Hi folks I have a 2001 thunderbird with 21000. Bought it last summer and its been great until yesterday. Got about 3 miles from home and the engine cut out completely with no warning. I had just opened her up to blow the cobwebs out and revved up through the gears nicely then it died and the hazzard warning lights came on? Ive read about the crank shaft position sensor causing a sudden cut out but once cooled down the bike was still dead. Ignition turns on, lights indicators and horn work but nothing on the start button. Im yet to start delving but any suggestions or previous experiences similar to mine would be appreciated one thing, when i started the bike the starter did clunk a bit on the first 2 attempts...it made a noise id never heard before? cheers
My TBS is similar. Sometimes, when its warmed up and I've stopped for a break, it starts up again fine, but the first time I pull the clutch in it just cuts out and won't re-start. A flick off and on of the kill switch solves it though! Fires up immediately after doing that!
Checked and tried kill switch. Not guilty. I'm going to look for obvious loose wires first thing but it's odd how the hazard lights came on as the engine cut out...almost like an inbuilt safety feature?
Maybe the battery was low, hence the clunks when it started originally. Try charging it fully or if poss use another good battery . Check for blown fuse. As I said it's best to do simple things first. I am not saying it ain't your cps but usually they give you a warning as you already know
Tim Williams Welcome to the forum. I would agree with you there could be a loose connection there. Also check your fuel is delivering. I had a Thunderbird around that year and they have a air over flow pipe that gets blocked and cuts the bike out. I used to run a bit of stiff pipe down there. I also think there is a air pipe by the fuel lines that blocks aswel. Ride Safe Joe.
Not an exhaustive test but a fair indicator...... Ignition on. Check for battery voltage at a coil +ve terminal to earth. If present it suggests a pick up coil failure (the lost trigger to tell the igniter to cut power) if missing then suspect the igniter itself. Self evidently a wiring break could also be the culprit but a powered up coil points at the pick up.
Side stand switch stuck in, did you drop the stand down when it cut out Whatever you do dont keep trying to start it with a weak battery. These bikes need a strong fully charged battery or the sprag clutch may give out and it is an expensive job, engine out etc on these models. How do I know? Guess, lol, yep mine went.
That's the trouble with today's tech....so many nanny safety devices to fail and that's before you can get to the other possibilities so start with them and the associated wiring and work your way to the other things suggested, IE check for spark , continuity and component failure, and if all checks out move onto fuel delivery.
Ok folks I've had the battery charging for a few days as it was only showing 12v. Put on and turned the key and the hazard lights came on just like when it conked out . I took out the key and they were still flashing! Replaced key and pushed hazard button and then I hear the relay ticking like you'd expect...but it wasn't clicking before even though the lights were flashing? I repeated this a few times just to make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid. So once key is turned hazards come on and stay on even with ignition off and key out. Still nothing on the starter but lights and horn work Any clues???
Yeah good thought... I will check as I agree but was unaware of an alarm being fitted. I've checked fuses and connections and they all seem fine.
Measure the voltage across the battery terminals as you depress the starter. If you get anything much below 10v your battery is shot.
Ok a long time getting back to my bike but I've found it has an alarm which appears to be the problem as the auxiliary fuse is showing voltage when ignition is off and no key. Is the alarm easy enough to just unplug? A friend said that someone he knew had a thunderbird which had a problem with the alarm which took a week to sort out?
If it is the alarm, then it should be a simple fix, also check out the wiring loom in the headlight, a friend of mine thought he had alternator failure when his died for no apparent reason, after checking the alternator was ok, he found a lose wire in the loom within the headlight shell. Good luck with it, unfortunately this is the problem with modern bikes, too many things to go wrong, the price we pay for modern sophistication ?
With your thunderbird there should be 2 alarm plugs one to the sounder and one to the alarm unit itself, the one to the sounder may need a shorting plug to be fitted which has a connection between the two Black/White tracer wires as they complete part of the circuit for the sidestand switch. Please check the connection details with Triumph as I am working from the haynes manual which "should " be correct, they should be able to supply the plug you need to a VIN number
