What have you done to your XS today?

I had a very slow flat on the rear tyre, I ve had it since replacing the inner tube; so having changed the valve already, I took the tube out. The tube is a couple of months old and originates from Thailand. I have dicovered that there is no damage. the tube has a section which is porous! I had never encountered this before. I have an old dark green washing up bowl which I filled with water and instead of finding a steady stream of little bubbles there is a section which creates a light coloured misting effect around the tube. I have now converted this tube to elastic bands. If the bowl wasnt a dark colour, I doubt that I would have even noticed.
 
I had a very slow flat on the rear tyre, I ve had it since replacing the inner tube; so having changed the valve already, I took the tube out. The tube is a couple of months old and originates from Thailand. I have dicovered that there is no damage. the tube has a section which is porous! I had never encountered this before. I have an old dark green washing up bowl which I filled with water and instead of finding a steady stream of little bubbles there is a section which creates a light coloured misting effect around the tube. I have now converted this tube to elastic bands. If the bowl wasnt a dark colour, I doubt that I would have even noticed.
Another case of race to the bottom with bike parts quality, or lack of. Lucky you didn't ride on it and have an accident.
 
I have never been 100% happy with the way my XS shifts gears - mostly the elusive neutral thing. The bike has rear sets and I’ve always suspected this didn’t help matters. Early this year I did lengthen the shift lever itself and that did help, allowing me to tap it into neutral when rolling to a stop (most of the time). On rear sets, the gearshift lever moves a rod that in turn moves a short arm on the engine shift shaft. The short arm on the foot shift lever is the same length as the small one attached to the engine shaft. On Facebook I saw a guy’s bike whose engine arm (attached to the shift shaft) was quite a bit longer than the one on the foot shift lever. The poster said the bike shifted nicely.

Tonight after dinner I went to the garage and reworked a new factory style shift lever and ended up with a shift shaft arm that is a good 2cm longer. Static testing felt like the shifter worked better but on the road testing will have to wait a couple of days. The longer arm generates a longer throw in the foot shift lever but that’s ok with me.

Stay tuned for a road test report.

Pics: original shifter; longer shifter; shift shaft arm comparisons.

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TAFFY TIME!

On Sunday I rolled Taffy out into the sunshine (Yes Really!) for a bit of work.
Although I cannot logically see why the Reg/Rec, that sits in the tray under the seat, would cause my intermmitent mis-fire issue, but its the only electrical component I have not changed; and I was concerned about it over heating? I decided to move it below the tray in direct cooling air; should be a good thing anyway.

Old Position below seat in conjested tray:
REG.REC 2.JPG


Removed Below:
REG.REC3.JPG

Excuse haphazard wiring; it will be sorted once fully tested.

New location below tray:
REG.REC 5.JPG

It now sits in the wind above the carbs, exaust runs cool below and behind the unit.

As usual Taffy fired up fist press and idles great. A short ride of 5 miles around the block a few times showed no issues; but is the mysterious mis-fire cured?
A longer ride will need to be done to find out.
 
TAFFY TIME!

On Sunday I rolled Taffy out into the sunshine (Yes Really!) for a bit of work.
Although I cannot logically see why the Reg/Rec, that sits in the tray under the seat, would cause my intermmitent mis-fire issue, but its the only electrical component I have not changed; and I was concerned about it over heating? I decided to move it below the tray in direct cooling air; should be a good thing anyway.

Old Position below seat in conjested tray:
View attachment 338286

Removed Below:
View attachment 338288
Excuse haphazard wiring; it will be sorted once fully tested.

New location below tray:
View attachment 338289
It now sits in the wind above the carbs, exaust runs cool below and behind the unit.

As usual Taffy fired up fist press and idles great. A short ride of 5 miles around the block a few times showed no issues; but is the mysterious mis-fire cured?
A longer ride will need to be done to find out.
Good luck with that change, it certainly can't hurt. You say it's the only electrical item not changed it attempting to cure the ignition issues.

I know the bikes are decades apart, but Hinkley Bonevilles 2001 to 15 have a common problem that sounds exactly like you're experiencing. The culprit is the ignition pick up coil. The symptoms are that the bike runs fine until it gets hot. Then shuts down and won't start again until the bike cools down some. Sounds like your issue? Have you tried another known to be good ignition pick up coil?
 
TAFFY TIME!

On Sunday I rolled Taffy out into the sunshine (Yes Really!) for a bit of work.
Although I cannot logically see why the Reg/Rec, that sits in the tray under the seat, would cause my intermmitent mis-fire issue, but its the only electrical component I have not changed; and I was concerned about it over heating? I decided to move it below the tray in direct cooling air; should be a good thing anyway.

Old Position below seat in conjested tray:
View attachment 338286

Removed Below:
View attachment 338288
Excuse haphazard wiring; it will be sorted once fully tested.

New location below tray:
View attachment 338289
It now sits in the wind above the carbs, exaust runs cool below and behind the unit.

As usual Taffy fired up fist press and idles great. A short ride of 5 miles around the block a few times showed no issues; but is the mysterious mis-fire cured?
A longer ride will need to be done to find out.

Good stuff Ads! FWIW I run my reg/rec in the same spot you originally had yours and haven’t encountered any issues, that said mine is a new one for a lithium battery
 
TAFFY TIME!

On Sunday I rolled Taffy out into the sunshine (Yes Really!) for a bit of work.
Although I cannot logically see why the Reg/Rec, that sits in the tray under the seat, would cause my intermmitent mis-fire issue, but its the only electrical component I have not changed; and I was concerned about it over heating? I decided to move it below the tray in direct cooling air; should be a good thing anyway.

Old Position below seat in conjested tray:
View attachment 338286

Removed Below:
View attachment 338288
Excuse haphazard wiring; it will be sorted once fully tested.

New location below tray:
View attachment 338289
It now sits in the wind above the carbs, exaust runs cool below and behind the unit.

As usual Taffy fired up fist press and idles great. A short ride of 5 miles around the block a few times showed no issues; but is the mysterious mis-fire cured?
A longer ride will need to be done to find out.
Hi Adamc, what is that black box, that was under the rectifier before you moved it?
 
Good luck with that change, it certainly can't hurt. You say it's the only electrical item not changed it attempting to cure the ignition issues.

I know the bikes are decades apart, but Hinkley Bonevilles 2001 to 15 have a common problem that sounds exactly like you're experiencing. The culprit is the ignition pick up coil. The symptoms are that the bike runs fine until it gets hot. Then shuts down and won't start again until the bike cools down some. Sounds like your issue? Have you tried another known to be good ignition pick up coil?
Well you got me there… 😂
It’s true the stator and rotor are the ones that came with the bike including brushes and triggers. So thanks for adding to my workload…😭
But really, thanks, you may be onto something both me (Terry Fuckwitt) and some of our brethren didn’t flag up.
Good stuff.
 
Well you got me there… 😂
It’s true the stator and rotor are the ones that came with the bike including brushes and triggers. So thanks for adding to my workload…😭
But really, thanks, you may be onto something both me (Terry Fuckwitt) and some of our brethren didn’t flag up.
Good stuff.
I think it's an avenue well worth exploring to be honest given your symptoms. I recall on the Hinckley Bonneville ignition pick up some people diagnosed the issue by measuring resistance across the pick up at ambient temperature then warmed it with a hair drier. That was enough to demonstrate that the resistance in the pick up windings changed so the pick up was faulty. But only when hot. When cooled down the pick up fault disappeared again. If you have a similar potential issue then it might be worth a try.

(Personally I wouldn't use a hot air gun, I think it would be too severe heat wise and damage something. A hair dryer would take longer to heat the pick up but I think it would be more controllable. Another option might be heating up a container of engine oil on a stove with the pick up immersed in the oil and check the pick up resistance as it gets hot in the oil).

Anyhow, I hope that's helpful. Good luck.
 
I think it's an avenue well worth exploring to be honest given your symptoms. I recall on the Hinckley Bonneville ignition pick up some people diagnosed the issue by measuring resistance across the pick up at ambient temperature then warmed it with a hair drier. That was enough to demonstrate that the resistance in the pick up windings changed so the pick up was faulty. But only when hot. When cooled down the pick up fault disappeared again. If you have a similar potential issue then it might be worth a try.

(Personally I wouldn't use a hot air gun, I think it would be too severe heat wise and damage something. A hair dryer would take longer to heat the pick up but I think it would be more controllable. Another option might be heating up a container of engine oil on a stove with the pick up immersed in the oil and check the pick up resistance as it gets hot in the oil).

Anyhow, I hope that's helpful. Good luck.
I had a dyna electronic ignition that came with the bike and at some point one of my pickup started to malfunction as the engine would warm up. Switched to pamco and the problem went away
 
Not sure if mentioned .But electronic faults can be heat dependent
It can be many places in fex a HiFi

There is the Cooling spray that can get temperature down

What is freeze spray?

What is freeze spray used for?

Freeze spray (also called freezer and circuit chiller) is an aerosol spray that is engineered for locating intermittently faulty electrical and electronic components and for cooling printed circuit boards.


It may not work on electronics in casings but can also work If one fex suspecting the Regulator
it can be a way forward Spray it with the cooling spray
 
Good stuff Ads! FWIW I run my reg/rec in the same spot you originally had yours and haven’t encountered any issues, that said mine is a new one for a lithium battery
It’s weird @JesseeS
My bike will run great one or three days for hours; next ride it’s good for maybe 45 minutes then plays up after a restart, after an hour of cooling down. Something is vexing me. I’m no auto electrician and have learned a lot from the guys on the forum, but still buggered by it. I think @Its been a long time may be onto something.
 
Piccie 1 shows M-Unit, Reg/Rec, Starter Solenoid & Original TCI Ignitor; nothing under the Reg/Rec.
Second piccie shows M-Unit, Starter Solenoid & GN250 Gonzo Ignitor replacing TCI box.
Hope that helps.
Ads.
thanks adam, It is the gonzo mod - that black box. I get it now.:)
 
It’s weird @JesseeS
My bike will run great one or three days for hours; next ride it’s good for maybe 45 minutes then plays up after a restart, after an hour of cooling down. Something is vexing me. I’m no auto electrician and have learned a lot from the guys on the forum, but still buggered by it. I think @Its been a long time may be onto something.
Looking forward to the testing of the pick up if you do it. I think on a >40 year old bike I'd be tempted to fit a new one anyway. But these things are bottomless pits in that respect. Hope you finally manage to fix it one way or another.
 
Looking forward to the testing of the pick up if you do it. I think on a >40 year old bike I'd be tempted to fit a new one anyway. But these things are bottomless pits in that respect. Hope you finally manage to fix it one way or another.
Hoping to get around to that next weekend MrsC permitting etc.....
No doubt I will also get a new one anyhoo; My money pit can still suck the blood from my financial viens; but the pickup should be small potatoes in comparison to the whole build cost. :twocents::twocents::twocents:♾️💲💲💲💲
 
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