Clutch switch kills engine while riding?

Hey everyone, I went to search and then realized I had no idea what to search for...

Just finished rebuilding/ tuning carbs this weekend (with much help from this site, thank you) and got them mostly set- good enough for a couple hour ride yesterday without issue. Today I jumped on the bike and all is well until a couple miles out of town.

At about 70, the bike dies- RPMs drop to zero, engine dies. So I pull in the clutch to coast to a stop, and it fires back up. Let out clutch- dead, pull in again- kicks back on. Did this for a while, and every now and then I'd ease out the clutch and it would run normal for a 1/4 mile or so, then die again. I managed to limp home by barely keeping the clutch lever in, but there was a very definite ON/OFF position.

All of this makes me think it's the clutch switch or associated wiring, but has anybody heard of the switch actually killing the engine while running? Preventing it from starting sure. Any help or direction would be appreciated.

Thank you much.

Try cleaning/lubing the kickstand safety switch with some contact cleaner (if you have one). I’ve had this happen in the past, the kickstand switch gets gummed up and doesn’t go to the full up position therefore when you’re in gear, having the clutch out will kill the ignition. A good test is to see if this behavior happens in neutral. If not, then most likely kickstand switch or associated wiring.

The idea with the safety is to prevent you from riding off with the stand down. In neutral you’re fine but once you pop into gear, the stand has to be up or it will shutdown when you let out clutch.

You were exactly right, thank you.

Last year I actually removed the side-stand safety switch due to the exact malfunction you mentioned, and then promptly forgot about it. When I did it, I jumped the two wires on the switch side of the connection (thinking I might want to reinstall the safety at some point) and it appears that connection was the culprit. Ended up splicing the two wires on the bike side of the connection instead, which appears to have resolved the issue.

Again, thank you. You saved me a whole lot of time and frustration with a multimeter.