Engine dies at idle when turning lights on

[jakobgoodnessgracious]

All right, figured it was time to start a new thread.
I'm on the side of the street just down from my house because the old girl's engine died right now.

The Tx650a has died on me when I switch the lights on while idling a few times now. You can see when the engine isn't on if I switch the lights on the bulbs for the gauges get dim and then slowly rise to an average amount of power. The battery shouldn't be too low right now. The one thing I still have to fix is to get the corrosion off the starter cable but since I have a kickstart I haven't gotten to it yet. I did a search on the forums and I haven't seen anything exactly the same. I saw the points draw a decent amount of power and I know a lot of people like the panic systems. I need to double check my points are clean as well as I have not done that since I checked timing. Could either of these things be the problem (unclean points/unclean starter cable tips)? Where should I start?

 

[xjwmx]

Does it happen every time you turn the lights on and pretty instantly, or could it just be a coincidence? First thing I would do is check the battery voltage before and after turning the lights on kills it. Because it sounds like some mis-wiring or some other big load is dragging the battery down too low to let it run when you flip the light switch.

 

[XSLeo]

I would start with a tune up, this is done in these steps,
#1 adjust timing chain
#2 adjust valves
#3 adjust points gap and timing
#4 carbs, see www.amckayltd.com/carbguide/pdf
These need to be done in order.
The cam chain controls the valve timing and ignition timing. If done before the cam chain they will change when you do the chain and will need to be redone.
The bike dies when you turn on the lights, The lights draw a lot of current. The battery supplies a set amount of current, A weak battery supplies much less.
With the bike running the ignition is drawing the current it needs to function. Turning the lights on the draw the current they need. If the battery can't supply enough current then the voltage drops, if the voltage drops to much the coils can't deliver enough spark to fire the plugs.
Thus the stalling.
Under normal operation the bikes alternator supplies the extra power the bike needs when the battery can't.
This being the case and from what you are telling us you need to check the charging system.
Up at the top of the page click on the TECH button, This leads you to the TECH section. Scroll down to the Electrical and find the Charging guide. It will explain how to test the different parts of the Charging system.
You will need a multi-meter to perform most of the testing.
Leo

 

[jakobgoodnessgracious]

Thanks Leo. Thus far on this journey I have completed steps one through four so looks like I'm just about in the right spot haha. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I'll check that guide.

Xjwmx it is the second time I noticed it happening and it happened both times the moment I switched the lights on.

Thanks guys.

 

[xjwmx]

^Ok, next time it happens jump off and read the battery without doing anything else. Just a possibility but it's somewhere to start.

 

[jakobgoodnessgracious]

Okay thanks I'll check it out. I got back on and noticed that if I rev it and then switch the lights on it doesn't die so that's good haha.