1979 xs1100s ignition issue

[BA80]

There should be a 20 volt setting.

[dondons1984]

OK I'll have to it that when I get home after work. I'm just lost cause both coils going bad is very rare. But the bike sat for so long so idk

[BA80]

OK I'll have to it that when I get home after work. I'm just lost cause both coils going bad is very rare. But the bike sat for so long so idk

Your absolutely correct about the coils. Never both at the same time.

I'll almost guarantee it's something simple. It's just a matter of finding it.

Stop at a parts house and pick up a $2 electrical test light. Easier to use for most testing than a VOM.

[CaptonZap]

To clarify what Greg is saying about the test light, it looks like an ice pick with a plastic light bulb in the handle, and a wire with a clip on the end coming out of the handle. Hook the clip to a CLEAN ground, (anyplace on the frame or bolt heads,) and when you poke the wire connecter with the pointed end, if there is voltage there, the bulb will light.
Turn the key on, (don't start it), and poke the orange and grey connecters on the leads to the coils. The bulb should light.


CZ

Didn't mean to step on your toes Greg, just didn't know if he has your expertise and experience with the implements that we use, and thought I would clarify the process.

[BA80]

yeah CZ, I DO tend to assume....................

[dondons1984]

just did the test light. with the red and white still plugged in i removed the orange and grey. I touched the test light to the orange female and I have light. touched the the grey and I have light. so on to the next. maybe it is the battery?

[CaptonZap]

just did the test light. with the red and white still plugged in i removed the orange and grey. I touched the test light to the orange female and I have light. touched the the grey and I have light. so on to the next. maybe it is the battery?

I thought you had to work? Are you back already? If you're still diddling with this, here's more.
Don't be in such a hurry to spend money on your baby.
Plug the orange and grey wires back in, and go back to the TCI. Unplug the 8 pin connector, and find the orange and grey wires going into it. With it unplugged, turn the key on, and use your test light and see if you have voltage there. (the light goes on)
If you do, you have just completed a continuity check of the primary winding circuits of your coils. So we know that part of them is good. Turn the key off.
Now, I think I remember you saying that you have a meter.
Set it on ohms, the highest scale the meter has. Take the caps off of the plugs on #1 & 4, and put one lead on the metal inside one cap, and the other lead on the metal inside the other cap. You should get a reading. Write it down. Now do the other set, #2 & 3. you should get about the same reading.
If for any reason you do not get a reading, unscrew the caps from the wires, and use the probes on the wires inside the hugh tension leads. (spark plug leads). If you get readings there, chances are one of the resisters inside the caps is bad. Give that a try, and let us know what you find out.

CZ

[BA80]

Thanks for the help CZ, I thought I was all alone here.

I'm ready to head out to the west coast to try and help don. I have some in laws (ex) in Port Angeles I haven't seen in a while anyway.

2000 miles is a little more than a weekend run though.

[motoman]

Thanks for the help CZ, I thought I was all alone here.

I'm ready to head out to the west coast to try and help don. I have some in laws (ex) in Port Angeles I haven't seen in a while anyway.

2000 miles is a little more than a weekend run though.

.............and uphill all the way..........

[CaptonZap]

2000 miles is a little more than a weekend run though.

Not if you're running the Ironbutt rally.
They average 1000 miles a day, according to my calculations. When do they sleep or change their oil?
I hope you run into some cloudy days with no rain, especially across the Great Mojave Desert.
A few years ago I came across there in the day time on a BMW K bike, which has fuel injection, and the return fuel heated up the gas to the point I couldn't keep my knees aginst the tank. Last summer on the XS, it was almost pleasant.

Have fun, and watch out for the idiots.

CZ

[BA80]

.............and uphill all the way..........

Ha ha ha........according to the map.

[CaptonZap]

.............and uphill all the way..........

Brant, that sounds like your kind of ride. Maybe you better go along to make sure he doesn't get lost. Or at least carry some of the beer.

CZ

[dondons1984]

Greg actually helped me and it is running now!!!! I am trying to figure out if I can take the gasket ring that is on my 1976 cb750 petcock and put it on the left petcock that is leaking? hmmmm, may just try that and if that works then just put on a new fuel line since I dont like the shape of the one now and I am good to go!!!! Man I pissed off my neighbors starting that bike up though. freaking loud as a pisser

[dondons1984]

http://m1274.photobucket.com/profile...83BScU6sLq4%3D

Pictures of the bike

[CaptonZap]

Man I pissed off my neighbors starting that bike up though. freaking loud as a pisser

Please do the rest of us XS11 owners a favor, and put some quiet mufflers on your bike.
We owners are trying to cultivate a perception that we are cultured motorcycle aficionados given to smooth, unobtrusive high performance riding, and not given to the insecurity based needs of the leather clad, do-rag coiffed poser HD riders and the blatant pleas for attention that their loud pipes beg.

Besides, cops use loud pipes as an excuse to stop you, and the neighbors hate you.

CZ