So, my bike is dead.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2002 shadow vlx 600. It wasn't acting up before. Battery seems charged and fuses seem OK but acts like there's no battery hooked up at all.
Ideas on what to check?

[NYC_SKP]

1. You mean there's no light, no horn, no lights, no nothing?

I'd check grounds and then search for a good Honda forum.

Good luck!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. No nothing.

[pscot]

3. Check the kill switch (run/stop)?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. It's in the right position but that doesn't eliminate a short there, I guess.

[mgc1961]

5. How about the starter motor?

Does the motor turn over when you attempt to start it?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

6. Oops, I replied to your PM before I saw this post. No, it doesn't turn over.

It's like there's no battery hooked up but the battery clips seem in place and the trickle charger indicates it's charged. I'd think even if the battery is low I'd get some lights or half-hearted turnover attempt.

What I haven't tried yet is a jump start. IIRC sometimes that can can help reveal a bad ground.

[mgc1961]

7. I hate electrical problems.

I once had the computer control box go bad on a bike. Fortunately, all it really meant was one cylinder firing instead of two so I was able limp to a shop for repairs.*

Another time, the battery on a new holdover bike I bought was toast. It held the initial charge at the dealer long enough for me to ride for several days, but since it couldn't recharge fully after each start I was dead in the water after four or five days. There's nothing quite like learning where things are under the bodywork of a new bike in the first week of ownership.


* Though I don't know for sure, this incident may have been the result of me washing the engine off with a power sprayer resulting in water damage to a critical electrical component...word to the wise.

[Glassunion]

8. As another poster mentioned, check the kill switch.

IIRC it was a problem with the switch that prompted a recall.

Also did you check the main 30A fuse (it is separate from the rest)?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

9. 30A Fuse is fine-- I even put in a new one just to be on the safe side.

What should I check on the kill switch? All I've done so far is toggling it on and off.

[Glassunion]

10. You can try cleaning the contacts. You'd have to google that one.

Or replace it. If I'm not mistaken it's about $80.

Or the arduous route would be to start at the battery an check voltage on every wire from the harness.

[Ganja Ninja]

11. Still sounds like the battery to me.

Maybe it is shorting right through the battery. Can you jump start it?

[cloudbase]

13. Another thing to check is the sidestand lockout switch.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

14. At long last, an update on my dead bike:

Sorry but it was a looooonnng winter and I've been tied up with other stuff BUT I just rolled the bike out into the driveway and successfully jump started it.
Now here's what's going on-- it purrs and revs just fine while the jumper cables are in place. When I disconnect, the engine speed drops and it balks when I try to rev it and kind of feels then like the timing is off. If I reattach the cables the engine speed picks up and it revs OK again.
Finally, after letting it idle for a while I shut it off and tried to restart it. Nuthin'. Not even juice to the headlight. Just like before I jumped it.

Thoughts? I'm thinking the battery's got a bad cell but a while back when my scooter had a bad battery, and I jumped it, disconnecting the cables it killed it immediately. It wouldn't run at all on its own.

[Glassunion]

15. Electrical issues can be tricky.

From what you are saying I'm initially thinking it's the battery hence the engine speed difference when you disconnect the jumper cables. The battery, stator, and rectifier all work in tandem. If the battery has a poor charge or is dying the voltage will be off. The rectifier will having difficulty in balancing voltage to charge the battery as the engine runs, and the stator voltage will all so be off so the output to run the engine can drop hence the rough idle and revving. When you connect the jumper cables back, the battery that is providing the charge is taking over to balance the voltage and everything smooths out.

I'd recommend first replacing the battery. It should cost around $75 or $80.
If that does not work, then I'd go with a rectifier. For your bike that would be about $110.
Worst case scenario is the stator, which will run about $125.

The easiest way to test this theory is to disconnect your battery, and connect (carefully) the battery leads to the battery/vehicle you jumped with. Make sure that vehicle is not running. If the bike runs fine, most likely its just your battery.

Good luck.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

16. Thanks. I picked up a battery today and will put it in tomorrow. Will update again then.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

17. It"s Alive!!

New battery did the trick.
Thanks all for your advice. I'm still surprised at how it died so suddenly instead of fading a bit for a while like my cars and scooter.