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'84 gl1200i bad ignition switch causing bike to turn off on the road *DANGER*

11K views 113 replies 15 participants last post by  crimsonwing 
#1 ·
hello everyone, the past couple of weeks it has been difficult to start up the wing. I simply just havent been able to get electricity. I turn the key and nothing happens. i wiggle the key around and the lights come on and off. i have to turn it the key extremely slowly to try and find the sweet spot and gently remove my hand so i can finally press the start button. the bigger problem is that when i ride, all the vibration makes the system shut off and this is terribly dangerous, luckily this hasn't happened on the highway yet. any idea what the problem may be? I need to repair this as soon as possible!!
 
#75 ·
hello everyone i'm back. I had to go out of town for a while before I had the chance to pick up my battery, so sorry for the late reply. Anyhow, I put my freshly charged battery in and turned on my ignition switch, and as I feared, the voltage started plummeting down. However, I decided to turn the bike on just to see if it would still charge, and it did. The weird part is that after I turned off the bike, the battery kept its charge, and was no longer plummeting? im confused now. Any guesses?
 
#76 ·
If the battery was just charged there is a phenomenon called surface charge. It will drive battery voltage high. If a load is applied to the battery surface voltage will drop like a rock until it gets down to the 12.1 or 12.2 range where it will settle. Then it will slowly drop after that. You might have been watching surface charge being destroyed. .
 
#90 ·
interesting. my charge never went above 11.8 or so. and when it was dropping it went from the 11's down the the 6's in about 3 minutes.

Could this still be the same thing? If so, am I ok now?
I have reading thru parts of this thread, and no where did I see where you tell us what year, and model bike this is??

does it have a Poor boy alternator installed, or does it still have the OEM Stator on the engine?
We need to get your bike stated in the Signature so folks can quit guessing what you have?

the few scattered posts here indicate insufficient testing to determine what is actually going on. and this thread has been going on for some years now, are you still fighting an original issue, or a New issue?

Please take the time to describe exactly what bike you have, and what kind of charging system you have? You mention taking it to a store to have the battery "charged"..... a minimal charge over an hour or two is NOT a good charge, and does not give us adequate information as the " current condition of the battery ".

when the bike is not being used, you should have a BATTERY TENDER connected to the battery at all times, infrequent charges will not keep the battery in good condition.
 
#80 ·
Hey guys, i'm back. Dave, yes, I only used the kill switch to turn the bike off, the voltage was only plummeting when the engine was running. HOWEVER, I noticed that whenever I changed from hi beams to low beams on my headlight, the battery would charge some and jump up a couple volts. I replaced the light switch with a new one and it was good for a while. but today the voltage dropped to 10.9 at one point. I think the switch was a big culprit, but do yall think this is the only factor at play?
 
#82 ·
you're totally right, it is not the switch. I remember I changed bulb a while back, maybe a few years ago now, I don't remember what the wattage was. I wonder why it would cause problems now? or what else could it be?
 
#84 ·
i see. I have the poorboy set up, so that shouldnt be an issue. unless there is something wrong with the setup itself. Now that you mention the headlight, one of the two small helper lights located on the side of the headlight is no longer working. Would this be it? i'm not sure if the bulb is dead or there is a damaged wire somewhere.
 
#86 ·
I did as you said and pulled the headlight fuse and the voltage jumped from 10.8 to 11.1. I left the bike running for another 5 minutes or so and the voltage never dropped, neither did it go up anymore. what does this mean?
 
#89 ·
I don't know for sure, I'm not there to look at it but it doesn't seem to be charging for whatever reason. Take it off and to an alternator repair shop to have it tested. If it tests good then perhaps there is something wrong with the wiring.
 
#91 · (Edited)
oops. I have and 1984 goldwing 1200 interstate. i do currently have the poorboy installed and a brand new battery. This seems to be a new issue. the last issue was a faulty ignition switch, and this seems to be the alternator? or could it still be the switch? the new ignition switch is connected to the old one because the new switch is from a newer model wing which no longer uses the additional wiring that the 84 does, so I had to use part of the old switch to connect the red plug for my tail lights if I remember right.

any questions for me?
 
#93 ·
I was thinking that because the main switch is not faulty, the electronics still work, but since the old faulty switch is still connected to the electrical system, there could be a leak in power somewhere from the old switch. maybe that makes no sense but it was just what I was thinking at the moment.
 
#103 · (Edited)
I see, its still worth a look. thank you.

update: I cant find anything for an 84. I also don't know how to find the part number, can anyone help with that?

also, I think my last resort will be to try and repair the original switch. I have already repaired it a couple of times, even using the screw mod, and it still messes up. ill see what I can do.
 
#106 ·
wow you actually found some!! thats awesome! However, I must say that I am sorry for misinforming you guys. It turns out that the old original switch was not connected this whole time, The tail light and start button plug was just attached to it so well that it seemed to be part of the switch. so now that we can rule out the switch, can we rule out the alternator? I took it to to the local auto parts store and I got mixed results. it first failed the test, then it passed the test. it then failed again, and then it passed for another time. the employee said he was testing for the wrong model at first, and that also maybe the pulley belt/timing belt was a bit loose. In the end, he said it was still good.I'm a bit skeptical though. my question is, can the alternator pass the test and still be a bad alternator? maybe it is on the brink of going bad so it is giving mixed results? Ya'll know more than me so, i'll just sit back and listen.
I also had the results printed out if you want to see the specifics.
 
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