses intact. Took it to the dealer who ran their diagnostic (no codes came up) and fiddled with the plugs and some connectors. They got it to start, but couldn't tell me why (great job). I replaced the battery as a defensive move, since it had sat dead with the previous owner.

Since then the bike has constantly been on a trickle charger and ridden in various conditions w/no problems. This morning, popped a little 1st gear wheelie for grins and on touchdown it died again, same scenario ... power / lights / starter ok, but not running.

I don't want to take it back to the dealer because they were clueless. I'm reasonably handy with my carb'd bikes and basic maintenance, so I'm going to take a shot at diagnosis. From what I've searched, I'm inclined to start with the fuel pump as electrical seems to be working OK and the battery is totally fresh.

Any other opinions, either about where to start with the fuel pump or other things to try? I've seen references to faulty clutch switches, kill switches and tip-over switches, and fractured (not broken) fuses, all of which might fit with the effect of getting jarred or tweaked.

Any help is MUCH appreciated. I love the bike and don't want to get rid of it, but I don't have much tolerance for a high dollar new-ish bike that has already stranded me as much as my other bikes combined.
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The first time, the fuel was low (but not low enough to trip the fuel countdown). Second time, nearly full tank.
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Thanks all for the support and info. Great to have such a strong community around this bike. I made some headway today investigating things on the list:

- tipover sensor was attached, not loose.
- ground wires to the reg/rec were clean / intact
- clutch switch and sidestand switch seem OK (I unplugged them, cleaned both connectors)
- cleaned all the battery connectors, all fuel pump connectors

Had a bunch of gas leak out of the EVAP cannister's air vent when I lifted the tank, so I went ahead and removed the cannister and re-routed the two hoses to vent underneath the bike.

Still no luck starting. Biggest untested area is the fuel filter / pump. I pulled the fuel line and made sure there's no fuel coming out of the pump during ignition. I then got distracted by too many gas spills to make any more headway. I'm used to draining other bikes through the petcock or similar valve under the tank, but I'm not seeing an easy way to drain the fuel before I pull the pump. Of course, this problem HAD to reappear with nearly a full tank. Any suggestions on draining?
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