2006 Ignition switch failure

On a Death Valley group ride last weekend, my 2006 'A' suddenly experienced a total loss of electrical power. The failure was instant and total. No early warning signs. Had I been passing a series of cars or... it would have been nasty. Just instant and total failure.

Two hours of troubleshooting alongside the road revealed that the 'hot' wire (red) had pulled out from, separated from, the ignition switch module assembly.

This red wire still had the solder joint / switch contact intact. I haven't torn the ignition switch apart yet, but I can imagine a phenolic board held this contact point captive. On the bottom side, the wire approaches from the loom and is soldered onto, or into, a landing pad that's mechanically secured to the phenolic circuit board. The topside of this pad is in fact a contact point for the ignition switch wiper.

Long of short, the whole assembly was *easily* pulled from the switch assembly, with minimal force. It was very apparent the failure was an open, not a short. Simply hot wiring the red to the brown got power back. The two remaining wires, an interlock, required the ignition switch be placed to the run position for the bike to fire.

The cause and what you should look for? The wire loom exiting the switch was ty-wrapped in two places. The wire was 'banjo' string tight. I postulate the harness was ty-wrapped to tight from the factory, causing the red B+ wire to be under constant tension. After so much time and vibration, tension won and the circuit opened.

I would suggest that 2006 owners take a quick peek at the loom exiting the switch bottom and ensure it's not really tight. Sorry I don't have good pix, but it's really easy to see, you don't have to remove any plastic for this inspection.

Here is the best pix I have..



Edited to correct typo.

We are unfortunate that both of us had failures. Suggestion when you get it replaced have the anti-theft nuts replaced with allen screws. YOC did that for me so when I put on my HeliBars won't have to hassle with drilling. Look forward to riding with you at DV ride.

dcarver said:

I would suggest that 2006 owners take a quick peek at the loom exiting the switch bottom and ensure it's not really tight.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip!

Mine was WAY tight, so I've clipped and retied in a more reasonable fashion.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to check it this afternoon.

You guys who find tight wiring should run these into the dealers, to get some groundwork for the possible future recall. I'd hate to see one of us get eaten by a following vehicle when our bike dies at speed in heavy traffic, if you know what I mean.

This is no good.

Going to try to fire up my Cypress contacts and give them a heads up. This has the potential to be bad.

Good job trouble-shooting by the roadside... anything beats having your bike towed. :angry2:

Just a thought, Have you or your dealer adjusted the steering hear bearings? Could this have been caused during the top clamp removal?

Interesting, I'll definitely give it a look too.

tstaff said:

Just a thought, Have you or your dealer adjusted the steering hear bearings? Could this have been caused during the top clamp removal?

Click to expand...

Tstaff - Don't think so as my top clamp has never been removed. If you look at the harness you can see two factory installed ty-wraps just under the bottom of the switch housing. These ty-wraps, in my case, were definately factory installed and the wires excessively tight. I'm curious as to what other 06 owners find when they inspect their bikes.

dcarver said:

tstaff said:

Just a thought, Have you or your dealer adjusted the steering hear bearings? Could this have been caused during the top clamp removal?

Click to expand...

Tstaff - Don't think so as my top clamp has never been removed. If you look at the harness you can see two factory installed ty-wraps just under the bottom of the switch housing. These ty-wraps, in my case, were definately factory installed and the wires excessively tight. I'm curious as to what other 06 owners find when they inspect their bikes.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll check mine when I get home tonight.

dcarver said:

These ty-wraps, in my case, were definately factory installed and the wires excessively tight. I'm curious as to what other 06 owners find when they inspect their bikes.

Click to expand...

This seems to apply to many of the cable ties that are on the bike. I just installed the Power Commander last week and absolutely couldn't believe how little play was left in the harness and how tight they had the wires secured running into it. On top of that the cable ties were never trimmed so it looked like Tracy Chapmans hair when I lifted the heat shield. It doesn't surprise me at all that they did the same thing running into the ignition. The bike dying like that, like you said, could have definitely put you in a compromising position.

Damn! I guess I'll have to check my 07 when before I accept delivery. I'm glad to here it didn't cause anything more serious to happen, and you're okay. Can you say rear ended?

Just checked my 06 and there're tight also. As the wires come out from underneath they take a sharp 90 degree turn, as they are cinched tight with the factory tie straps. I loosened them up, giving them a little droop before they are re-secured the tie straps.

I checked my 04.... same thing, they are pulled tight also !

HIGHLANDER said:

Just checked my 06 and there're tight also. As the wires come out from underneath they take a sharp 90 degree turn, as they are cinched tight with the factory tie straps. I loosened them up, giving them a little droop before they are re-secured the tie straps.
I checked my 04.... same thing, they are pulled tight also !

Click to expand...

Highlander, Exactly the same thing I found on mine. The only difference might be is that I put ~8 miles a day, 5 days a week, on a secondary dirt road. The stutter bumps may have made the situation worse. On mine, the red wire (which you probably haven't seen since you most likely did not cut the harness cover) was visibly 'kinked', almost at a 90 degree angle immediately followed by another 90. It kind of looked like a crooked 'Z' if you will. Thanks for your post. BTW, my local dealer, PowerHouse in Paso Robles, had not issues *at all* putting this on a warranty repair.

..and, TurboDave, Thank You for your post regarding not reinstalling with anti-theft screws. I too eventually want to intstall the Helibars.

dcarver said:

The cause and what you should look for? The wire loom exiting the switch was ty-wrapped in two places. The wire was 'banjo' string tight. I postulate the harness was ty-wrapped to tight from the factory, causing the red B+ wire to be under constant tension. After so much time and vibration, tension won and the circuit opened.

Click to expand...

Hi Don,

Thanks for the heads up. I just went out to my 06AE and clipped the first zip tie that prevented me from seeing the wiring going into the switch housing. I then could see the second zip tie. It seems to run through a metal hole/loop and I can move the tie back and forth in the loop a bit but the wiring within the tie doesn't move relative to the tie. Any thoughts about how tight is too tight for that zip tie? Given that I can wiggle that tie within its holder I'm inclined not to fiddle with it.

Bummer this took time out of your DV ride but good to hear you got back on the road again. BTW, it snowed here in Abq the day I would've had to have left for DV.

I found that the wire coming out of the ignition had 1 ty-wrap to attach it to a small hole on the ignition switch and another ty-wrap that was used to bind the larger wire loom to the ignition wire. Are these the 2 ty-wraps that you say need to be loosened?

Mine were pretty tight as well.

dcarver said:

On a Death Valley group ride last weekend, my 2006 'A' suddenly experienced a total loss of electrical power. The failure was instant and total. No early warning signs. Had I been passing a series of cars or... it would have been nasty. Just instant and total failure.Two hours of troubleshooting alongside the road revealed that the 'hot' wire (red) had pulled out from, separated from, the ignition switch module assembly.

This red wire still had the solder joint / switch contact intact. I haven't torn the ignition switch apart yet, but I can imagine a phenolic board held this contact point captive. On the bottom side, the wire approaches from the loom and is soldered onto, or into, a landing pad that's mechanically secured to the phenolic circuit board. The topside of this pad is in fact a contact point for the ignition switch wiper.

Long of short, the whole assembly was *easily* pulled from the switch assembly, with minimal force. It was very apparent the failure was an open, not a short. Simply hot wiring the red to the brown got power back. The two remaining wires, an interlock, required the ignition switch be placed to the run position for the bike to fire.

The cause and what you should look for? The wire loom exiting the switch was ty-wrapped in two places. The wire was 'banjo' string tight. I postulate the harness was ty-wrapped to tight from the factory, causing the red B+ wire to be under constant tension. After so much time and vibration, tension won and the circuit opened.

I would suggest that 2006 owners take a quick peek at the loom exiting the switch bottom and ensure it's not really tight. Sorry I don't have good pix, but it's really easy to see, you don't have to remove any plastic for this inspection.

Click to expand...

Yes Grendell, that's the two you need !

Good call Don. Checked mine out and they were very tight! I'm sure the added elevation of the Hines risers added even more tension on my wires also. Removed both ties and replaced them in a better configuration. This could save someone from injury and or a spoiled ride. Thanks! PM. <>< :good:

Thanks dcarver.

The dealer (Port Yamaha) is going to make the change to my bike as he takes it out fo the crate this weekend.

Thanks again,

John T.