No power to anything!

[ltan667]

Man this bike is driving crazy! 

The rain finally cleared up for a bit in my area and I decided to take a ride. Went out, put the key in and turned it into the on position. Everything was fine and dandy until I hit the engine kill switch to the on position, then all my lights went out on my instrument panel. I tried turning the key back and forth but got nothing. Wasn't able to test the battery or anything but it didn't look like a weak battery or anything cause everything was fine and then just shut down.

I don't know much about motorcycles but it seems like the CDI seems to be a popular problem, does this seem to be my case or a burnt out fuse? I'm one problem away from selling this bike!!  (JK, I love my bandit lol)

Regards, Leon.

[olsonm3915]

First of all check the battery cables to make sure they aren't loose, on either end of both cables.

I can almost guarantee it is not the CDI.

It could be the 25A main fuse.  If so, you need to find out why it blew and correct that fault or it will blow again at the most inopportune time.  The best way to find intermittent shorts on a bike is to replace the blown fuse with a light bulb and wiggle the wiring harness until the bulb turns on/off.  I could go into far more detail but hopefully some of this will be helpful. 

[ltan667]

Thanks for the tip! That'll be the first thing I'll do when I get back from class. It recently rained in my area for about 5 days straight and I'm sad to say I don't have a garage or a cover for my bandit so could the rain be the reason it shorted out?

Regards, Leon.

[ltan667]

Ok so I just pulled the seat off and checked all four fuses and they all seem to be ok, none of them are blown. Are there any other fuses I should check?

[olsonm3915]

Did you check the battery cables for looseness?  Try actually tugging on them.  Do you have a voltmeter?  A test light?  You can almost certainly find the problem easier with a simple test light, just connect a couple of wires to a turn signal bulb or an instrument panel bulb and use it to detect the presence or absence of 12V.  You need to understand simple electric circuit concepts and be able to follow a schematic diagram.

Just looking at the fuses will not tell you for sure that they are good (you can certainly tell a bad fuse by looking at it most of the time), or if there is power getting to the fuses.

Hook one side of the test light to the frame, and touch the other wire to the positive battery terminal.  If the bulb lights brightly you have a good ground connection on the battery.  Leaving the ground side of the light in place, now touch the "hot" side of the light to the battery cable where it goes to the starter solenoid, and the unfused side of the main 25A fuse.  Keep tracing power through the schematic until you find where the light no longer lights.  I know this is confusing if you aren't familiar with electric circuits, but there really is no simple way to teach this stuff without a lot more time than I can devote.  Good luck.

[ltan667]

I pulled the fuses again and noticed one of the 10s had a little bit of plastic that was melted. Should I just replace all these?

Also I did check the battery connections and they were on tight on both ends. I don't know much, if anything at all about electrical work so is there anything I should check out or try? I would try your light bulb method but honestly I don't know where to start or where to go if I did.

Sudden power loss anyone?

[olsonm3915]

I pulled the fuses again and noticed one of the 10s had a little bit of plastic that was melted. Should I just replace all these?

No, only if they don't conduct current.  To find out if they are good you need to use your test light.

Also I did check the battery connections and they were on tight on both ends. I don't know much, if anything at all about electrical work so is there anything I should check out or try? I would try your light bulb method but honestly I don't know where to start or where to go if I did.

I explicitly told you three ways to connect the light bulb.  You won't hurt anything.  Go ahead and do what I suggested.  At least it will tell you if the battery went pop or not.
1)

Hook one side of the test light to the frame, and touch the other wire to the positive battery terminal.  If the bulb lights brightly you have a good ground connection on the battery.

2)

Leaving the ground side of the light in place, now touch the "hot" side of the light to the battery cable where it goes to the starter solenoid,

3)

and the unfused side of the main 25A fuse.

[pmackie]

until I hit the engine kill switch to the on position

Maybe obvious, but...

if the problem started when you moved the kill switch, the problem may well be in the kill swithch. Try rocking it back an forth a few times to see if you restore power. I'm not familiar with the 400, but these is usually a clutch switch and a sidestand switch as well.

[mosquito]

Any update, OP?

FWIW, I had a similar problem last week.  At first the starter button did nothing. I took apart the switch housing, but it all looked good.  It was getting dark, so I bump-started and went home.  The next day I opened up the housing and found that a wire did actually come off the switch.  I soldered it back on and thought it was good to go.

Turns out it wasn't: it was blowing the main fuse every time I turned the kill switch on.  The way the wires are in there on mine make it easy for me to mash the kill switch wires against the bars and short them out.  To test those switches, it's easiest to pull the headlight & check the switch function at the connector with a multimeter.

GL.