| Author | Message | ||
     Chuck |
Yippeeee  good job,Todd! | ||
| Rippin |
Went on a little ride today when all my instrument lights decided to shite on me then within 5 seconds motor dead too. Now when I turn the key on park all is well but when I turn it to run (on) nothing. Checked all the fuses and did the shake test to all wiring I could get to with only the tank off since I did not have the correct allen for the rear. So I called for a tow home. 20 minutes later unloading it and just wanted to check things again. This time everything lit up but as soon as I hit the start button everthing went dead again. But when I turn it to park it all lights up! Looked all over pulled all over nothing? Any suggestions? I could not find in the 99 M2 service man any trouble shooting on this. Any help would be great! Thanks Ryan | ||
| Airborne |
Dead battery or bad ground on NEG terminal. My bike did the same thing and I had a dead battery. Reason for dead battery was from bad charging system and the bike was running off the battery until it finally killed over. There are other possibilities but this one is the obvious and easiest to check. | ||
| Jasonl |
Per Blake's whiny Admin post (Grin): *EVERYONE!* I apologize if you aware of this but I figured I'd drop the science (yeah right) on ya so you could check your cycle. My 98 S3 has almost cut through the wires coming off the handlebars. If you feel under the top most triple tree you'll see that where the wires go under it, back toward the frame, it has a very sharp edge. A fellow Bueller pointed this out to me while we were riding today. He rubbed his down with wet/dry sand paper to blunt that edge. I used a dremel with a porous grinding stone. The wires that were almost cut were the ones leading from my electrical controls of the handlebars. My wires were zip-tied together and leading down and to the left of the head bearing nut. You guys may want to check this out if you're having weird switch problems. I also zip-tied my wires back together and wrapped them in some electrical tape for added insurance. Also some of the wires were showing metal (D*MN IT!) | ||
| Krboller |
Help, my check engine light will light up after a mile into my first ride of the day, or when the bike is cold, and stay light for about a mile. I have counted flashes and the only stored code is the O2 sensor, the bike runs fine!?! so I don't think the sensor is bad, I run the race ecm, K&N with gutted airbox and a cool venturi from ASB and a s'trapp can with 15 discs. Any ideas? Thanks, KB. | ||
| Yardbird |
There seems to be a lot of people out there that had their shocks replaced, then had to replace a regulator within a week or two???? This happened to me this spring, but I thought nothing of it. Maybe there's something to this? JB | ||
| Leeaw |
This whole shock replacement/voltage regulator thing is starting to worry me. My bike is going in on June 1st, does not need the exhaust bracket, but I don't want to have this kind of trouble. I replaced my voltage regulator last season after buying a new battery. There is no way I am going to pay for this if it happens to me. Someone assemble a list so we can get some data here. | ||
| Krboller |
Had my shock replaced in the month of April, yes that is correct, they had the bike for a month, no problem as of yet but guess what I am going to check as soon as I get home tonight. | ||
| Sparky |
If you get either an upgrade shock installation or an exhaust bracket retrofit kit installation, make sure that your bike can charge its battery when you pick it up. Both jobs involve removing and installing the voltage regulator to a new mount where the VR must be properly grounded, otherwise charging system failures afterwards are likely. How do I know? One of our Buellers' battery died after getting his '97 M2 shock/exhaust mount replaced. The servicing dealer was no help, so our man put 2 & 2 together, did his own troubleshooting and found an all important star washer missing from the VR mounting bolts. YMMV of course, but now you know. Sparky | ||
| Blake |
You ROCK! Jason! Thanks. | ||
| Cyclonerider |
 This is the voltage regulator, after they replaced the rear shock. $ days after I got it back it's fried 2 batteries! | ||
| José_Quiñones |
 Chris, the BUELL mechanic at Ft. Washington HD, installed this SECOND GROUNDING WIRE between the back of the voltage regulator and the engine case. It goes between the back of the voltage regulator and the new mounting plate and ends at the case there on the right with the star washer. The first ground wire is part of the group of wires that exits the votage regulator.  | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Another thing Chris told me that I want to pass on to everybody getting this exhaust mount upgrade is that it is very important to remove the paint from the muffler mount and the case where they connect to provide a good electrical contact. Also make sure your mechanic checks for continuity through the ground to make sure it is working. If you do all this, you should have no problems. | ||
| Robr |
I'm thinking of taking my speedo sensor out of the ignition circuit on my X1. Perhaps placing it in one of the lighting or accessory circuits will protect it from any harmful voltage spikes feeding back from the coil? Since Sportsters seem to be using this same sensor part# with little or no trouble, I beleive the problem to be attributed to possibly one of four things. 1.Heat(Buells run hotter than Sportsters) 2.Vibration(with rubber mounts, Buells vibrate differently than Sportsters) 3.Buell Speedometers(Buell speedometers could have a problem) 4.Buell speedo sensors are in a more vulnerable part of the electrical system than Sportsters. Of all of these possibilities I am only in the position to remedy #4, which brings me to my point. Does anybody know if the Sportster speedo sensor is in a circuit other than the ignition(not getting it's +12V from the same circuit as the coil)?RobR | ||
| Reepicheep |
I will be happy to forward over my inductor and diode first order filter instructions... this is what i used on my latest sensor (#3). Heck, here it is, it's simple.... This is from memory though, so double check to be sure. from plug V+ (red).......ooooo....>|.... to sensor Other wires remain unchanged (and uncut). The white bar on the diode goes furthest away from the plug on the red wire. "ooooo" is a 10uH (or whatever) coil (inductor), ">|" is a typical switching diode (any are probably fine, I think I choose the typical 1 amp or so 600V one). Make sure the inductor goes first in series. The inductor gives some protection from spikes, the diode protects against reverse voltages. This is about the best we can do without knowing the character of whatever is damaging the sensor, and the capacities of whatever is supplying the power. Other more aggressive protection schemes are possible, but they risk blowing other (more expensive) parts (speedo's, voltage regulators). I am up to about 500 miles on this setup, so far so good. I deliberately picked parts that are available at radio shack.... less then 5 bucks, including heat shrink tubing. Remember this is a hot wet high vibration environment, so solder, heat shrink tube, strain relief, and cable tie everything as much as possible. I ended up putting a lot of electrical tape around the whole mess, and cable tying that in several places to keep it from unraveling. This was on top of the heat shrink tubing. Try and keep the solder joints unstressed and supported, they will be the weakest point. I also called the Buell customer service line, and let them know that I was on sensor number 3. They are the ones in a position to track this down... all they need to do is to take one of the problem bikes and run it with a triggering storage scope for a while to track this down... or spend a little time pouring through original schematics (all I have been able to find is a wiring diagram, which is not the same thing). Bill | ||
| Robr |
Bill, I'll check those parts out at Radio Shack. I also posted a message on "For The Factory," but I think I'll give Buell cust.service a call as well. Maybe if enough of us call they'll get tired of it. Also I'm going to try to find a copy of a Sporty service manual and see if I can find any differences in the schematic in my X1 service manual. On the X1 the sensor is wired into the same circuit as the injectors, fuel pump, and the coil. I also noticed the cam position sensor(which I beleive to be a similiar hall effect device) is wired into a separate circuit off the ECM and there seems to be a low failure rate on those. I don't want to go mechanical but I'll be damned if I have to keep changing these things...RobR. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Jose.. I am jealous... here your mechanic is going above and beyond... I can't even get mine to order parts I am trying to pay for. Geesh! Bill | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Chris is good, I would hate to think what would happen to us DCBRAG Buellers if he left Ft. Washington. It's funny he's pretty up to date, but sometimes I teach him things that I have heard about here that have not reached him through the "official" channels. | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Great info on the speedo sensors, I'm goint to have to try that so I don't reach 4 sensors! I'm running out of space on my tank for the problem stickers! | ||
| Bradgross |
Have a project that I'm working on that requires me to remove the front fairing. However doing so requires me to do 3 things that I haven't tried before but don't seem too terribly difficult: 1. replace the mirrors well thats easy get some bar end and be done with it. 2. Attach the headlight to the front forks. thats a good little project in itself. 3. attach turn signals to the front of the bike. My basic question is are there some good vendor for some of the basic parts: I will need to fab up something to hold the headlight and the turn signal. thanks Brad | ||
| Mikej |
Brad, If you're removing the fairing and the supporting bracket, look at the headlight mounts for the X1 and M2's. The two support brackets clamp around the upper fork legs and have the holes to mount the headlight and turnsignals. If you're dumping the fairing totally, I'd suggest is might be the easiet way to go to just get the M2 or X1 brackets. There might even be a few people around here who added the fairing and have their old brackets just collecting dust in their garage. | ||
| Loqtus |
If anyone is ditching their speedo and wants to go digital you might be interested in this little number:  I ordered one yesterday and I'll post a review after a week or two. \newurl http://www.trailtech.net/computer.htm,TrailTech Website} | ||
| Loqtus |
Opps! TrailTech Website | ||
| Bradgross |
MikeJ, Do you have the specs on that bracket? I would be interested if it will fit the bike. I am guessing that they wrap around the two stanchion tubes. If so what is the diameter that I will have to match for the bracket to fit. How far across are they? thanks, Brad | ||
| Mikej |
Brad, Don't have the specs or part no. book here at work. They are the stock parts that mount the headlight. I'll log in and post the part numbers when I get home if someone doesn't beat me to it today. | ||
| Jmartz |
Has anyone attempted to use the X1 headlight barackets on their S1? They seem a bit nicer and have easier access to the mounting hardware. I am concerned about the flyscreen mounts that are part of the bracket, since the X1 has a steeper angle on the flyscreen. Also the Showa forks (which are properly designed) narrow between the trees to make insertion less difficult. This means that the constricted size is likely to be smaller. Any comments would be appreciated. | ||
| Ralph |
Jose, if I remember correctly Rocket has done that and likes it very much. I don't remember him saying there were any problems, only that everyone should do it. bighairyralph | ||
| Jimb |
I have a 99 X1 whose speedo/odo, horn and turn signals stopped working recently. They worked when I last ran the bike. Didn't work the next time it was started. Everything else works/runs just fine. I visually checked the fuses that could be involved and they looked ok. I didn't test them, just looked. Before I take it to the dealer, do any of you electical geniuses have any suggestions for what to check or replace? Thanks in advance for your help. Jim Boule 99 X1 Race Stripe | ||
| Airborne |
JimB: Boy love electrical questions. Here is what I gather from your question. All three items quit working at once. The common thread from all three items are that the hot wire that supplies the 12VDC power meet up at the same connection point on the wiring diagram. Stop light switch and tail light are part of the same circuit. 1. Does the tail light come on? If on? The fuse is good. 2. Check your accessory fuse 15A again with a multimeter to insure the fuses are good. Visual inspection is mis-leading the broken fuse could be in the corner hidden from view. 3. Check for a shorted flasher unit. That could be killing the power to the other items that don't work. (I could tell a story about my daughter turning on the TV and the computer shut itself off at the same time, bad house wiring, the circuit breaker wasn't tripped either) 3. Purchase cable ties and clean up the messy wiring as you go along. Wires to follow and check for chaffed areas. Note: if your tail light works (running light)your fuse is good. Skip to step c. If the brake light doesn't work. The problem probably lies in a chaffed or broken wire causing a short or open. Start at step a. a. Red with grey stripe from key switch to fuse box. b. Orange with white stripe x 2 from fuse box to (1) tail light. (if the tail light works don't follow this one.) c. Second (2)Orange with white wire from fuse box to a common connector. d. Check for voltage at the connection. Shake wires during test. Bad readings mean the wire from the fuse box to connector need replaced. e. From the connector there will be wires leading to each one of these places check each one for voltage on the end for a possible short. (1) Orange / white to rear stop light switch. And the front stop light switch. Connector [21] by the triple tree too the right grip. (2) O/W to flasher unit. (3) O/W to connector [24] by the triple tree again and follow through to the Grey wire too the horn switch. (4) O/W to connector [39] (by the triple tree again)and on through to the Speedo. Hope this helps. Let me know what you find. | ||
| Jimb |
Airborne, Thank you very much for your response. It was item number 4 on your list of connections to check. The wire that comes out of the speedo takes a 180 degree turn just after the speedo. It was shorted at that bend. Wire was repaired, fuse replace (it was bad after all) and all is well. Thanks again for your help. Jim Boule 99 X1 Race Stripe |
