| Author | Message | ||
     Hoser |
Jim : Are you familiar with voltage drop test's ? , a voltage drop can happen where a connection exists or within a length of wire that is damaged .One area I would look at is , the positive battery cable , I've seen them fracture down at the starter , hidden from view by the heat shrink , the 12 guage wire that is attached to the copper stud on the starter can also break there , it feeds 12v to the main breaker. Check the braided ground strap below the battery tray , if this is loose or disconnected the starter will try to find a ground another way . | ||
| Pdxs3t |
Jeff, How the hell are ya? You still have that pretty yellow S1? You knwow, I still have that S3 t-shirt that you gave me when I popped in for that visit to ya at the shop back in 99. Starting to get a little worn though. I am a little familiar with voltage drop tests but its only what I have read. Will take a closer look at what you suggested tomorrow morning, will let ya know what I find or don't find. Thanks! Jim | ||
| Hoser |
Jim : The lightning still lives here , I retired the yellow plastic into the boxes that the Molten orange parts came in , big tank now , extended range . That bike has turned out to be the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned , not a hiccup , lots of tires and brake pads , a couple of rotors , never a leak , no problems and it has been beaten on again and again. Marni rides it most of the time now , she prefers it to the S2 ?????? . Let me know how the electrical glitch turns out , and remember , all electrical components contain smoke , the trick is to not let it out. | ||
| Pdxs3t |
Jeff, Glad to hear that the S1 is still alive and well! Still not too sure what is up with the bolt. All connections are sound. Went through the entire bike last night and all looks good. Hooked up a brand new battery and still the same symptoms. So I am still scratching my head wondering WTF? Jim | ||
| Fuscat |
Anyone had any problems with the brake light being activated by the front brake lever on an S1? This is the second time it quit working! The last time my dealership replaced the switch and it has worked fine since december. Now it quit again. The rear brake activates it just fine. No electrical mods have been done to the bike. I am lost here.. | ||
| Road_thing |
Fuscat: I've replaced mine once, I think I bought the switch at Radio Shack. It doesn't seem like a great set-up to me, I'd prefer a hydraulic switch but I'm too lazy to do the conversion. r-t | ||
| Hoser |
Try some contact cleaner , these switches are vulnerable to entry of water and foriegn material . | ||
| Smkdm2 |
Just a follow up to my fuse issue. I'm still blowing fuses, but I have ordered a new speedo sensor on Hootowl's advice and after reading the thread on the the speedo sensor in this section. I've ordered the new version of the cable as well. I have not disco'ed the speedo to test it, but I have tested everything else. Still tracing it, but thanks for the help Hoot. | ||
| Fuscat |
Road thing, you happen to have a part number for the radio shack switch?? I didn't realise they would have something that would work. Hoser, contact cleaner is that what its called? I would give it a try. This problem is just bugging me as I have replaced it once already. I dont want to forget to use the rear for the light and get creamed.. | ||
| Zenfrogmaster |
Anyone had a problem with their trip odometer? About the same time the speedo sensor flaked out on my 2001 M2, the trip odometer started losing its memory. With the new sensor, it'll record the mileage properly, but turning off the ignition resets it to zero. Any ideas on fixing this short of visiting the dealer would be appreciated. Thanks in advance! | ||
| Smkdm2 |
Zen - Have you checked the Memory fuse? On my 2000 M2 it's the center fuse. Mine is a 9 fuse block, it's the center row the middle fuse, 15 amper. You might check the connector block to make sure it is seated well. And that the red wire is properly in the block as well. Maybe check the wires to the reset button to make sure they are in good shape. edited by SmkdM2 on May 21, 2004 | ||
| Zenfrogmaster |
So simple, and so correct! I didn't think to check the fuses because it worked after a fashion, but you were spot on. Thanks! | ||
| Road_thing |
Fuscat: Sorry, no idea what the PN was, but if you carry your old one in with you, you'll find it's a pretty standard part. r-t | ||
| Fuscat |
Interesting I will try it. I took out the switch today and cleaned the contacts off put it back on and it worked. Did some other tinkering went for a ride and when I came home I checked it and it had already quit again.  | ||
| Fuscat |
Well I am about to go nuts over here with this brake light switch. Took it apart this evening and it seems like the switch is loose inside or sloppy feeling at the contact. It is so weird and intermitant that when it works there is no pattern what so ever as soon as you think you have figured out why it may not be working it changes. At any rate I went to radio shack they looked at me like I was insane. They didn't have anything remotely close so I then had them get out the catalog and I still couldn't find anything.  No go at the rat shack R-T. I'm guessing they were probably pretty cheap? I bet cheaper then the last $23 bucks or what ever it was from HD. I am positive it is not the wires now. I also re- wired the connectors again just to be sure. Is this the exact same switch as the sportster? Or is this a Ducati part like the controls were said to be? It does say made in Italy on the back!  Parhaps I should check with a Duc dealer.. Can anyone verify harley or ducati part for the switch?? It is frankly unsafe and makes me nervous but I cannot give up this great riding weather. I need to figure this out. Replacing a switch once to have to do it again a few months later makes me think there is another problem. Anybody got a set of the 2000 & up controls that will fit an S1 they want to part with cheap? | ||
| Reepicheep |
If you can post a picture of the switch, with something (maybe a quarter) by it for scale, that would help. | ||
| Fuscat |
Reep I will do but it might not be till monday night. A buddy has been borowing my camera for the last few days. | ||
| Road_thing |
Fuscat:  Does it look something like this? According to the Shack's on-line catalog, that's catalog # 275-017. If I remember right, that's the switch that went on my bike, I just had to clip the little roller thing off and it bolted right up. Maybe it was on the Confederate. I'm getting to the age where I can't remember everything! r-t | ||
| Reepicheep |
Those should be easy to scare up... thats a pretty normal switch. But be careful, there could be a variety of variations of them (normally open, normally closed, momentary contact, etc). I would think you need a normally open momentary contact one, which should be the most common for that type. | ||
| Glitch |
Well, at 20,000 miles there is a failure in the charging system. Looks as though it's the stator. The bike went dead after I got home last night, too late to do all the tests. So I looked here and the repair manual to find out what I need to find out how to go about testing everything. Simple stuff first. Battery dead. Not dead as in run down. Dead as in over charged. Sealed battery, no recovery possible. Trouble code 16. (battery voltage, probably a short) AT first I was thinking voltage regulator, then after searching the KV I found where Tripper said if you smell the gear oil (I did notice that smell, kinda hard to miss) the stator is shorted. My question is if that is the case, does that mean the stator is gone away, or that the stator is the problem and can be fixed? I've got my Fluke 8020B, repair manual, and the BadWeB. The only thing I'm worried about is being without a bike while I wait for parts. Any of ya'll that's done this (replace stator) know if it's an expensive part, and if it's a common part? '03 XB9S | ||
| Mikej |
The stator should be a common part to any dealership that handles Buells and Sportsters. Replace the seal while you're in there. There is a pretty good write-up on the process on the site here someplace. Wait, your profile says 2003 XB9R. Kind of a new bike to have a bad stator issue. Is your warranty still intact and unexpired? | ||
| Road_thing |
Reep: If I remember right (see above disclaimer) those switches have three terminals: a common, a normally open and a normally closed. You just pick the two you need... r-t | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thing... agreed. But I don't know to what degree that is a standard switch packaging, or if they will all have those in the same places. The one you picture clearly does, and is labelled (NC = Normally Closed, NO = Normally Open). Just wanted full disclosure to make sure he's not riding with the light on all the time Glitch... 20k is when my stator was toast. It's an easy check, disconnect the voltage regulator connector. The other wire goes direct to the stator, check that one. Measure the resistance (ohms) from each pin to ground (should be really high) and from pin to pin (should be not that high). I have the actual figures in another thread. The battery part does not make sense though... a dying stator should not easily hurt a battery, besides the fact that it just won't charge it anymore (which is hard on lead-acid technology). If you fire the bike up (jump it) and keep it on a reasonable battery while it runs, it will run fine with the stator / voltage regulator disconnected. You should be seeing like 60 volts AC across those same two lines you measured the resistance on. edited by reepicheep on June 04, 2004 | ||
| Reepicheep |
Oh yeah... the harley stator for my cyclone was way overpriced (like $120 or something). XB probably uses the same part. Aftermarket parts were probably more like $60, but you probably have to order 'em. I just got the stock part, because, well, it was in stock and I wanted to ride. | ||
| Fuscat |
Nope not the same switch. *sigh* I did see those though. I will try to get a picture. Its only got two terminals on it and a push button Has a hole through it where it bolts up. | ||
| Glitch |
Is your warranty still intact and unexpired? Maybe and yes. The battery part does not make sense though...May not have been over charged, I mistaked the smell. Mike's on his way to trailer me to SMHD/B. If they'll cover it, good. If not I'll do the work. Thanks guys! | ||
| Fuscat |
Well thanks for the help! A new switch from the dealer seems to have taken care of it! Hopefully 3rd times the charm!? Thanks for the help guys! | ||
| Glitch |
The bike's in the shop as of Friday. So far they're saying the starter's gone out. Never had trouble out of that before I handed it over to them. Says there may be more wiring problems. I keep ya'll posted. Pete (aka Torqer) has been keeping me posted through the Storm Fronts 3% Bragging Rights page. | ||
| Glitch |
Sorry, I mis-read Pete's post. Stator not starter. Reepicheep, did your stator just go out, or was there a cause found, maybe a bare wire or something? Checked on it last night, waiting on a stator. | ||
| Reepicheep |
That makes a lot more sense Pete. I had replaced my crank seal shortly before my stator died, and also had my rotor part of the alternator come loose and go banging around in there for 30 miles or so. Either cause could have nicked the enamel on the stator windings, and lead to a failure. I also had a pretty major transmission failure that could have let excessive metal into the tranny, which also could have nicked it. It had 20k+ miles on it anyway, so it could have just worn out. My failure mode *could* have been intermittent, or I could have had multiple simultaneous failures, I will probably never know. I started having obvious charging problems. Did the stator test, it read perfect (I could have sworn, but maybe I missed a decimal place on something) and the voltage regulator was putting out the right DC, so I just chalked it up to a bad battery (at this point 4+ years old) and replaced the battery. Naturally, a week or so later, the problem was right back. Check the voltage from the voltage regulator, its low, figure I must have misread it the first time (its tricky to actually measure voltage regulator output, and know what you are seeing anyway). It must have been the voltage regulator all along, right? No big deal about buying a new battery first, 4 years is a lot to ask from a motorcycle battery anyway, so I just got a new voltage regulator. I am usually not that sloppy on my repairs and don't just throw parts at it, but it was early spring, and I was trying to diagnose the problem in a 20 minute window before I left for work (where my dealer is) and I was seriously jonsing to keep the bike on the road. I was actually topping off the battery, and running it anyway, and just kept jumper cables on the bike  . Naturally, the problem persisted, and I could no longer be in denial about the stator. Tested it again, and it was this time obviously grounded, obviously bad. There are two separate tests that both failed, both the resistance to ground test, and the voltage output test, so I can't see how I could have done both wrong the first time and done both right the second time. So. I could have had intermittent stator death, and just got unlucky that every time I tested it was working, or I had both a bad voltage regulator and a bad stator (which is fantastically unlikely, given the full loss nature of our Harley charging system). Or I could have just blown the test. Objectively, the most likely thing is that I just blew the test and the stator was dead all along... no matter how careful I am, stuff happens. |
