Loss of Power and Lights While Riding

[FZR_Fanatic]

Hello, all. I'm new to the forum, and fairly new to the motorcycle community, and was hoping you could help me with a problem.

I have a 1996 FZR-600R, and recently experienced a loss of power and lights while riding.

I was cruising at 45 mph in mild traffic when the High Beam indicator went out and the engine lost all power. I tried to accellerate so that I could get out of traffic safely, but the throttle was completely unresponsive. The blinkers and headlights were not working either, so I coasted over to the shoulder as soon as possible.

Once I reached the shoulder and stopped, I could hear that the engine was still running, but it seemed to be coughing and chugging, and didn't sound normal at all. By this time, the High Beam and Neutral indicators had came back on, but were flickering weakly. I immediately shut the bike off, and proceeded to look for the cause of the problem.

I checked the battery connections, both of which seemed to be tight and free of corrosion, and also checked all of the plug-ins underneath the seat, none of which were loose. I then started the bike back up to see if the problem persisted, but the bike ran normally after that.

The battery still seems to have a good charge, and was able to start the bike multiple times later in the day, so I'm presuming it's not the alternator or the battery.

Any ideas on the cause of the problem, or where I should start looking for answers? Thanks in advance!

[DustyJacket]

Maybe had some corrosion on the battery cables that you broke loose testing and tightening the cables? Then your connections were good.

I'd undo each connection and both ends of the negatice battery strap, clean them, and apply some dielectric grease.

OR

One of the battery cables has a break inside and moving it around temporarily fixed the connection.

[FZR_Fanatic]

Thanks for the advice.

My first thought was a bad ground, and it seems that simply wiggling the battery connections was enough to fix the problem for the time being.

Looks like my next project will be cleaning all the electrical connections, and applying dielectric grease where needed.

If anybody else has any more advice to add, I'm all ears!

Thanks!

[Johnj]

Do you have one of those bells on your bike yet?

[FZR_Fanatic]

Are you talking about one of those good luck bells?

[Johnj]

Yea I guess so. They're called gnome bell around here.

[FZR_Fanatic]

Well, I haven't picked up a gnome bell yet, but I did clean and tighten all the contacts, and haven't had any trouble since.

Thanks for the help, everyone!

[Jadien]

What are the bells you guys are talkning about?

Am I that much of a newb, or did they take gullible out of the dictionary.....?

[Shorts]

Bells keep gremlins away and signal help to fellow riders. At least from my Koushin's knowledge it does.