I am doing the coil up grade with Mikes coils Quick question

**DiverRay** · 02-25-2009, 11:33 PM

DO i have a ballast resistor? if so how do i by pass it.

If you have a ballast resistor, it will be under the tank, on the left side. It will have two red/white wires connected to it. Just unplug both wires, and plug them into each other. Tape the connection up well so NOTHING can short. It can cause a WORLD of grief! DAMHIKIJK

One thing that was not really clear on the thread was how do you connect the wires it the coils? there was no really pictures showing this step.

The coils have screw on caps with "O" rings for the spark plug wires. With 8mm wires, you DO NOT USE THE "O" RINGS. Just push a cap over the end of the wire, push the wire as far into the coil as you can, and screw down the cap. I use a little silicon grease, also known as dielectric grease, to make the connection water tight.

**whoride76** · 02-26-2009, 10:29 PM

ballast resistor

I have a red/white wire that both old coils plug. and an orange and grey wire that also hooked up to the other coils. So i am thinking 1980 xs1100 do not have ballast resistor. and thus the reason for no pictures

**renegade_xs11g** · 02-26-2009, 10:48 PM

OK, hold on...

the ballast resistor is under the tank...about 1/2 inch wide and tall, and about 2 1/2 -3 inches long, it has two red/white wires hooked to it....

the coils have two wires to each one, orange and r/w to one and grey r/w to the other, the r/w wire are 'hot' or load bearing wires, the orange and grey are the signal 'fire' wires

my '80 G, has the resistor...mine needs it to run,

**Rasputin** · 02-26-2009, 11:05 PM

ballast resistor pic

This is a pic of the ballast resistor from my 79SF. They pretty much all look the same, and are found under the tank on the left side when you are sittin on the bike.

**whoride76** · 02-26-2009, 11:35 PM

THANK YOU for the picture. I was wondering what that was. I only have the repair book from online and it is not very clear at times.

Yes, i do have it on my bike. With two red wires coming out.

So to by-pass it it said just connect the two red wires together.

AND This is what i need to do before i install the new coils?

Thanks again for the pictures,

**Rasputin** · 02-27-2009, 01:19 AM

yes

Yup all you have to do is disconnect the leads and plug em into each other, which bypasses the ballast resistor. I put the Accel coils in mine so I am not completely sure about the Mikes coils. If you need to bypass then this is where you do it. Sorry about the quality of the pic but it was all I had on short notice.

**whoride76** · 02-27-2009, 09:18 AM

Thanks again for the picture it was a big help. I should get my coils in the mail today and i will put them on tonight and give an up date. -William

**dbeardslee** · 03-01-2009, 03:14 PM

Whoride - Hope I'm not too late with this. When you put the mikes xs coils on a little squirt of wd 40 on the ends of the plug wires will make it MUCH easier to get the donuts on the high tension wires, and will allow you to tighten the coil caps all the way down with just your fingers. Broke one on mine before that discovery.

**whoride76** · 03-02-2009, 10:19 AM

Thanks for the tip. Mike's parts is runnimg a little slow. I thought i was getting them on this past friday. (in time for a weekend ride) But no luck. So i am hoping that today is the big day.

I rode this bike on and off for about 100 miles and i am thinking that i was only on the #2 &#3 Cylinder. I checked for spark to come find out that 1 & 4 were not firing. I cant wait to wake this bike up with all 4 cylinder hitting hard. I know it has a lot of power i just got to have everything working at the same time.

Rather you want to hear it or not i will post after everything is installed.

**dbeardslee** · 03-02-2009, 10:47 AM

Have you done the pickup coil fix? That can also cause you not to hit on all four. The pickup coil gap needs to be within the correct limits as well.

Rather you want to hear it or not i will post after everything is installed.

- Please do. How else are we going to live vicariously through you?

**whoride76** · 03-06-2009, 10:29 AM

No better off then when i started.

WELL finally got my coils and they are harder to install the wires then I thought. Maybe i was doing it wrong but when I looked inside the coils and saw the screw tip my thinking was to twist them on the coils. Umm NO. For the life of me I could not get the wires in the coils. Twisted so hard that my hands were sore the next day. So I cut a "X" in the bottom of the wire thinking that would at least help it get started (not really). SO i did my best to put on the wires and then i was tighten them on to the coils with the caps and on my last coil and last wire i did a half turn to hard and broke the plastic cap in three pieces.

Besides saying a few choice words, ok a lot of choice words I kinda put something together. I kinda taped a boot and rigged it. Honestly i don’t think it is going to work very good.

I put the coils on last night i am going to start it up to day and see if i have spark going threw that wire.

Any ideas on replacing that plastic cap?????

And i just saw the post before this about the pickup coil fix. "The pickup coil gap needs to be within the correct limits as well"

I need to find out where the coils pick up is.

**dbeardslee** · 03-06-2009, 12:33 PM

Whoride - On the plastic cap - Mikes XS sells 'em in sets of two. A little super glue and a zip tie (for clamping and additional strength) will get the broken one in a serviceable condition 'till you get a new one.

Did you use the WD40? I did the same thing with a cap (as mentioned previously

) trying to assemble it dry. With a little squirt of wd (before you put the donut on the high tension wire) it should go together using only your bare hand to tighten. Squirt the WD on the end of the wire, slide the cap on, slide the donut on and back up the wire a bit, screw the wire onto the screw post inside the end of the coil, slide the donut down, and tighten the cap with your fingers.

The pickup coil is under the timing cover on the left-hand side. There are two wires on the bottom side. Look for a splice in those wires about two inches back from where it connects to the pickup coil assembly. If there isn't a splice there, chances are the fix hasn't been done. On the pickup coil gap - the pickup base has two big rubber-covered magnet assemblies (the big squarish-looking things). They kind of sit on their edge with a slight bend forming sort of a 'tunnel'. On the inside of the 'tunnel' on each assembly there is a raised line. On the governor assembly there is another raised 'pointer'. The distance between the 'pointer' and the raised line is the gap (when they are pointing at each other). Hope this makes sense. Wish I had a picture, but....

Mine is gapped at .56mm. Also gapped my brothers 80G at .56mm, so I know they're the same.

**DiverRay** · 03-06-2009, 03:14 PM

I use the dielectric grease to Lube and Seal the wires. I did use the wires from Mikes, and had very little problem with them.

For the pickup coils, if you want to check or reset the gap, you will need to pull the timing plate off, put a 10mm or so nut on the bolt, and put the hold down bolt back in the end of the crank. That is all that keeps the rotating index from wobbling. Don't forget to mark the timing plate BEFORE you do anything else!! It MUST go back the exact way it came off, or your marks will be 180 out!

**renegade_xs11g** · 03-06-2009, 08:58 PM

Originally posted by renegade_xs11g

my '80 G, has the resistor...mine needs it to run,

And, considering the fact I just found my ballast resister in the tool box,
I stand corrected,

Don't you just hate that, I do!

I am doing the coil up grade with Mikes coils Quick question

I am doing the coil up grade with Mikes coils Quick question

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