1989 fxr. bike sputtered and died, I hit the start button and it fired up. it did the same thing at the next light, but this time when I hit the start button nothing happened at all. not even a click. I put new switches in thinking it was the kill/run switch. bike fired right up and ran fine for about 30 minutes on the ride home, then died around the corner from my house with the same symptoms.

 

Sounds like you have a short/bad ground. Double check everything you did and make sure there are no loose, bare, crimped, or broken wires. See how switches work without being on the bars.

Coil wiring, ignition switch wiring, and all grounds needs to be checked - maybe clean and tighten while your at it.

 

It sounds like you're either losing all power or ground.

I'd suggest that you first check your battery cable(s) connections to make sure that they're clean and tight.

The next suggestion would be to make sure that your battery is fully charged and that it doesn't have a "dead" cell.

Without test meters it's hard to diagnose an electrical problem.

The next time your bike "dies", I'd suggest that you touch nothing but instead just use your jumper cables and see if this brings your battery to life.

I've had batteries with a dead cell that would start perfectly many times and then suddenly they wouldn't even make the starter solenoid "click"!

If the above doesn't work, go the other way:
Turn your ignition on, hold the starter button in and start by turning your handlebars back and forth to see if you gain power then continue moving wiring harness(es) in hopes of tracing your issue.

It's also possible that you could have a fuse or relay issue so you may need a shop manual.

Good luck.

 

Ditto on checking the connections at the battery. Make sure they are both plenty tight. I've seen strange things happen from cables that appear to be tight