Getting a spark...

[LoHo]

Hey guys, I've decided to throw parts at my bike until it works or I have a new bike.

Do I understand correctly that a single bad pick-up coil will prevent any sparks? Something about the TCI seeing a dead pick-up as a not-running engine?

[crazy steve]

Yes, the TCI will shut off if it doesn't get a signal from the pickup coils. Now, whether or not it takes both to be out to trigger this I can't say; I know that having a broken wire/bad coil on one will still let the bike run (badly), but it may depend on which one is bad. There's been a few reports of just this problem. At least you know where to look....

[DAVINCI]

Loho;

NO.
A single bad pickup coil will only prevent sparks in that circuit ie 1/4 OR 2/3. The circuits are independent.

While it's true that the TCI will shut down if no pickup signal is present, as soon as the engine begins spinning, there is the signal and the box wakes up. It matters not which coil is signaling, the box still wakes up. The bike will run on two cylinders.

Steve, your statement contradicts itself.

[XS1100 Newbie]

When my pickup wire went bad, the bike would not run at all, so at least on a 1980, one pickup down means a no run condition. Fixed the one wire, and good as new. Maybe on some it will run, but not on mine.

[DAVINCI]

Some wiring harnesses join the return lead into a common ground from the pickups at the connector behind the fuse panel. So, if your wiring problem were there, then that could kill all of the ignition signals.

Other than that oddity, the pickups are independent.

[jwhughes3]

YMMV but not me

When my pickup wire went bad, the bike would not run at all, so at least on a 1980, one pickup down means a no run condition. Fixed the one wire, and good as new. Maybe on some it will run, but not on mine.

On MY 80SG this past summer in Durango I had a pickup wire fail and was running on 2 cyl WOT at 45mph. But it would start and run. What was fun was occasionally it would make a connection and subsequent acceleration was exciting for 2 seconds.

John

[LoHo]

Yeah, John, my first pickup wire fail was on a group ride in the mountains. I'd be WOT trying to keep up, then the geometry would change (like in a curve) and all four would kick in. Second most exciting ride of my life.

Hey DAVINCI, when I last resoldered my replacement wire on to the pickups, I asked on this list whether the two light blue wires were the same and if it made a difference which went with wich pickup. A couple of guys yelled at me that of course it made a difference. Do those two blue wires have a common attachment?

[DAVINCI]

Loho,

Well, some of the guys here don't know **** from shinola. As i wrote above, some harnesses combine it into one wire. Eventually, inside the TCI, yes, they do have a common ground.

[LoHo]

I bought another pickup/vac advance set-up from eBay; it looked really clean and came off a bike with 16k miles. When it it showed up, it looked like NOS, clean and crisp. I did the wire stretch test on the pickup leads...stretched like hell. At least it was easier to solder with the unit in hand than crawling around under the bike.

[skids]

Man! You are still trying to get spark??? I sure hope that the fix to the wires is going to get that bike firing on all 4!

[LoHo]

Yeah, Sid, I'm still, or rather, back at it. I did everything in my power to get her going to no avail, then bought a bike to ride. I wrecked the runner, and am back to the XS while my leg mends. I know it is something simple, but damned if I can figure it out. My repair to the original pickup wires was scabby at best, so I'll replace that and see what happens. My meager electrical skills lead me to believe the problem is on the pickup side of the TCI, so we'll see.

[Brent]

fixed my spark XS1100SG

Yeah, Sid, I'm still, or rather, back at it. I did everything in my power to get her going to no avail, then bought a bike to ride. I wrecked the runner, and am back to the XS while my leg mends. I know it is something simple, but damned if I can figure it out. My repair to the original pickup wires was scabby at best, so I'll replace that and see what happens. My meager electrical skills lead me to believe the problem is on the pickup side of the TCI, so we'll see.

Hi Loho,
I too had no spark. Just about had me exaperated and discouraged. I believe I had several intermittent problems which were confusing. Turned out to be a cheap fix, but I had to try the HARD way...

My emergency shut off switch aka tip over switch was stuck. Easy test is to unplug it. (also check for bare wire along this circuit to be shure it is not shorting to ground. Also be sure these wires are not shorting together & killing ignition.

Also I had several poor connections. When checking with test light , power was present on both sides of connections, fuses etc. I thought good...BUT when I checked with volt meter - Battery showed 12 volts and several places in circuit showed 2 or 3 volts; enough to light test light, but not enough to power ignition. Also these poor connections showed much higher ohms of resistance than good ones.

Of course, I did not discover this or ask for help until after I had tried for a while. Solenoid, starter switch, kill switch, ignition module, ground wires battery connections, spark plugs, all replaced or cleaned etc to no avail...

Check small wires leading from the solenoid. I had bad plug double spade connectors on smaller red with yellow stripe wire there and at my replacement fuse box.
Medium sized single red wire had bad connection near soleniod (very poor connection in single spade connection plug.) I found a slightly burned/melted connection in larger 4 prong? connection plug under tank. Plug in my headlight bucket that came from ignition key switch was dirty, spades covered with white dirty corossion.

Some connections I was able to remove spade connectors from plug using a small jewlers screwdriver. These I cleaned with a wire brush wheel on electric drill. Some I cleaned with very small round & flat metal files designed for hobby use. Electric connection cpspray cleaner with Pocket knife, sand paper - What ever works - metal at good electrical connections needs to be SHINEY. Some connections I replaced with bullet connectors. I found in checking that the blue quick splice connections I had used at fuse box were not good after this many years. They made a welcome home for electrical gremlins. New solder is much better.

When I fixed bad/poor connection in ignition circuit, I had 3 sparks removed, stil in plug wires, looking for any spark at plug. (turn off fuel supply when doing this to prevent explosive fuel/air mixture from being forced out of open spark plug holes...Not to worry, I did and still have my mustache
When spark was back, Engine tried to start on one cylinder with fuel turned off. Eureka

Then I rode it with some other poor connection still bad & ran battery down while riding. Stuck!, until a woman in a minivan loaned me an emergency battery jumper box (five minutes charging, I rode it home where it quit again.) Now- ALL connections I think I haved checked, cleaned, checked /or replaced again, sealed outsides with dilectric grease or battery terminal spray, . (the dilectric grease does not conduct, but can seal out water etc preventing corrosion.) It did take a few hours , a little at a time for several days, but little money. Seems to be good to go now; Voltage increases while bike is running. Starter turns quicker, Starter clutch engages always (up from about 70%). Engines cranks & fires & starts sooner. Bike seems to run stronger...(Cleaner plugs and or hotter spark?)

Before, I was discouraged. Unsucessful, with dead bike.

Hope.
Ask knowlegable XSives (some have completely rewired whole bike, but fixing plugs is easier for me).
Keep working, rest & come back to it, perservere...

Now - a hero in my own mind, with dependable 30 year old bike, a good XS1100

Good Luck wrenching - XS11, Cheaper & a lot more fun than therapy...or so I have been told.

[LoHo]

Yeah, Brent, I "think" I went through all of the connections last Spring without success, and I addressed the usual suspects (tip switch, resistor, key switch, kill switch, etc.). I guess I'll do it again when I am more mobile, but it sure is frustrating. Thanks for the ray of hope.

[motoman]

I "think" I went through all of the connections last Spring without success, and I addressed the usual suspects (tip switch, resistor, key switch, kill switch, etc.). //////Anything like me LoHo......slept since then and CRS creeps in.......and scoot has alot of time to throw more curves at ya........

[LoHo]

Except after going through it, it was still non-op, so I'm still whiffing at what she's throwing now....