Will a low battry keep an XS11 from starting?

[1st bike]

get it masher!!! stupid battery 'll get you every time! i hope that thing roars for you tonight!

[Larrym]

And yes, a weak battery, or a battery with a dead cell, will not start your bike. It has got to be tip-top shape. Especially since it hasn't been running in a while.

Incubus,

Apparently masher's question was answered in the very first response to the thread by skippy344. And more chimed in with a direct yes or a no answer. That's a good indication that sometimes the forum here does work in the way it's intended.

But then the thread almost derailed into a battery versus battery war followed by a "jump or not to jump" filibuster. Dotted with the usual sidebars of techs discussing those annoying things like test methods and the readings. Darn those pesky readings and the different ways to interpret them!!!

Blame it all on Masher. HE was the one who along with asking a simple question, posted a photo of a nice looking bike in a state of distress. Showing us that he was just this close to the magic moment after all that hard work makes some of us empathize and CARE about his success or failure. That was just plain mean of him. Hooking us in like that.

Keep tuned to channel 11 where you buy the seat but only need the edge.

(BTW: No excuse at all for the Susan Dey derailment. You Busted us plain and simple.)

[Incubus]

I will admit, I did not read all eight (now nine) pages. The suspense was too great. I jumped to the end to see what was keeping the thread going. I was sorely tempted to read back to find out what boobs and batteries had in common - except the letter "B" - but in retrospect I thought the thread should be allowed its mystery.

And no one even thanked me for that handy dandy link designed to stir fond memories....

That's one of the things I love about this forum. You really can never tell what is liable to happen next.

Patrick

[1st bike]

Well???????

[Mashermoto]

I'm BAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKK

In our next episode of how the worm turns, Masher has once again had the agony of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory

The battery works great It turns the motor over quite nicely and after several attempts at cranking I only lost 0.3v. The new charger brought the battery up to an even 13v. When I quit for the night I had 12.7v. It's back on the charger now.

Before I installed the battery I took care of the ground wire business.



Here is the battery to frame connection.



And here is the frame to engine connection.



I took my dremal tool with a flat faced grinder and created chaos on my new powder coated frame



I also ran a tap through the threads just to make sure everything was clean.



While installing the battery I also connected the battery charger quick connect and ran the lead out the right side. It tucks in nicely and the right side doesn't require a key to remove. Makes charging the battery a snap

So...did it fire right up...I wish

I did get one wish granted...the solenoid requires surgery. So all my cranking attempts were via the farmer test with a socket handle between the battery and starter posts

Next thing I found is that I have intermittent spark results at the plugs. I pulled number one and four and found that I wasn't getting any spark. I flipped the engine kill switch off and on and they started working. But quit again

I suspect that pesky kill switch is giving me grief. I do recall that I completely dismantled it and thoroughly clean it before reassembly. Which doesn't mean that is not a problem, so I will attempt to bypass it. Darn it...wish I had gone ahead and wired Pamcopete's bypass relay now

Well...stayed tuned for pictures about how to rebuild or ruin a solenoid

In the mean time, if some good American would like to help out, I would like to make sure I have the reluctor on my ignition system installed correctly.



Here is how we find out. With the number one piston at near top dead center and the timing plate rotated to the F mark...



My reluctor points to the bottom set of pulsar coils. Does yours?

[bikerphil]

Reluctor should point to the top P/U coil on the #1 compression stroke. Looks like you're 180 off. Someone else might want to confirm that.

[randy]

Yup, looks 180 out. It's easy to do that if you've taken the reluctor off the advance mechanism. It can be re-installed 180 out. I know, I've done it!

[Mashermoto]

Thanks Biker and Randy. That just might make a big difference

I think that is probably why some folks have said that they had to swap wires on the coil leads. The Clymer manual provides no direction about this issue

I may be out for awhile to get some of these knots untied, but I'll get back with results.

[Larrym]

PT Barnum Made a Good Point.

I may be out for awhile to get some of these knots untied, but I'll get back with results.

Tha's Cool.

I'm just waiting for the results of the solenoid operation. Will it be brought back to functionality or will it end up in the recycling bin? I mean 3phase did it once but is this a repeatable/doable thing??

Either way it'll be an experience that advances our knowledge of the unknown. But this time it'll be for real. Not like that stupid Alien Autopsy hoax:



Got my microwave popcorn ready to go.

[Mashermoto]

Well...if the solenoid coil is damaged as badly as that alien’s right leg I might have to just give it a proper burial

I will be sure to wear my white surgical clothing and hood during the procedure just in case of some unknown viral or bacteria contamination outbreak. I would hate to be the one responsible for the end of the free world

[petejw]

hey mash,
looking at the pick up coil pic,
looks like theres a fair bit of a gap,
dont forget to adjust them.

[randy]

The solenoid surgery is absolutely do-able, I've done it. it's nothing but a coil of wire, if the coil is good and if the contacts inside are cleaned, it'll be good as new. Be sure to clean up the armature (plunger) and the hole it rides in, lube it up with some light oil and there's no reason it shouldn't work for years..

[Mashermoto]

Yep...it can be done...works like new now



Here is what it looked like once opened up.



And here is what it looks like cleaned up.

I took pictures of each step, so I'm going to go make a post that will show the procedure.

Tomorrow I tear into the ignition system and see if I can get plugs to fire in correct phase

Later

[Larrym]

Dramatic Tension

Awesome, Masher!!!

I guess I can breathe now.. the suspense is over.

Tho for a moment there Randy's spoiler almost ruined it me: " absolutely do-able, I've done it. it's nothing but a coil of wire."

Ya'd think that he coulda pre-faced his post with:

<SPOILER ALERT....SPOILER ALERT...SPOILER ALERT> or something similar.

But I guess that's not the way the forum is s'posed to work, right?

[3Phase]

Not like that stupid Alien Autopsy hoax...

That was a hoax?!

Oh, man, there goes the plan, the post-invasion bunker and all those the supplies.


Regards,

Scott