electrical....

[oldnortonrider]

COIL FEED >

(?)Occasionaly...about every 5-8 years I lose fire to the 2 middle cylinders; I have to pull the tank and "doctor" on one of the 2 plastic connectors that
have the 2 small wires to each end~~fire going into one end, and not coming out
the other (part of the coil-setup). Once when I thought this to be the recurring problem, before I pulled the tank, it was a pickup coil wire ("hour-glass fix"). Fixin' to tackle the "under-the-tank connector" again; no hour-glass at pickup coil wires. Started acting up about a month ago; on again~~off again>"on" most of the time. Parked it yesterday when it was running on the 2 outside cylinders.
Have spent most of this afternoon, checking pickup coil wires~~hoping that would be where the fix would be needed. Doesn't appear to be. The tank's hard to get off and back on, right~~7&half gallon Kawasaki Concours tank that I've got on it. Off it will come, tomorrow. If I'm correct, for that to be the problem again > I'm thinking about rigging up a different type connector.

Was curious if any of the XSers had ever been confronted with this same "connector-problem" besides me........(?)

[mro]

"connector-problem"

May be due to not cleaning/checking it every year?
Corrosion builds up over time, causing resistance, which can make the connector heat up. Enough resistance and the connector melts (some XStream cases can catch on fire)
Only "almost permanent" fix would be to solder wires and use some shrink tube".


mro

[Geezer]

The next time you clean the connection, pack it with dielectric grease and you will never have the problem again.

Well at least on at that place...

Geezer

[oldnortonrider]

Seems like the connectors are different on the Standards, from what they are
on the Specials. I have a 78 Standard ("parts"); the connector(s) for these
coil primary electrical wires/leads are like the ones shown in Clymer manual>page 168>figure 23. I'm sure that connector/type would never present
a corrosion or "un-tight" problem. Ever.
The connector(s) on my 81 Special, that I'm fixin' to fix, is a white plastic pull-apart box type thing like that shown on page 169>figure 27. Once the wires "get 'un-snug' " on their end pieces that are crimped onto the wires up
in the "box", it's going to lend itself to misery on down the road. I suspicioned that was going to be the case, when I tried to "snug" everything up, some years ago. Just can't get at where those wires are, at their crimped
end parts, up in the box. Of course, yes, when I did my last fix, I had it crammed well with the dielectric.
I'm betting the Standard riders are not having this problem; guessing that all
the Standards have the "figure 23" connector. Would be interesting to know if
Yamaha started using the "box-type" connector on all Specials, or maybe '80 or
'81 forward.

[oldnortonrider]

I've been thinking for a long time about putting those beautiful "YELLOW" Accel
coils and wires on my bomb. Some of the XSers have done this. (?)I'm thinking
it's the package for the "inductive pickups". DennisKirk catalog>page615. Part No.20-309. I don't guess there'd be any real fancy footwork, to swapping
these coils..........(?) I've put these same wires on a few cars.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Norton,

You've haven't been on in a while, so you may have missed
This new tech tip about MikesXS Coils ?

You might find it helpful to your machine and your wallet!

Aside from the connectors, folks have also reported the wires rubbing thru where it hit the frame causing intermittent shorting and such, worse when wet like when washed or RAIN!
T.C.

[oldnortonrider]

Thanks! very much, TopCat. I hadn't seen those pictures before. I'll get a pair of those coils. I'm surprised I hadn't wandered onto
the "MikesXS" site, before. I've heard it mentioned quite often on here. I'll spend some time on there. Do they "try" to "help" us by mentioning what would interchange with the XS1100? I have a box and a half of the Accel 8mm wires.

[John]

They won't help with any xs11 info. and if you tell them that you are working on one, they may not want to sell to you. They are funny that way.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Norton,

In that tech tip, I used some 8mm solid core wires in them, just used some WD-40 to get them to slide into the fittings, fit okay and work well! So...you should be able to use your ACCEL wires in them just fine! You might be able to use your stock plug caps provided they are good, or you can get replacements from Mikes as well! Like John said, don't say anything about being for an XS11! IIRC, they have gone to all of their orders handled ONLINE! So...as long as you know what you want, they have no problem filling the orders and shipping to you!
T.C.

[oldnortonrider]

Well now......those rascals!.......how could they be so stiff. Reckon, (?) it would cheer 'em up a bit, if one would specify that they were needed for a Harley!?

[fredintoon]

"They won't help with any xs11 info. and if you tell them that you are working on one, they may not want to sell to you. They are funny that way."
Hi John,
I've dealt with MikesXS for XS650 parts and in their defence, all they do is sell parts for XS650s. They are a very small company and perhaps can't take the time to cross reference everything that may or may not swap between an XS650 and other Yamahas. And they are situated in the litigation-crazy USA where a person can sue McDonalds for selling them the coffee that they spilled on their crotch and scalded themselves with. It's in Mike's best interest to act dumb when asked to recommend a part for another type of bike.

[egsols]

I've had that problem with a lot of places when trying to get real simple parts like 10MM crush washers. Went to a Harley place, no one else open at the time. Asked for 10MM crush washers, they asked for what, I said for old Yahama, they said they didn't sell Yamaha parts, I said I didn't care they are made for all bikes, they said they never heard of a company named 10MM, I said, how about 3/8" c r u s h w a s h e r s, they said "oh, how many do you want.

[oldnortonrider]

Yep; it's the connector. Had 12+ volts going through with one wire; nothing getting back from the coil~~0 volts coming back from the other wire. (?) I guess that's how the electric "routes".
Messed with the connector; checked both wires~~electric on both wires. Hooked up a spare sparkplug to No.2 cyllinder~~key on~~turned it over (grounded the plug) while I'm eyeballin' the electrodes. SPARKED.

It'll get fixed permanent, this time. I think the last "fix" lasted 9 years. The other connector for the other coil's primarary wires have not ever given me this problem. BUT, I'm speculating "as to the 'why' ", being, previous PO, had to have changed that coil, and not the other. It actually has a different shape. The primary wires are even molded into the fronts of the coils differently.

OJT is having the superb pleasure of owning old mechanical art.
Ingredients~~the time, the tools, the perfectionist attitude~~with an end result of very good performance.

[oldnortonrider]

In the process of getting ready to clip the "bad" connector off~~and rig up a "better" connection hook-up, I noticed the mass of black electrical tape about half way down this coil's primary wires. I had assumed PO had done this to give protection to the wires from rubbing against the frame. Couldn't
resist taking them loose, since they were dried out and not looking like they were on very snug. Dang! they were on there to hold the wires together from a "not-very-good-twistie-repair"
job for the PO's replacement coil to be able to tie up to the wires going to the original "bad" connector. HAD TO BE THIS 14 YEAR PROBLEM. I soldered properly and re-insulated. The moon must be in an interesting phase today, after reading "Ragamup's" posting.

I dunno whether to feel dumb or smart. But I am happy-er.