This is WACKED

I have the strangest electrical gremlin I've ever seen. Went to start my bike today and after a short warm up it started to stumble then died. It started back up but the headlight was flickering while it was lumping. It died again. It restarted, this time the temp needle starts dancing around then pegs full past the H. I unplugged the wire to the thermostat and of course, the temp needle goes to bottom. The bike will restart but with effort. Now, if I turn on the key in neutral, the temp gauge will go past H and no dash lights, BUT, if I pull in the clutch, the gauge settles down and dash lights return. It will run fine but the temp gauge will act like a tach and goes up if I give it throttle. If I let out the clutch or put it in gear, then it dies. That leads me to believe the neutral switch or it's wiring is causing havoc but man this is weird. Any tests for the neutral switch? Why would the temp gauge be involved?

 

grab you a wirin diagram and volt/ohm meter friend. you've got a short or three somewhere.

 

DC current seems to be somewhat beyond me, but.........
Almost every electrical problem I ever had that was really weird was related to a bad ground.

 

Not sure if the wiring is the same but the '84 VF500F FSM notes:

Remove left side cover.
Disconnect the pulse generator coupler.
Check the continuity btwn the black (with red and light green tubes) lead and ground.
There should be continuity w/ the transmission in neutral, and no continuity w/ the transmission in any gear.

Hope this is of some help.

 

I have to agree..I had a problem that drove me nuts and it turned out to be a ground problem..Id definately check the ground and i like to hit all the connectors with some Deoxit on occasion when im doing a good cleaning.

 

GOT IT!

The 2 green grounds that tie into the frame under the seat were the culprits. I moved the grounding location to a spot not easily seen and missed it when I hooked up my battery. Runs fine now.

 

I have also learned that a good place for me to start looking for a problem is to check the last thing I worked on.:biggrin:

 

Was just gonna say, it's your harness ground! Just had the same pegging temp gauge and all around weird-shit-ed-ness on my 83. Glad you found it.