Strange Problem any ideas?

[yb929rr]

riding my 929 today. speedo and temp went blank on blank on, etc. tach dropped to zero and engine sounds like stalling. rev it and everything came back. finally it quit. but the pump was still working and had juice. took everything off and saw one ignition coil was lose(#4). took it off and tightened the plug then put the coil back. jump started it(thanks for the push ian) and then the problem went away.
any ideas on what caused this. alternator or starter going? battery is only one year old.
one more thing, i checked my manual and when it wouldn't start the 'starter relay switch' was making a clicking noise.