bongobobny

Dingy doesn't live here anymore. You could try the VMax forums and see if he is still active there... Have you checked your timing coils yet? There is a connector about halfway up the rear of the frame that has been known to cause problems. Also, the coils have been known to cause issues, especially when they warm up. When you had your TCI out did you bake it in the oven at 200 to 250 degrees to bake out any moisture?? Also, you need to relocate your TCI to the top of the airbox, there is enough play in the wiring harness to do this. This has two advantages, first it is drier up there, and second, in case of failure, it is right where you can get to it easily. I seem to remember a while back somebody found a manufacturer that made replacement TCI boxes that even had the same shape...

There are two ways to PROPERLY set your mixture screws so that they are all correct. The best and most accurate way is to use a CO sniffer on each exhaust pipe via the 4 removable caps on the pipes. In order to get that perfect 14:1 mixture, you need to set the CO reading for about 5.1. The problem being CO sniffers are expensive, around $500 or more, and shops that have them want a pretty penny to do this service. The other alternative is to use a colortune plug and adjust each cylinder to the perfect color of the explosion. Although not quite as accurate as a CO sniffer, it is pretty darn close! Colortune plugs can be had for about a tenth of the price of a CO sniffer. The only downside is you need to put a hood over yourself and be in a somewhat dark room to properly see the explosions...

Yes, the pivot pin is in the same place, but the diameter is different. The MK1 has a diameter about the size of a dime whereas the MK2 has a diameter more like a 50 cent piece! You can try to unscrew the pin from an MK2 swing arm or you can machine or MacGyver a larger pin and attach it via a hole in the middle of your adapter to the swingarm with a bolt...

I hate it when things just fix themselves...

OMG, what is the date code on that tire?? I thought Dunlop discontinued the E2 YEARS ago...

That is not entirely true, Jeff. The rear calipers for a 1st Gen MK2 and the second Gen rear are the exact same caliper!! The difference is the 2nd gen is not linked whereas the 1st Gen is. Seems to me I remember the rotors being interchangeable as well. The issue is the OP has an MK1 which uses an entirely different caliper and rotor...

Steamer should have gotten a 33K resistor in the mail today to do two things, first check the calibration of his meter, and second to jumper across the disconnected connector to the bike's wiring harness and see if the bike starts. Gee, do you think someone had a bad switch and being a scumball sold it on Fleabay??? PS it is 61,000 ohms (61K) and 21,000 ohms (21K) as read on the 200,000 ohms max scale of an ohmmeter. Let's get that straight, we do not want someone thinking it is only 21 and 61 ohms...

The second gen has the exact same rear caliper as the 1st ben MK2 has!!! I think the OP has an MK1 which has very anemic brakes, to begin with! You can convert to an MK2 caliper but you need the MK2 mounting bracket, and you have to MacGyver a way to adapt it to the MK1 swingarm...

The issue you are dealing with may be a bent or dirty pin on one of the connectors for the radio controller...

I just want to give you guys a little information and guidance. There are TWO separate valves in the linked brake system, the proportioning valve, and the metering valve!! The proportioning valve is the one near the rear master cylinder, and its whole purpose in life is to cause a slight delay in hydraulic pressure to the front brake. This delay is determined by the spring rate of the spring inside the valve. Until the spring rate is overcome the front brake is shut off. A few milliseconds later the spring moves and the valve opens to the front brake. There is pretty much NO METERING in that valve!!! Now on the frame near the battery is the actual metering valve! It is a simple orifice that controls or meters the flow of hydraulic pressure and volume to the front brake! Now if you open up the size of that hole, two things happen. You allow more volume to pass per time unit, BUT you lose pressure!! Think garden hose nozzle...

Yup! A lot of us have been down that road!

Well, look at it this way, Steamer. Maybe it is time to flush the cooling system...

That looks like hardware for a set of air wings. The air wings mount on the upper fairings and either deflect air away from you or on to you depending on which way you point them...

Fair enough question, Steven G. From what I am interpreting from the very limited information in the Service Manual and not having a schematic of the ignitor unit the Black/White pin is some kind of monitoring point for a constant current generator that controls the ignition circuit. It uses the external resistance seen that is built into the tip-over switch. Now if I am correct and this a current generator then I will be a constant value so therefore the IR drop seen at the Black/White wire should be a specific value of E (E=IR). When the tip-over switch exceeds 50 degrees of a tip, the internal resistor is shorted out and the voltage drop with a constant current will go to near zero voltage shutting off the ignition. Now with Steamer's problem, if I am right in my assumptions, the IR drop across the circuit will be much higher so the circuit is sensing something is wrong with itself and is also shutting down! We know that with an open circuit the bike will NOT start as I tried it on mine and it would not start but as soon as I reconnected my switch it started and ran fine! So, with an open circuit or infinity ohms, the IR drop would bring that voltage on the Black/White wire to rail voltage or 12 volts, shutting down the ignitor. So, what I am assuming (I know, ass-u-me) is with the higher value of resistance in Steamer's switch the IR drop is almost triple the amount which is what is killing his ignitor. As stated above, my theory is when he first starts his battery voltage is dragged down just enough from the starter motor to have that IR drop just below the threshold but as soon as the regulator brings the battery voltage up (which is actually a higher voltage than the battery just sitting there) it comes up just enough to exceed the threshold and shut the circuit off. Not having a schematic of the internals of the ignitor makes it hard to figure out what and why things are happening and to be perfectly honest I am just making a SWAG as to what is wrong given the limited information I have...

I sent you a 33K ohm resistor in the mail today, Bob! It's not the desired 22K ohm we are looking for but it should be a lot closer than 60K ohms! Besides, we can see if your ohmmeter is close or not! When you get it in the mail (probably Monday, tomorrow if you are extremely lucky) just stick one leg into one pin of the connector and the other leg in the other pin and see if it starts... As far as hooking up 3 AA batteries in series to apply 5 volts logic level, the problem with that is not knowing what the polarity would be, and I would be a little leery of this as the resistance in the switch is developing a voltage level in a current controlled loop and applying a separate voltage might blow its mind...

There is a lot of electronics in the fairing and hidden in the lower fairings that you will have to deal with...

Yup!! 41R-10 is definitely an'84! The later units were a -11, the difference being an insignificant change in the response curve for advance. I'm not 100% positive but I believe the -11 was for the 1300cc MK2 '86 - '90...

Very timely, I should be getting my PCW engine back very soon, and I have been pursuing F.I. all along...

Yup, and if it wasn't for @Outcast clueing us in on how the 2nd Gen Ignitor kill circuit actually worked we wouldn't have known there was a series resistance as the factory schematic just shows a simple switch to ground, and the service manual doesn't give any testing procedures for that switch. Hidden in the service manual text is sort of a clue mentioning the current generating loop but it does not mention the tip-over switch as part of it...

I see Kevin beat me to the punch on the numbers for the TCI!! Another quick way is to follow the vacuum line from the "boost sensor" which is below the coil pack right next to the TCI. If the vacuum ends up at the carbs it is a 41. If the vacuum ends up on the manifold it is a 26. That is what made the '83 the oddball, it uses manifold vacuum as opposed to carb vacuum for the rest of the years. Because those vacuums are 180 degrees out of phase the '83 advance works backward from the other years. The boost sensor is the same unit... I was going to check for some coils myself and also send you a Harbor Freight multimeter but I see you may have some coming already!

Umm, pretty much how comfortable you are on it! For the most part, they are very dependable bikes, but there are a few known issues. For every issue, we have a cure! The biggies are the ignition switch, which a member makes a bypass kit to take some of the electrical draw away from the switch contacts, the fuel pump points, we have an alternate solid state fuel pump conversion, and the rear shock, and we have a member who rebuilds them for practically nothing! So, look under the rear at the rear shock. If it looks oily, you will need to replace it. Replacements run from $500 to $1000. Check the date code on the tires. If they are older than 6 years, they should be replaced. Rear brake pads wear uneven and should be rotated every season. They are a tad top heavy and have poor low-speed manners, but there are a couple of things that help it out, going with a smaller front tire, and lowering the front...

OK Steamer, on Wizard765's bike we read the same 21.4K Ohms, so here's my theory. The IR drop across your 60K resistor is a lot higher of a drop across a 22K resistor, so here's what I think. With a startup, your starter motor drags your voltage down just enough that the bike will start. within a few seconds, your regulator is going to increase your battery voltage so the drop across the resistor goes up just enough to exceed the threshold of voltage to keep the ignitor turned on... I'm going to put a resistor in the mail for you so that you can try it out across your unconnected tip-over switch connector. If that fixes it, then order a new switch...

OK, 11.3 volts should be good enough! As far as that 22 pin "E" connector which should be under the tank along with a 20 pin connector, as long as you have voltage at the coils then everything should be pretty much OK. What you should have been looking for on the E connector would be the pin with the Red/Black wire and there should be 12 volts there on both ends when the connector is connected. I am assuming you see the number 61 on the X 200K (200,000) scale. That means you are seeing 61,000 ohms or 61K ohms. K stands for Kilo, or 1000. If you switch your ohmmeter to a lower scale such as X 20K is should read open as that scale can only read 20,000ohms maximum. As soon as Wayne and Carl get here I will talk Wayne into letting me read his tip-over switch resistance, and if his is also 21K I will find a 22K resistor and mail it to you so you can try jumpering the connector with it. Perhaps 61K is too high and at first, it will allow the bike to start but as soon as the charging system of the bike kicks in the voltage drop across the resistor is too much and it kills the spark!

Unlike a 2 wheeler that lays on its side when it falls over, with a trike it will end up upside down, and two things happen. First, it gets no gas because the bottom of the tank becomes the top. The second thing is all the engine oil pours into the upper area and that will foul out the plugs... Yes Jeff, you are technically right...

Speaking for Steamer, probably because you pretty much have to disassemble half of the cooling system to get to the switch. I have a fellow venturerider person with a 2nd gen coming over tomorrow afternoon, so maybe I can talk him into pulling his tank back so I can read the resistance of his switch. If his comes out to around 22K ohms too, I will buy Steamer a 22K resistor and drop it in the mail for him to jumper his switch. You really don't need a tip-over switch on a trike...