Why my Interceptor 650 is randomly shutting off on its own
Couple of weekends ago, my wife went out on her Activa OG for some errands nearby. I received a call that it's not starting, I told her to continue with her local shopping, and I'll be there. I had done my routine wash (bucket) and shine of my Interceptor and fired her up to go out. At the first turn, when I pulled in the clutch and slotted the next gear the bike died on me. I was laughing, now who'll rescue me? Luckily, the bike stopped in front of a car mechanic. I received another call that the Activa has run out of petrol. Fortunately, the car mechanic gave me petrol. I walked down the street, leaving the bike with the mechanic, filled petrol, Activa fired up and I asked her to return home. The bike had stopped hardly 800m from home! I returned to the mechanic and tried to demonstrate the issue to him who thought I was worried about the ABS light. As in the case of all demos, the bike worked flawlessly, I slotted through the gears and showed no issue with the side stand switch! I rode back home and parked the bike. My initial thought was that I did some aggressive cleaning and that water was causing the issue but it was not, it was not conclusive. Couple of times it worked and I rode around in the society. Pushing the Interceptor is an impossible task! I sprayed WD40 Contact Cleaner abundantly. One day I had to borrow my friend's Scrambler 400X for a city run! So I gathered courage and rode to Pitlane, again the bike didn't show any issues in front of the mechanic. The mechanic said, these sensors are pretty robust and told me to ride fearlessly, which I did for the next couple of days, I rode to the office without any issues. Every time after starting up, I slotted through the gears before taking it off the stand! I thought the issue was gone and was ready for a weekend ride with sukiwa. Early morning the issue showed up, this time on a moving bike! I could do nothing but wait, and it started working. I had the option to return home like last time but I thought it would be not conclusive and I need to get over this! So I went ahead. Met sukiwa and we set off to our destination. This time on the highway the bike died on me, again in gear. Luckily, I was in the leftmost lane as some superbikes were passing by loudly! We stopped in the service lane and simply waited it out! Nothing could be done practically to bypass the sensor etc. I had shared the wiring but it's not accessible. The bike started working after some time, say 5 mins. We decided to cut short our ride to a nearby known destination. We reached there and had our usual Vada Pav and chai shots. Before setting out and wearing our helmets, we did the testing and it worked. sukiwa wanted to try out the new seat on my bike so we exchanged our bikes and as he slotted into 1st gear, phuss. We burst out into laughter! I ordered another shot of chai and we waited it out again! We decided to head back straight to Pitlane and get the 'robust' Side Stand Sensor changed. The bike was working after chai, I returned without any stop to Pitlane and shared my ordeal. They promptly ordered the replacement part. The bike was very hot after the ride and could not be worked on. I left the bike with them and collected it the next day!The sensor with a mind of its own.The wiring went through the sprocket cover. You need to remove the gear lever, LHS footpeg assembly and the sprocket cover.The coupler/connector on the RHS side. I was spraying contact cleaner on another connector!Out comes the sensor.No power! It's a magnetic proximity sensor. When the metal plate of the side stand inserts in the gap the sensor is closed (ON), when it works!New sensor for 500 bucks, labour charged was 300 but I can't blame them. Don't go for DIY.Successful weekend ride with sukiwa and waspune to a submerged temple, seen in the background. Here's what BHPian rajeevsulu had to say about the matter: Here's what BHPian jomson13 had to say about the matter: It could help someone in case the bike acts up away from habitation. Here's what BHPian sandeepmohan had to say about the matter: Out of curiosity, when you wash your bike (Bucket or pressure wash), do you let it rest on the side stand after a wash? Do you let the bike stand in the sun for a while? I have never pressure-washed my bike to date. Just a hose using low pressure. The one thing I've noticed after I wash the bike is that there is a lot of accumulated water around the engine casing. You notice it flowing out when you park the bike on the sidestand. I'm just wondering if this proximity sensor does not like water in the long run. Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.