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Uncle Mike's BIKE Dead on Chicago Expressway - Coil question

Mike - was great meeting you yesterday. Nothing like hanging out on the narrow shoulder of I-90 with Metra train roaring by to get to know someone. Can't believe we didn't get any pictures of that.

For those in the area, Mike broke down on the west bound side of I-90, just west of the Foster on-ramp on the inside (left) lane. He got very lucky. A mile or two back east and there is NO shoulder on that side.

Sorry you are still having trouble. I'll PM you my info in case you need the truck or I can be of other assistance.

I'd offer you a Battery Tender but there are places in Chicago to buy them and it would be cheaper to buy one new than the gas it would cost me to drive down there :eek:

Sounds like the troubleshooting is progressing. But if you're just sick and tired of that bike give me a call. It would look great in my garage and I'll come pick it up right now :D

Here are a couple of pics of the tire change. I've never seen a bead so hard to break. Guess those Sport Demons really are sticky :lol:. It took three GSers and lots of sweat to get the job done.

UncleMike002.jpg


UncleMike007.jpg


UncleMike006.jpg
 
Sounds like whatever was shorted out, is now burned out...
George is correct, you need to work through the harness...and inside the headlight...

GBW...Joe and I were saying the same thing about not getting any pictures at the side of the road...
Oh well...
 
Baatfam said:
Sounds like whatever was shorted out, is now burned out...
George is correct, you need to work through the harness...and inside the headlight...

GBW...Joe and I were saying the same thing about not getting any pictures at the side of the road...
Oh well...
Click to expand...

I went through everything and found nothing rubbing, nothing exposed, nothing melted, nothing loose ...

George (koolaid_kid) is going to walk me through some testing once my phone is done charging. I'm going to need a babysitter on this one.
 
16v sounds like a Regulator fault although perhaps on the Honda RR's it's to do with the sense wire not seeing 12v plus?

I am not familiar with those RR's so someone else could confirm...

16v could blow all the bulbs in the cluster & I guess the tach as well although I believe the tach picks up it's signal from the coils so that being dead is much more likely to be the screwing around you did with the coils yesterday I would think...

Is there a fuse for the cluster by itself? If so replace with a new one.
 
salty_monk said:
16v sounds like a Regulator fault although perhaps on the Honda RR's it's to do with the sense wire not seeing 12v plus?

I am not familiar with those RR's so someone else could confirm...

16v could blow all the bulbs in the cluster & I guess the tach as well although I believe the tach picks up it's signal from the coils so that being dead is much more likely to be the screwing around you did with the coils yesterday I would think...

Is there a fuse for the cluster by itself? If so replace with a new one.
Click to expand...

Well, it was all working just fine this morning, so I don't think it'd be from messing with the coils yesterday.
 
UncleMike said:
I went through everything and found nothing rubbing, nothing exposed, nothing melted, nothing loose ...

George (koolaid_kid) is going to walk me through some testing once my phone is done charging. I'm going to need a babysitter on this one.
Click to expand...

Good, George knows his stuff...

Did you recheck the fuses? Maybe one finally blew and eliminated the short. Probably not, but it doesn't take long to check.
 
Baatfam said:
Good, George knows his stuff...

Did you recheck the fuses? Maybe one finally blew and eliminated the short. Probably not, but it doesn't take long to check.
Click to expand...

I'm up in my buddy's apartment charging my phone in preparation for a long conversation with George. Thankfully he used to be a teacher.

Once I've got that all set, it's time to dive back in.
 
Mike,

While I'm not the expert that George is on this stuff, I AM available most of tomorrow, so if you seem to be getting nowhere by this evening give me a call and I'll bring out the box trailer to retrieve the bike and bring it out to my place. I have a softball game at 7-8pm tonight, but could make a "late night run" if you need it. My garage isn't as spacious as Joe's, but at least it'd be a dry place to work on the bike if we get any rain. You can, of course stay over tonight if need be.

I'll PM you my phone number if you need it...

Regards,
Steve

PS... I'm in the process of Evapo-rusting my receiver hitch so I can plug in the ball mount if we need it, hehe! Haven't used it in about a year, so wasn't surprised when it wouldn't go in to the rusty receiver.
 
O.K., we checked the wire the sense wire was connected to, it was dead. We then connected the sense wire straight to the battery (Mike, unplug the sense wire tonight so you don't run the battery down) and it charges correctly. Therefore, the R/R is fine.
His headlight works, but neither the tail light nor the brake light works. Bulbs look good. The instrument lights do not work, nor does the electronic tach.
All the connections inside the headlight shell look fine.
Conclusion:
There is some connector or wire down the line that feeds the brake/taillight and instrument lights that has failed or is not receiving 12V. Someone is going to have to debug the wiring harness.
Mike has in his possession the Factory Suzuki Service manual and a fresh multimeter, which is pretty much all that will be needed to troubleshoot. Someone who thoroughly understands wiring diagrams needs to give him a hand.
 
koolaid_kid said:
O.K., we checked the wire the sense wire was connected to, it was dead. We then connected the sense wire straight to the battery (Mike, unplug the sense wire tonight so you don't run the battery down) and it charges correctly. Therefore, the R/R is fine.
His headlight works, but neither the tail light nor the brake light works. Bulbs look good. The instrument lights do not work, nor does the electronic tach.
All the connections inside the headlight shell look fine.
Conclusion:
There is some connector or wire down the line that feeds the brake/taillight and instrument lights that has failed or is not receiving 12V. Someone is going to have to debug the wiring harness.
Mike has in his possession the Factory Suzuki Service manual and a fresh multimeter, which is pretty much all that will be needed to troubleshoot. Someone who thoroughly understands wiring diagrams needs to give him a hand.
Click to expand...

The very fact that I was able to accomplish everything we just did is testament to what a good teacher you are. I can't thank you enough.

Any electrical geniuses in the house?
 
Just a semi educated guess but I bet all those things are on the same multiplug under the tank by the coils... Probably one that comes off the ignition switch.

That might be too easy though!
 
salty_monk said:
Just a semi educated guess but I bet all those things are on the same multiplug under the tank by the coils... Probably one that comes off the ignition switch.

That might be too easy though!
Click to expand...
That is the one thing I could not figure out, not having a wiring diagram in front of me. Someone needs to donate a PDF copy to BassCliff so he can post it on his site. But I agree, I suspect there is a central location. Only makes sense on such a catastrophic failure.
 
koolaid_kid said:
That is the one thing I could not figure out, not having a wiring diagram in front of me. Someone needs to donate a PDF copy to BassCliff so he can post it on his site. But I agree, I suspect there is a central location. Only makes sense on such a catastrophic failure.
Click to expand...

I pulled those apart and put them back together but didn't see anything obviously amiss.

When I get back home I'll scan my diagram and send it to Cliff.
 
Off to my softball game (7-8pm). Offer is still open to bring the bike here and work on it together tonight / tomorrow if you feel confident you can get here safely without the lights working correctly. Still an hour or so of daylight...

'Later,
 
Planecrazy said:
Off to my softball game (7-8pm). Offer is still open to bring the bike here and work on it together tonight / tomorrow if you feel confident you can get here safely without the lights working correctly. Still an hour or so of daylight...

'Later,
Click to expand...

I don't want to risk it with no brakelight or turnsignals. Plus, I'm not experienced enough to hunt down a short.
 
Anyone up for providing a beginner's tutorial for hunting down shorts in the harness?
 
Should I hook up my trailer and come get you, or is the bike inside somewhere where you can keep working on it (we're getting light rain up here right now)? Shoot me a phone call if you like and we can discuss your evil master plan...

Regards,
 
Planecrazy said:
Should I hook up my trailer and come get you, or is the bike inside somewhere where you can keep working on it (we're getting light rain up here right now)? Shoot me a phone call if you like and we can discuss your evil master plan...

Regards,
Click to expand...

Not just yet. Without a plan for how to actually tackle this harness, I don't want to bring it anywhere until I know I can fix it.
 
Just spoke to bwringer. Had a nice long conference, and here is what he suggests: He believes it is the fuse box. If someone whos bike has the same style fuse box ( 5 AGC fuses, like an 1100E ) could temporarily remove theirs and take it over and swap, Mike may be out of the woods. Or at least found the culprit. They can be patched up, I did it on mine once.

To repeat: Mike needs a fuse box to test if his is bad or not. Volunteers?
 
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