I'll try to keep this short and to the point so people can follow. 77 XS stock with exception of LED Head lite, Harness mod to turn off HL warning lite, Starter Soleniod wire unplugged and Flasher unit replace with 2 prong. (Starts on first or second kick when cold and first kick when warm. I hate the "possum in a shitcan" sound when you hit the starter and metal in the oil, so...)
Volt meter says charging system working well. Fuel mix is light brown on the plugs. Good steady idle, even down to 800 when warm. Timing chain adjusted and timing dead on. No burbling or pops on throttle off coast downs and instant pick ups on throttle roll.
Down the road we go. Running great. Suddenly it starts banging out and jerking, both jugs are missing, not a steady miss on just one. Running good again. Hummmm, water in gas? Cross-road-demonds? Back at home and a couple of hours, checked everything. Nothing. Starts great, seems to run good. I have had it break up a bit before but never been able to get my head around it. Most of the time it's flawless.
Few days later, down the road we go. About 15 miles out and same thing. She gets me back home but jerking has loosened/stretched the chain. It was terrible but I didn't want to push it! Adjusted that. I'm thinking fire to the coils. I pulled the tank. The bullet connectors are loose in their plug-ins. I clean and slightly crimp each one, to the coils and points. ( time has taken it's toll on the connectors. They have lost their spring and won't stay snug.) I zip tie them to the frame so they won't flop around.
Down the road we go. A 50 mile round robin and it don't get any better. Am I good or what?!
{{ Warning: You don't have to read thru all the BS below....Just skip to the third paragraph from the bottom to "Continue Reading." Thanks. }}
Few days later, down the road we go, about 12 miles and I pull into the feed store. ( All my old friends sitting on chairs, like ducks in a row, spitting and lying! I do the mess-around trying to get the "green" light... finally! I reach for the key and before I got my hand half way there, engine shuts off. ( It sure got quite and there all looking at me) I put in on the stand, took my helmet off, questioned their heritage and went inside.
I chewed the fat for a bit and decided to take my leave. I goes out, straps into my helmet and turns the key on. I check the head light, yep, brake lites, turn signals, green neutral, seems to have good power, good to go. (Theres four of em'. They ain't said shit but there looking. ) Turn on the gas, and kicks it over. Nothing, just like a cold priming kick. I'm staring at the green neutral lite. Three more careful kicks and the forth kick it spits like a startled cat. ( "Well, the POS is shiny!" Haw, Haw, Haw...) Ok, I heard that!
( Fats in the fire now. I know it didn't jump time.) I drag out the tool kit, off with the head lite to rattle wires, you know the drill. Nothing. Everythings working but it doesn't seem to be getting any fire. ( They got me surrounded - shuffling their feet... " I got some duck tape in the truck." - " I got some baling wire!") I'm really feeling low. I gets it back together. The trouble-shooting team, closely assembled, is not the one I would have picked! I carefully kicks it a few times with meaning. I must have been rolling the throttle some when I kicked it. It ROARED to life and the team took some steps back! ( Now that's funny!) I hollered, "Look out!" "Your fixing to get your sorry asses run over!"
I pushed her back, dropped it in first ...and it died! - " Haw, Haw, Haw...." " You shuda rode that damn Honda...HawHawHaw... " - I thought, thank god my tinted visor is down, they can't see me cry! I got the green light. First kick and were outa there! All the way home, perfect. Down shifts, turns and stops, I kept about 2K PRMs under it a bit. I got a shot of whiskey while it was cooling off. I started it a couple of times and it fired right up. Snake bit!
Continue reading:
I'm still thinking it's a power problem to the coils. ( I'm using a XS650D wiring schematic so... )Lets see, power comes off batt, thru the 20 amp fuse ( which I had up-graded - soldered-in modern flat holder and 20A fuse) with a lead off to rectifier and on to the IGN SW. From the IGN SW a brown wire runs to the Engine Stop switch ( with a lead off to the Instrument lights, which worked so I know I was getting power thru the IGN switch) From the Engine Stop switch, a Red with White to the Safety Relay (that I have disconnected from the Starter Sol.) But on the way to the Safety Relay the Red with white goes straight to power both coils, and I already went over those and zip tied them to the frame) Hummmm I'm laying in the hospital thinking, a day or so before the terrible feed store ride, the throttle had been binding a bit. I pulled the thottle and controls off the bars to lube the cable. I'm thinking the Engine Stop switch does not ground out the coils when you switch it, or it would blow the fuse. There can't be an intermittent short to ground in the wire from the IGN switch feeding the safety relay and coils, or again, it would blow the fuse. It has to be an intermittent in the Engine Stop switch! The Stop Switch must work by only opening the circuit to the coils. It feels normal each way but it would explain all the times the bike breaks up on rides. ... I'm not really able to mess with it yet.
I think what I will do, after I am able to work on the bike and check the Stop Switch, is make up a fused wire with a clip on one end for the batt positive and the appropriate end on the other, so if this happens again, I can dissconnect the Red with white wire in front of the coils and plug the coils directly to the batt positive. That should allow the engine to run isolated from everything else in the electrical system. I hate to have the bike start breaking up and start flipping the stop switch to see what happens.
Any bets? Suggestions? Ideas? Something I've overlooked?
Thanks,
Thu
Volt meter says charging system working well. Fuel mix is light brown on the plugs. Good steady idle, even down to 800 when warm. Timing chain adjusted and timing dead on. No burbling or pops on throttle off coast downs and instant pick ups on throttle roll.
Down the road we go. Running great. Suddenly it starts banging out and jerking, both jugs are missing, not a steady miss on just one. Running good again. Hummmm, water in gas? Cross-road-demonds? Back at home and a couple of hours, checked everything. Nothing. Starts great, seems to run good. I have had it break up a bit before but never been able to get my head around it. Most of the time it's flawless.
Few days later, down the road we go. About 15 miles out and same thing. She gets me back home but jerking has loosened/stretched the chain. It was terrible but I didn't want to push it! Adjusted that. I'm thinking fire to the coils. I pulled the tank. The bullet connectors are loose in their plug-ins. I clean and slightly crimp each one, to the coils and points. ( time has taken it's toll on the connectors. They have lost their spring and won't stay snug.) I zip tie them to the frame so they won't flop around.
Down the road we go. A 50 mile round robin and it don't get any better. Am I good or what?!
{{ Warning: You don't have to read thru all the BS below....Just skip to the third paragraph from the bottom to "Continue Reading." Thanks. }}
Few days later, down the road we go, about 12 miles and I pull into the feed store. ( All my old friends sitting on chairs, like ducks in a row, spitting and lying! I do the mess-around trying to get the "green" light... finally! I reach for the key and before I got my hand half way there, engine shuts off. ( It sure got quite and there all looking at me) I put in on the stand, took my helmet off, questioned their heritage and went inside.
I chewed the fat for a bit and decided to take my leave. I goes out, straps into my helmet and turns the key on. I check the head light, yep, brake lites, turn signals, green neutral, seems to have good power, good to go. (Theres four of em'. They ain't said shit but there looking. ) Turn on the gas, and kicks it over. Nothing, just like a cold priming kick. I'm staring at the green neutral lite. Three more careful kicks and the forth kick it spits like a startled cat. ( "Well, the POS is shiny!" Haw, Haw, Haw...) Ok, I heard that!
( Fats in the fire now. I know it didn't jump time.) I drag out the tool kit, off with the head lite to rattle wires, you know the drill. Nothing. Everythings working but it doesn't seem to be getting any fire. ( They got me surrounded - shuffling their feet... " I got some duck tape in the truck." - " I got some baling wire!") I'm really feeling low. I gets it back together. The trouble-shooting team, closely assembled, is not the one I would have picked! I carefully kicks it a few times with meaning. I must have been rolling the throttle some when I kicked it. It ROARED to life and the team took some steps back! ( Now that's funny!) I hollered, "Look out!" "Your fixing to get your sorry asses run over!"
I pushed her back, dropped it in first ...and it died! - " Haw, Haw, Haw...." " You shuda rode that damn Honda...HawHawHaw... " - I thought, thank god my tinted visor is down, they can't see me cry! I got the green light. First kick and were outa there! All the way home, perfect. Down shifts, turns and stops, I kept about 2K PRMs under it a bit. I got a shot of whiskey while it was cooling off. I started it a couple of times and it fired right up. Snake bit!
Continue reading:
I'm still thinking it's a power problem to the coils. ( I'm using a XS650D wiring schematic so... )Lets see, power comes off batt, thru the 20 amp fuse ( which I had up-graded - soldered-in modern flat holder and 20A fuse) with a lead off to rectifier and on to the IGN SW. From the IGN SW a brown wire runs to the Engine Stop switch ( with a lead off to the Instrument lights, which worked so I know I was getting power thru the IGN switch) From the Engine Stop switch, a Red with White to the Safety Relay (that I have disconnected from the Starter Sol.) But on the way to the Safety Relay the Red with white goes straight to power both coils, and I already went over those and zip tied them to the frame) Hummmm I'm laying in the hospital thinking, a day or so before the terrible feed store ride, the throttle had been binding a bit. I pulled the thottle and controls off the bars to lube the cable. I'm thinking the Engine Stop switch does not ground out the coils when you switch it, or it would blow the fuse. There can't be an intermittent short to ground in the wire from the IGN switch feeding the safety relay and coils, or again, it would blow the fuse. It has to be an intermittent in the Engine Stop switch! The Stop Switch must work by only opening the circuit to the coils. It feels normal each way but it would explain all the times the bike breaks up on rides. ... I'm not really able to mess with it yet.
I think what I will do, after I am able to work on the bike and check the Stop Switch, is make up a fused wire with a clip on one end for the batt positive and the appropriate end on the other, so if this happens again, I can dissconnect the Red with white wire in front of the coils and plug the coils directly to the batt positive. That should allow the engine to run isolated from everything else in the electrical system. I hate to have the bike start breaking up and start flipping the stop switch to see what happens.
Any bets? Suggestions? Ideas? Something I've overlooked?
Thanks,
Thu