Engine cutting out at speed

Hey guys,

Been having an intermittent problem - I'll try to describe it the best I can even though I can't seem to turn it on/off myself. There have been several instances where I'd be coasting/cruising at maybe ~40 mph and the engine would cut out completely and I have to restart the bike with the clutch in rolling at speed. Seems to happen under light deceleration when I'm on the clutch and coasting - no issues when accelerating or braking and it fires right back up perfectly fine every time. This has happened 4 times - 2 just yesterday while in traffic on the freeway, once a few weeks ago on an offramp, and once at the track at Indy where I saved an almost hugely embarassing moment and stayed upright in the banked turn after the engine cut out and the rear wheel got squirrelly. Any ideas on what it could be? Could this be one of the electrical gremlins that plagues this generation?

Bike info: 2002, 19xxx miles, stock except for Delkevic slip-on and Pipercross air filter. Battery is a few years old and hasn't been replaced since I bought the bike early last year. Wire harness was in good shape last I checked. I don't think it's had the recall fix though since I don't see a tick mark on the VIN sticker.

Cheers

 

The first thing I would look at would be the sidestand cutout switch. The next thing would be the tip-over switch. Distant third would be the kill switch, but my money is on the sidestand switch.

 

Hmm OK I'll have a look at the side stand switch then to start. Anyone got a pic or something showing where it is? Too lazy to look it up in the manual at the moment lol.

 

Intermittent contact within the kill switch (or the side stand switch) will shut the engine down but this could occur in any operating condition and not just while coasting. And the bike would not necessarily just restart. But they should be inspected.
Poor contacts in the kill switch were a problem for me this past Spring and cleaning the contacts solved the issue. My bike would cut out and not start.
What RPM does the bike idle at when it's hot? If under 1200 you might want to bump it up. How old are the plugs?
Without knowing anything about the maintenance history of the bike I would want to make sure the electrical charging system was performing right and that the battery and all ground connections are clean and tight. Check for any charred wiring. And I would suggest that the harness recall should be performed!

Just my 2 cents,
Good luck,
Mark

 

Also check your idle speed. Mine was cutting out like yours and bumping the idle to 1350 put an end to that BS...