Hi everyone, I,m Ray in UK. It seems that I joined in 2018 but I bought an 2002 CBR F4i last year.Nice original bike with good service history but more or less garaged for 2 years before I got it.
Had several runs of a couple of hours with no problems at all.However, on the next ride I was overtaking a car using about 9000 -1000rpm ,when the ignition cut and instantly the engine was dead. Fortunately, I had passed the car and the speed I was carrying allowed me to safely pull in.
I checked that the engine "off" switch was still "on" and it was and the key was where it should be. I scratched my head and wondered how I was going to get home then I switched key to off and then went through the normal start procedure and YES ! it started (and I returned home).
It never happened again but I only had a few more outings before winter, when I don't ride.However, I did a couple of times have a problem starting the bike and it seemed that the key insert depth positioning was critical.
I am not great on electrics .(or posting on forums, so please bear with me,if I'm in the wrong section)
I have the bike front forks off now for oil change and it is a good time for me to check out this problem. Could it be the ignition switch itself or some fault with the HISS system ? It is un-nerving to think it could happen again with not so good an outcome
Any help on this appreciated

 

Turn your ignition on and fiddle with the key. See if you can simulate turning it off. Maybe move the bars as well. Initial thoughts would be a worn barrel. My 900rs has been through three with 50k on the clock. Your symptoms familiar to mine, last time I nearly got pinged off as it happened just as I gassed it out of a roundabout. It was like hitting the brakes lol.
Best of luck and stay safe mate.

 

Wes17, your view and advice is entirely logical. I will follow this procedure when I safely can (the bike is in several bits in my house !).
Yesterday, I became aware of the Torx bolts ,when my intention was to remove the ignition setup , thinking that I could take it apart to check any contacts that I imagined would be in there. I did not do so ,as I had not got the Torx wrench. Maybe, this was fortunate as I probably need to ask if that is a sensible thing to do ?

so, following your description, I am now seeing this (if your diagnosis is the source of the problem) as a mechanical problem causing a lack of contact ,hence no electrical connection. is that right ?
Is there also the chance that the key itself wears out and then fails to reliably move the parts you called tumblers ?

 

If you have moved any of the wiring loom to the ignition or the fuse box you may well have altered something and your issue might have disappeared temporarily or got a whole lot worse. That is assuming it is an issue with the barrel as discussed before.

I tried stripping my ignition down to investigate and only got so far before I realised it was pretty pointless. I was never going to totally trust it again and purchased a new one first as last.
If you do replace your ignition barrel make sure that you don’t introduce any stress to the loom by twisting it as you install.
If she’s still together enough, try as I suggested to get it to fail.
Best of luck mate