'99 Intermittent Starting - Bad Ground?

[BratmanXj]

Back story - Last year I had a no-start issue that I THOUGHT was tied to a bad clutch safety switch.  Bike ran fine the 2nd half of last year with a paper-clip jumper in the clutch switch plug.  Over the winter during maintenance I changed out the clutch switch, bike starts fine until I take it off the lift and I have the No-Start condition happening again!  Bike turns on with the key, fuel pump primes when I turn on the kill switch, but I hit the start button and get Oil/Engine light and no starter.  No change for side-stand, clutch pull, or neutral.

Looking over the wiring diagram and if the bike is in Neutral the starter interlock relay should bypass the side-stand & clutch switch.  We pull the interlock relay and start checking with a probe-light and have what look like decent grounds.  Put the relay back in and the bike now starts.  We clean the relay plug real good and everything seems fine now.  The worry in the back of my mind is we didn't ACTUALLY solve the problem and it's gonna crop up while we're out riding somewhere.

I know there is a frame ground in the lower left fairing by the horn... I believe there is one on the right side of the steering head.  Is there any other location I need to check for the starter safety interlock system?  

[BratmanXj]

After a month of methodically picking away at the clutch-neutral-kill switch interlock system I THOUGHT I had the problem resolved.  Multiple short trips around town and no issues with restarting.  Went to take a nice ride yesterday and after 30 min I stopped for gas and the bike wouldn't crank.  Pushed the bike into a parking spot and walked next door for lunch.  After an hour the bike restarted and I headed home.  30 min ride home and in the driveway the bike wouldn't crank.  Wait an hour and it turns over just fine.

As noted above, its a purely starter/electrical issue... bike turns on, fuel pump primes, but hit the starter and no-crank, not even a solenoid click.  I haven't started back into the system yet and figured I'd post on here for moral support.  I assume its a heat-soak issue either at the safety interlock relay that's right in front of the battery box, the starter solenoid, or the starter.  

 

Edited Sunday at 02:59 PM by BratmanXj

[RDawson]

You would hear the relay if it was the starter. Possibilities off the top of my head:

do you have an ignition bypass installed? Check that relay if so.

ignition switch, sidestand switch, cables/wire connection clean and tight at the starter relay and battery. 
 

[BratmanXj]

Wouldn't the ignition bypass relay shut down the entire bike electrical system?  Or does it see the load when you hit the starter button?

The last month was all about the safety interlocks like the clutch switch, stand switch, neutral switch...but yes I plan to go through them again.

I wondered if it's something on the low side of the starter solenoid that I don't even get the click.  I'll dive into it later this week