Will a low battry keep an XS11 from starting?

[Mashermoto]

It's done. Here is the link: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...799#post259799

Happy reading

Thanks for the inspiration 3Phase. It was your original post that made this happen

[3Phase]

Thanks for the inspiration 3Phase. It was your original post that made this happen

Thank you, you did excellent work, documentation and made some crystal clear photographs! I gather the solenoid is okay and doesn't drop 3.5 volts across the contacts any more?

It looked like it had a water leak at one time. Were either of the nuts loose that hold the tapered rubber grommets in place? If they're a little loose it's still possible to tighten down the battery and starter cables but the grommets won't seal the housing and the bolt, then the solenoid rusts up and won't work.

Again, well done!


Regards,

Scott

[Mashermoto]

3phase,

The nuts were not real tight, but not loose either. This bike has evidence of sitting outside unused for many years. That's most likely the culprit.

Today I try to untie the upside down reluctor knot and see if I can get consistent spark to the plug. If so it might just come alive...yes I said ALIVE...ALIIIIVVVVVEEEE MMMMUUUUUHHHAAAAHAAAAHAAA (evil mad scientist laugh)

BTW, I am an evil mad scientist and not a quack...there is a difference you know

My real problem today is this nagging cold The sore throat turned into a cough that turned into sinus blockage I think I have produced a full liter of snot yesterday...for those of you not familiar with the metric system, that about 32 gallons

Well...one thing me and the Governor of California have in common is...we'll be baaaccckkk...er, at least I will

[Mashermoto]

Ok, the ignition system knot is untied.

Here is what happened.



As you know, when my timing plate is at the F mark, my reluctor is aligned with the lower set of pulsar coils.



That's because when I rebuilt the advance I assembled the reluctor 180 out of phase. You can tell by the alignment of the reluctor and the alignment slot on the back side. As shown in the picutre, the slot and reluctor are 180 degrees apart.



When installed correctly the two line up.



So the alinement pin, slot and reluctor should all be the same.



So now with the reluctor repositioned, it aligns with the top pulsar coils on the number one cylinder compression stroke.



Here is a bonus tip, If you don't know where to initially set your timing, roll the timing plate to the F mark. Then you can use the sight hole shown to align the reluctor to the pulsar coil. That line you see behind the plate lines up with the pulsar coil opening. Rotate the ignition to visually align the reluctor with that line on the pulsar coil. It won't be exact, but good enough to get it started. My timing light showed I was about 5 degrees off.

After this fix the bike fired off on the second try

The sound in this video isn't real great so you may need to turn the volume up, but here is the bike running.



The test drive went very well. I put about 5 miles on it just driving around the neighborhood. Lots of bikes are out in Oklahoma City today. Yesterday morning we had a light sprinkling of snow and a high of 35 degrees. Today it is sunny and got up to 60 degrees. I called brother Jay, who was just rolling his bike out of the garage, and we took a rural route ride for about 50 miles. Wow, these XS11's are smooth

I found that I have a few nagging problems to work out. The left turn signal won't flash and for some reason my brake light is not working. That's not too big of an issue.

The bigger problem is my transmission I noticed a whining noise when we exited the interstate that sounded like it was comming from the middle transfer case. It only made the noise during deceleration. It was worse by the time I got to brother Jay's house. The engine was also loosening up, so I borrowed a screw driver and set the idle back down to 1100 rpm. Said my good byes and took off for home.

Then things started getting really bad. Gears would grind when shifting up. Letting off the throttle would now cause gears to grind.

I think this is the start of this thread and time to open a new post

So to wrap up this thread, let me digress

The original queston was about an XS11 starting on a low battery. Unfortunately, after 10 pages of very entertaining discussion, I can't answer the question I think this bike would have started with the original battery, but there were so many other issues, it wouldn't even start with a good battery

The upside is that every aspect of the starting system was covered. We've seen the guts of a starter, where the ground cables are located from battery to frame to engine, how to perform surgery on a starter solenoid, and myth bustered the claims about using a car battery to jump start your XS11.

So I guess it was worth the ride

Thanks guys for all your help...and keep your eyes out for the transmission post

[3Phase]

Ok, the ignition system knot is untied.

Here is what happened.

[excellent video]

Thanks guys for all your help...and keep your eyes out for the transmission post

Alright! It sounds good!

While you're pondering the imponderables of the XS11 transmission, here's a little something that should sooth your inner evil scientist:-

Evil Overlord, Inc.


Regards,

Scott

[Larrym]

On Your Knees!!

Alright! It sounds good!

While you're pondering the imponderables of the XS11 transmission, here's a little something that should sooth your inner evil scientist:-

Regards,

Scott

For me the "science" just isn't enough. I appreciate unrestrained evil and the attitude which goes along with it.

KNEEL!!

It's lonely at the top.