Since I purchased my 2005 Suzuki Burgman 650 back in March it’s been my hard-ridden daily motorcycle. It’s also suffered from two major issues that drove me insane: I couldn’t get the headlights to stay on, and one cylinder just wouldn’t fire. (It also blew two brand new tires, but we don’t need to get into that here.)
This Burgman has been through a lot. At 77,000 miles, the previous owner replaced the engine and transmission unit after the continuously variable transmission (CVT) failed. So now it has an 80,000+ mile body with a young, 40,000-mile engine. Even with the new engine, that previous owner had issues getting the new engine to run on both cylinders (an issue fixed with a new ignition coil).
The big scooter served me well through this season. That is, until the headlights stopped working and it went back to firing on only one cylinder.
After six months of annoyance, I was able to fix both issues. Here’s how:
I first tackled the misfire by replacing both plugs and both coils. On these Burgman 650s the job is super easy. Take off the shield for the radiator, remove a single bolt on the radiator, then hinge it out. I also removed the service cover for some extra visibility. Here’s what the front looks like in its service position.
One of the coils was very visibly aged, so that looked to be the culprit.
I replaced the coil with a new one and was overjoyed when the Burgman purred to life on both cylinders. However, my celebration was short-lived as it worked for just 10 miles. When the misfire and cylinder shutdown continued, I was bewildered.
I opened up the Suzuki once again, not knowing what to do. It had new plugs, new coils, fresh fuel, a fresh battery and clean connections…why did it seem like the scooter’s electrical system was shot? I feared I’d have to hire a mechanic to track this down.
In a desperate last ditch effort I began pulling back the electrical tape holding the wire harness in the engine compartment together. Everything looked fine. The wires were whole and clean enough.
That’s when I decided to start the Suzuki and wiggle some wires around. Perhaps, like an old phone charging cable, the damage to the wiring was internal. Sure enough, when I wiggled one of the wires, the second cylinder’s coil began working.
You have to be kidding me. Six months and the solution was…wiggle a wire?
Indeed it was. Just to be safe I replaced the section of wire with a new pigtail. Eyeballing Amazon ads, I surmised that Suzuki and Ford used the same coil plug connectors. I took a chance and sure enough, the connector worked!
And the lights? They worked too, so long as I wiggled the ignition switch. I replaced the switchgear on the right side to be safe and they work perfectly. Sometimes all you have to do to vanquish a scary electrical gremlin is give your wires a little shake.
You’re definitely going to see some more of this Burgman 650. I’m currently running a tire test on it and am brewing up a potential cross-country winter trip with it. Until then, keep the shiny side up!
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
