1988 XT 600 Tenere cannot turn off the engine using the ignition key, but it will turn off on the kill button,however if any other electrical equipment is on ( lights / indicators etc then everything is normal, i can even stop the engine by kicking down the sidestand

Is it an import???
The wiring on my Tenere is a real mess - it's been altered a hell of alot.
I think the lighting arrangements are different in different countries.

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Tom

GSXR 1100 Streetfighter
CG 125 Cafe Racer Track Bike

Not very RTW

CAN even stop the engine with the sidestand ???? Thats normal - I always stop mine like that. Its a safety cut out....

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Honda CBR 1100 XX, Yamaha XTZ 660, Harris Special

i have a 1997 model so it might be a little different to the 1988, but on your ignition electrical system im guessing you should have a lock barrel switch, a kill switch on the handlebar, a sidestand cut-out, a clutch switch and a neutral switch.
you have already ruled out the sidestand switch and the kill switch.

if the clutch or neutral switch were faulty the bike shouldnt start at all, or keep cutting out for no reason, or start in gear with the stand down and clutch out.

basically the ignition circuit is getting its power from somewhere else and bypassing the switch, so really it sounds like either a bad lock switch or a short between there and [CDI on 1988 model?]

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dave
XT600E
Varadero

The clutch switch and neutral switch MAY stop the stator motor operating .. they will not kill the engine .. nor keep it running. Don't waste your time on those.

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I suspect your ignition key switch has water, dirt and oil in it .. this can carry some current - possibly enought for teh engine to run .. but any extra electrical load causes too much voltage drop... it needs a good clean .. possibly it has a lot of ware too. Dissassembly might give you a good indication as to its longer term reliablity. There shoulkd be a drain hole in the bottom to let water out .. possibly full of dirt.

i had a dodgy neutral switch on mine and it kept cutting out the ignition. your right though, it wouldnt have let the engine keep running

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dave
XT600E
Varadero

Umm .. you stop at say some traffic lights .. select neutral and the engine dies ? Because the neutral switch is faulty !!! ... the other leg has bells on it .. I'd say in your case that may have happened .. but it was not the fault of the neutral switch but a problem elsewhere .. neutral switches simply turn off and on the neutral lamp, and provide a 'signal' so that the starter motor can be used. They do not connect to the ignition circuit .. so if yours had that connection then the fault is that connection .. not the switch ..

Assuming that the neutral - clutch - sidestand circuit is done in a similar fashion as on the KL650 Kawasakis you will have to look for a diode block plugged into the wiring loom.
They are very ill (= not mentioned at all) documented in the workshop manuals and only appear somewhere in the wiring diagram. I stumbled acrosss the little bastard while fixing a 2008 KLR on which the tank hat seesawed through the main wiring loom and in the process fused the side stand switch and burned one of the three diodes.

Find the little bastard (a thumbnail size little cube sitting atop a 2 point (single diode) to six point (triple diode) connector) and test with electronic diode tester / multimeter.

no, as i was riding along the engine would stutter or cut out completely.
the neutral switch is connected directly to the ignition switch through a diode like lecap describes. the diode is also connected to the starter button and the sidestand and clutch switches are thrown in there for good measure. its so you cant start up with the stand down unless you are in neutral, or at all unless the clutch is pulled. its a "safety feature" euro bikes have, we're a danger to ourselves, apparently.
i spent months looking for it and in the end took it to david lambeth who found the worn switch which intermittently shorted and cut the ignition. usually in the middle of very busy junctions.

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dave
XT600E
Varadero

I'd suggest that switch is the side stand switch ... thinking logically-

The neutral switch will not cut out the ignition .. it does (on your bike, not all bike have this 'safety feature') disable you from using the starter motor .. but the bike engine will not stop if you engage neutral!

Nor will the clutch kill the engine .. it only stops the starter motor from working. (again not all bike have this feature)

Even if the neutral switch or clutch switch or both go faulty - they only effect the starter motor operation ..... if the engine is running it will continue to run!

Where as the side stand switch can stop the motor ..


The connection to the ignition switch is simily so you cannot operate the starter motor with the ignition off ... unlike some bikes where you can operate the starter motor and flatten the battery without realising that the ignition is turned off... !!!

Thanks gentlemen , looks like the ign switch