Considering to buy a 2002, but with a stalling / electrical issue

[mjc506]

Identical symptoms (including having to disconnect the battery to recover) to when I had a fault in the grounding block above the headlight.

Remove the screen, dash, and fairing above the headlight (leave the headlight on the bike). The grounding block is on the right hand side, yellow I think. Open it up, and inspect for burning etc. I fixed mine by cutting off the stock connector, crimping a load of eyelets to the wires, and running a bolt through it to connect them all, plus an additional wire from these eyelets to a convenient bolt on the frame to 'reinforce' the ground there.

Also check the large connector block in the left hand front fairing (underneath the left pocket - remove the fairing and it should be 'clipped' into the inside of the fairing) - this has a small ground line that takes all the ground current from the front of the bike.

There's another grounding block underneath the rear of the upper fuel tank. This was subject to to a recall I believe on earlier bikes? Similar 'type' to the yellow one at the front, but pink/brown/purple colour. The recall replaced this part with a similar one with an additional ground link that is attached to a nearby bolt on the frame.

Good luck

 

[ad.hom]

So, a little update on the bike I ended up buying. And again I am seeking help and problem seems to be similar as the one mention further up this thread.
Now I have managed to isolate the issue:
- if I have the headlight switch in off-mode (furthest to the right), the fuel pump starts and the bike starts without any issues. If the headlight is turned to middle or left the bike stalls
- If started and the switch is turned to middle or left, the bike stalls. Only way to get it to start again is to set the switch to off, unplug battery, reattach battery and start.
- the fuel pump will not run if light switch is on
- setting the switch to left will keep the park lights, neutral and red oil pressure-light on, even when removing the ignition-key!! Only way to reset is by putting back in "off"-mode and unplug battery and re-attach.

Any thoughts to what the issue could be? Thanks a lot for any input.

You sir, if not identical to my 02, have a very similar problem. My "workaround" was to buy a BMW K1600 GTL.

But on a serious note, as Matt says above, you 99.9% have a ground problem. When time permits, I will (and I suggest you do):

• Pull the nose cone and dash cluster off the bike (fairly simple, not many bolts involved)
• Look at the yellow 9P that is usually hiding near the right mirror. That is a "ground collector" and is a fairly common failure point in early 13's.
• Look at the H4 connectors for the headlight bulbs. Maybe 3 years ago, my left H4 connector was melted, so I chopped it out, replaced both left and right with new pigtails and added a new earth from the front subframe back to the battery.
• Pull the left side plastic off (again, quite easy) and look at the 24P connector. Is it gummed up? Is the earth pin showing signs of heat? Consider bypassing with new wire.
• Check the multi-colour ground recall was done (and is still in good order).. that one is near the fuel pump so you don't want nasty surprises in that area. I believe this is the thread for the recall issue, declared on '03+ but will affect the '02 I speculate: https://www.st-owners.com/forums/threads/st1300-recall-ground-connector-wire-harness-bike-year-2003-2004.2176/

In my case, the engine runs, but will randomly cut out when there's too much load... and there's not enough power getting to the front of the bike at times.

In other, much less serious news, if you want to buy a spare 02 for parts... I might be open to offers.