Ignition problem

[RagMan]

'99 classic bullet - 4 speed, kick start.
I have a strange problem concerning the ignition of the bike. At random, the setting of the ignition switch behaves wrongly -  i.e. when riding, switch to IGN, the ammeter will suddenly show no charge.  In this condition the bike is running a total loss system.  Switching the key to the park light setting, will bring back the charge, and this condition will remain for a while.  Then, I will not find the ammeter movement on that setting, and it is back on the IGN setting.  The bike will then start and run, until it stops charging on the IGN and works on the other setting.

Does this mean that the ignition switch is broken, or is there something else that I should be looking at?

[t120rbullet]

Ah, 99 a good year!
Is the ammeter all the way in the red or just in the middle?
I have heard all sorts of stories about that middle position on the ignition switch. Mine seems to work the same in both positions which makes sense since the 2 positions seem to be jumped on the bottom of the switch.
As far as checking stuff out you'll just have to take a VOM to it and just start eliminating things until you find the problem.  The Lucas bullet connectors on the 99s can be a source of problems at times too. Especially if you wash the bike a lot or ride in the rain!
CJ
 

[RagMan]

When it decides to change, the ammeter ceases to show a charge, shows a drain, and the battery does go flat after a day or two riding. Whilst it is doing this, turning the key to the other setting, then brings the charging back into play.

[Kevin Mahoney]

CJ makes a good point. I assume that you are talking about a US or Canadian market bike. If so, you may have noticed that there are two "on" positions for the ignition switch.  While the bike will run in either position they will only charge in the second on position (at least this was true of most of them). Once in a while we would find one that would charge in both positions, but this was a fluke. I used to find the Bullet connector that went from the ignition switch to the wiring harness to sometimes be defective. When you pushed the connector together one of the spades would back out so that while the connection looked good one or more of the wires were not connected. This was especially true of the blue wire coming from the ignition switch, This is a good place to start. It is also entirely possible that the switch itself is worn out. And then as CJ said there are a lot of the old style bullet connectors which join circuits together. At some point you would be well advised to clean and tighten each one.

[RagMan]

I will set about doing that in the next few days - I have a dread about working on electrics, though I understand the theory pretty well.

[RagMan]

Today I looked at the wiring. Nothing was loose, nothing changed and this week, the first position is charging, the second is not. The switch itself is kind of loose.. I will try to remove it, and see better..  My manual should arrive in the next couple of days.