I've been noticing the engine cutting out on my old Ninja the past while and I'm trying to figure out what might be causing it. It seems to happen as a result of some combination of the following:
It's fairly cold out
I'm moving slowly (like coming to a stop)
The bars are turned quite a ways to the right
My guess is it's a cable that needs to be adjusted (maybe the clutch?) since cold would cause it to shrink slightly and turning the bars could affect this too.
If any of you intelligent, strapping people could correct me or confirm my suspicions, I would be quite grateful!
I'm curious, you said your engine is cutting out... Is it cutting out or stalling?
If it's stalling then chances are yes it's your clutch needing to be tightened up. When the bike is off and the handlebars are straight, you should have about 1/16th inch of freeplay before it starts to pull on the cable. Of course that's measured at the gap between the clutch lever and the perch. If it's looser than that tighten it up and it should take care of the problem if it's stalling.
If it's cutting out then I'll bet it's a loose electrical connection on your right handlebar at the kill switch.
Have owned - 2001 Suzuki Volusia
Current bike - 2005 Kawasaki Z750S
MMI Graduation date January 9th, 2009. Factory Certifications in Suzuki and Yamaha
I'm pretty sure it is cutting out since it doesn't jerk like it does when it stalls. Actually, since you mentioned it, the symptoms are exactly like when the kill switch is set to off.
I did a bit of poking around today and the starter also has no effect when the bars are turned to the right a certain amount, like if the kill switch is off. I took that switch housing off, but the workings are pretty inaccessible. Still, as I held it in my hand and tried to make sure there was no funny business with the wires, it still had the same effect when the bars were turned.
I plan to look at this further on the weekend, but do you think the culprit does have something to do with the kill switch, or is it maybe a red herring?
Honestly I'll bet it's an electrical gremlin. Check the bundle of wires running through the neck of the bike. I couldn't figure out an intermittent blinker once for the life of me, turns out the wire running through the neck that controlled it was cut through by the steering lock.
So check those wires first, then check your kill switch with a multimeter. All you need to do to check that is to see if it has continuity when the bars are all the way to the right (preferably under .2 Ohms of resistance).
Let us know what you find!
Have owned - 2001 Suzuki Volusia
Current bike - 2005 Kawasaki Z750S
MMI Graduation date January 9th, 2009. Factory Certifications in Suzuki and Yamaha
Your Ninja 600 has a connector between the wires coming from the start switch and the rest of the harness. You may find it under the tank. I would check that connector.
Also, I was once stranded across the country for a disconnect in the wires coming from a Kawasaki ignition switch. These wires exited the ignition key switch and went to a connector that was tied to the handlebars. When I turned the bars to the right the engine would cut off. After an hour of frantic troubleshooting, I zip-tied that connection together tightly and finished my cross-country return trip. This particular connection on almost all Kawasakis is a green box with pin-type connectors in it. Whether it's loose or not, put some silicone grease or dialectic grease in there to ensure a good connection.
I think your problem is a very simply and easy one, you just have to find it.
Jenn S.
AMA #658162
2005 Concours
2001 Vmax
1992 CB750
There was indeed a connector in the form of a green box between the starter to the rest of the harness, but alas it wasn't the culprit this time.
I played around briefly with the other connections near the bars but didn't come up with anything. I'll check those some more and pick up a multimeter (I think our last one was accidentally recycled) to do some testing next time I get a chance.
Thanks very much for the suggestions, guys, I have a good idea of what to look for.
Grabbed a multimeter and found out that the right handlebar cables (ie. kill switch) seemed fine when the bars were turned, but after some more checking, found that some of the ignition switch wires were the ones becoming disconnected.
I took off the sleeve but there didn't seem to be any problem with the wires. I did find out, however, that things did work when the wires came out of the ignition housing at a certain angle. Since I'm a noob, I didn't really want to rip that all apart, so I just zip-tied it in place and now it works just fine.
Call it a farmer fix, but hey, I can ride again. Thanks for the pointers, guys!
