XJ1100 Bike dies when running

[HalfCentury]

The bike dies when running. It happens when idling and when driving.

I have removed the kill switch and looked at the wiring. There is tape around what should be a black tubing that the wires run through. I removed the tape to reveal that there are wire splices in the wires coming from the RUN/STOP switch.

When idling while parked, I can hear some noise just before it dies that leads me to suspect the starting circuit cutoff relay or the contacts in the RUN/STOP control housing.

Can I short a pair (or more) of wires in the headlight bucket collection to test the theory?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there,

I'm not an XJ guru, but the XJ has several ignition safety interlocks, and the side stand one is notorious for failing or being problematic. I believe there is a bypass in the tech tips regarding this.

T.C.

[Jerry]

Here are a couple of things to check.

If you are running the original fuse block, the "fingers" that hold the glass fuse in place are suspect. These have not aged well and get brittle, causing intermittent connections. I don't have my manual handy to verify which fuse is the ignition but you should replace the OEM fuse block with a newer one. Do a search on 'fuse block" to get ideas on how to do this.

The XJ has a couple of interlocks that prevent the bike from running when the side stand is down and the bike is in gear. The side stand switch is notorious for wear and when it goes bad you can get intermittent bike shut downs. The part is no longer available from Yamaha. Bypass is to follow the 3-wire cable from the switch up to it's connection near the fuel tank. Unplug the cable and jump the bike-side 3 wires all together; be aware this defeats the safety function of the switch! Some people have cut the switch apart to fix it. Do a search on side stand switch to get more info on this.

A third item that can go bad is a switch built into the clutch lever assembly. Again, part of the interlock system. You can follow the wires from the clutch into the headlight bucket, unplug at the connector, and jump the bike side wires together (2 wires) to bypass the clutch switch. However, this switch rarely goes bad.

The last item is the neutral switch, the little one that turns your neutral light on. If enough oil and grime gets on this it will short out causing the interlock system to think the bike is in gear when it is not. Clean the top of the switch.

The most common culprit is the side stand switch; the other components may (and have) caused problems but are not really known problems as is the side stand switch and fuse block.

A failure of the stop switch is very rare indeed but not out of the question. I have not bypassed this switch so can't give you advice on that.

[HalfCentury]

Here is some additional information.

1. I have replaced the fuse block with new style fuses. The fuse block is the TC sourced block.

2. The bike dies in neutral running on the side stand. The bike also dies while in gear and driving.

3. Some times the bike will fire up when I hit the start button. Some times not. The behavior seems to be that when the bike is hot, the start button is more likely to not work.

4. The battery is not low. It had a 95% charge the last time it died running on the side stand.

The side stand switch could cause the bike to die when in gear but not when idling on the side stand in neutral.

[tcoop]

I had the same issue with my 80LG. I had replace my fuse box previously. I found that one of the slots for the fuse was faulty/loose. I moved the wires to the next available slot and the problem went away. Otherwise check all your crimps to make sure they are good.

[HalfCentury]

I had the same issue with my 80LG. I had replace my fuse box previously. I found that one of the slots for the fuse was faulty/loose. I moved the wires to the next available slot and the problem went away. Otherwise check all your crimps to make sure they are good.

For sure, if ignition circuit has a bad crimp or a faulty fuse slot, that would explain everything.

[TopCatGr58]

Okay,

Idling on side stand, and bike eventually dies. Also it can dieswhile riding?

Do you still have the Octopus valve? IF so, could be vac. leak in hose that is supposed to keep it open while running....but not enough vac. when hose leaking, runs the bowls dry/low, dead engine, and then with little/no fuel in carbs...hard to restart.

TEST, put petcocks on PRIME and see if it will still die when idling/riding.

You say it won't start when warm/hot...? Do you mean it will turn over/crank, but won't start. OR do you mean that you push the starter button, but it won't crank??

IF the latter, sounds like a weak ground that develops more resistance when hot. The starter button just completes the path from the solenoid to ground. Suggest pulling the handlebar switch apart, check, clean the button contacts, harness connectors, etc.!

T.C.

[trbig]

I've been wrong lots of times before.. especially on wiring stuff, but I was thinking that I just cut my wires to the sidestand switch and didn't tie them together. Might check into that if having the sidestand down completes the circuit, tying the wires together would kill the bike every time you put it in gear.

But Like I said, I've slept a time or two since I did mine and I've been wrong before.

[HalfCentury]

Okay,

Idling on side stand, and bike eventually dies. Also it can dieswhile riding?

Do you still have the Octopus valve? IF so, could be vac. leak in hose that is supposed to keep it open while running....but not enough vac. when hose leaking, runs the bowls dry/low, dead engine, and then with little/no fuel in carbs...hard to restart.

TEST, put petcocks on PRIME and see if it will still die when idling/riding.

You say it won't start when warm/hot...? Do you mean it will turn over/crank, but won't start. OR do you mean that you push the starter button, but it won't crank??

IF the latter, sounds like a weak ground that develops more resistance when hot. The starter button just completes the path from the solenoid to ground. Suggest pulling the handlebar switch apart, check, clean the button contacts, harness connectors, etc.!

T.C.

Sometimes, push the start button and it will not crank. Sometimes it cranks perfectly.

This behavior just started two weeks ago when I took it out for a long ride. It died quite a few times.

Last weekend I pulled it out and it started perfectly but died in idle on the center stand.

I will start bypassing the interlocks one at a time and see what happens. Even when I find the problem, I may as well clean all the contacts, connectors, etc and possibly replace the relays if they are obtainable.

[madmax-im]

Sounds like the starter solenoid...contacts inside get corroded and the starter button doesnt always get the contact to engage the starter solenoid...I had that issue...but the bike never died while running...just the starting difficulties

[BA80]

Dies when running? Could it actually die when it's NOT running?

[trbig]

Could it actually die when it's NOT running?

It took several flips, but yeah, mine wasn't running any more when it died. lol.

[BA80]

It took several flips, but yeah, mine wasn't running any more when it died. lol.

Yours didn't die, you killed it.

[HalfCentury]

Dies when running? Could it actually die when it's NOT running?

Running as in running down the road vs. sitting and idling. But, yeah, guilty as charged for inexact syntax.

[bikerphil]

Had a problem similar to yours, the bike would cut out at any given time whenever it felt like it. After months of dealing with this, it turned out to be a bad 4 wire connector at the TCI, the terminals had stretched and weren't making a good connection. Might try taking the terminals out of the connector plug and closing them up some with a pliers. I just replaced mine with a new connector and terminals and have not had an issue since.