Lighting Failure

[Tompierce]

I was on my way home last night (on my 2013 C650GT) when all the lights went out.

No, I'm not being metaphorical, I really mean all the lights went out. There were no headlights, no driving lights, no turn signals. Also no horn, no tach or speedo, no dash lights, no aftermarket driving lights, and none of the handlebar switches did anything. The bike continued to run just fine, just no external lighting at all.

After about 20 seconds, everything came back on. It was like I turned the ignition off except it continued to run just fine.

This happened several times during the ride home - luckily I was in relatively heavy traffic with little danger of being rear-ended (or so I told myself).

Since it happened repeatedly, I was able to experiment a little bit - it seemed to happen after hitting a bump in the road (the road wasn't great, so that could just be coincidence). I found that turning the ignition key off and back on would make the lights reappear, so I drove home with one hand on the handlebar and the other on the ignition switch.

Of course, in the garage, I could not get it to repeat the symptoms.

The dealer says they can look at it two weeks from Thursday, and I have alternate transportation, so I'm not stuck. The handlebar switch recall has been done on this bike although I can't see how that might be related.

Has anyone had this happen to them? I suspect the ignition switch since that is the only thing that would affect all of the electrical system. But why would the bike continue to run?

 

[exavid]

It does sound like it could be the ignition switch but I'd give a wiggle to the fuses, especially the two big yellow ones in the fuse panel. There's a list of what fuse does what in the owner's manual that might be a help. It's not much of a job to remove the right upper fairing cover, four screws and a bit of wiggling to get the big tabs at the bottom free.

 

[justscootin]

Also while you are there check the battery connections.

The bike should run if your battery is disconnected it would run off the alternator (you asked earlier)

It does sound like it could be the ignition switch but I'd give a wiggle to the fuses, especially the two big yellow ones in the fuse panel. There's a list of what fuse does what in the owner's manual that might be a help. It's not much of a job to remove the right upper fairing cover, four screws and a bit of wiggling to get the big tabs at the bottom free.

 

[Tompierce]

Whaaaat?

Also while you are there check the battery connections.

The bike should run if your battery is disconnected it would run off the alternator (you asked earlier)

Although this didn't make any sense to me (shouldn't the lights run off the alternator as well?) I decided to check it out while I was in there looking around.

Apparently, justscootin nailed it - the positive battery connections was loose on the post. While there isn't any proof that this was the cause of the problem, I also looked at the main ignition switch and did not find anything unusual there, and I couldn't make if fail by tapping on the switch / moving the connections around.

Thanks to justscootin for the expert remote diagnosis. Now I'm off to find a wiring diagram, cause this scooter is apparently wired differently than any other vehicle I've owned.

 

[aguses]

Hi all! i'am having the same issue. Some one could resolve this problem?

thanks!