Occassional Zap/Shock through Clutch/Brake

[Jakobi]

Anyone else experienced this??

I have something thats shorting out after I smash it through some water. On one occassion I had identified it as the kill switch and have since put electrical tape between the switch and the bar to stop it from happened. Still got me the other day.

Could it be the front brake switch? My blinkers never used to work at low revs either due to escaping power into the bars. Now the blinker unit is broken i think, and one of the wires has snapped off from the joiner so I have some repairs to do. Just hasnt been a priority.

[GMP]

Bars don't have a ground neccessarily, so it could be a bad switch. What does it look like on the underside?

Also check your coil HV wire. Mine was loose where it is bonded to the coil, and the sheath over it was filled with water. Caused me a lot of intermittant problems and some shocks as well. I got shocked touching anything near the coil/wire when it was wet. Unthread the wire, cut it back a few mm, clean the stud/screw in the coil and thread it back on. Use some grip glue on the edge of the insulation and also the sheath to bond and seal to the coil body.

Other than that, the coil primary wire from the CDI is approx 200 V so check/clean/seal those connections as well.

[Brecht803]

I had this happen to me. I traced voltage to the levers and then down the handlebars. I ended up sanding my handlebars at the mounting points and the voltage went away. I no they are not grounded but that helped for me.

[Jakobi]

Originally Posted by GMP

Bars don't have a ground neccessarily, so it could be a bad switch. What does it look like on the underside?

Also check your coil HV wire. Mine was loose where it is bonded to the coil, and the sheath over it was filled with water. Caused me a lot of intermittant problems and some shocks as well. I got shocked touching anything near the coil/wire when it was wet. Unthread the wire, cut it back a few mm, clean the stud/screw in the coil and thread it back on. Use some grip glue on the edge of the insulation and also the sheath to bond and seal to the coil body.

Other than that, the coil primary wire from the CDI is approx 200 V so check/clean/seal those connections as well.

Thanks GMP. You always have the good info. I hadn't considered the coil pack but that makes sense considering how easily it would take water after a splash. I may consider disconnecting the switch for the brake light next ride as a test. It doesn't happen all the time which makes it even harder to figure.

Come to think about it more it probably is the brake switch as its always when getting harder onto the brakes. Almost like the shock gets stronger the harder the lever is pulled. Always fun when coming into a corner too hot

[GMP]

Two things.

Brecht803,

The bars are not hard grounded with a dedicated ground wire because there is no need for them to be. You shouldn't be feeling HV in any of the areas of the controls.

Jakobi,

There should not be HV present in the lighting ckt. if everything is correct. There is leakage somewhere. Its possible that it could be the kill switch, I honestly don't know offhand if the kill switch controls the low or high voltage section of the CDI, I'd have to check. If it simply shorts the HV cap in the CDI, that means that approx 200V is present on the kill switch wire. If the switch is defective or open on the bottom, this could leak (conduct) through the bars when thigs get wet. Tape underneath would not neccessarily help, as moisture is a great conductor at these voltages.

I would say the shock gets stronger the harder you pull the lever because you are decreasing the resistance between your fingers, gloves, and the lever, not because the lever is increasing in voltage.

Remove the kill switch from the bars as a quick test. If all is well you replace and/or seal the switch. If you still have the problem, look for a leakage path from the HV to LV (lighting)ckts.

[rbm33]

your probably going to think im crazy, but i get that from almost every bike i ride. when i first notoced it i frove myself crazy trying to track down the source, then i rode a friends bike and i noticed it on his bike also. that was several years and several bikes ago and even noticed it on my new gas gas.

iv always wondered if possible it was just static electricity

[Jakobi]

I made some modifications to the kill switch and not sure but may have fixed it. Been a few weeks since last ride so can't remember 100%. It doesn't do it all the time, and I assure you its more than static discharge

I think it might have done it a few times and I have a feeling it might be leakage from the pressure switch for the front brakes. Will try disconnecting for a ride to isolate, but I have seen this happen on several Yamahas using the same Nissan MC.