Forum

[tedmunds]

Hi Pappasmurf, how do i do that?

[papasmurf]

I am a bit worried you need to ask that. I will leave that to one of the experts on the forum to explain that. Just in case there are more than two wires at the first connecter block from the kill switch.
Basically if you take the kill switch out of the loop and connect the wires together at the connector block which is the far side of the kill switch loom and you get a spark at the spark plug your kill switch is fubarred.
(There could also be a problem with the ignition switch which can also be checked by bypassing it.)

A cheap electrical test meter is also your friend. Because you can check continuity of connection from point A to point B easily and safely without the need of any electrickery in the wiring.

[tedmunds]

Hi Pappasmurf, sorry what i meant was do you know which colours the two wires are( i know how to by pass the wires )I'm not infront of the bike at present. thanks

[papasmurf]

Tedmunds, I am colour blind, and rubbish at electrics so believe me when I wired up a digital rev counter to my Electra X it was somewhat of a magical mystery tour, as it had three wires and no instructions, and in any case the wiring diagram in the manual bears bears no relationship at all to what is on the bike.
I also had to move the wiring looms from over the top frame members to under the top frame members to fit my own design of low seat.
I can only suggest checking the basics like continuity and bypassing switches because I have found with the various rarish models of motorcycle my wife and I tend to have that switches, micro-switches, wiring connecters and connecter blocks, and bad earths are more likely to be the cause of problems than a failure of major electrical components.
(In the last 30 years, I have had to buy one micro-switch, for CX500, one for the Electra X, a voltage regulator for the BMW K75S, and a pair of "universal" coils to fit on a Honda NightHawk.
I have however got through enough wire, various connectors, connector blocks, to rewire a large aircraft.

[Davie Hall]

Hi tedmunds, try and disconnect the sidestand cut out switch, If you follow the wiring where it exists the primary chain case you will find 2 connectors one 2 pin and one 3 pin. Disconnect the 2pin one , you dont have to join any wires. That way the sidestand switch is disconnected and the engine will have a feed to the ignition. I was caught out with that switch going intermittently faulty, once it was removed the bike started and ran far better.

[Davie Hall]

To find out which wires are for the kill switch take the 2 screws out that hold the switch halves together an open it up and you should be able to see the wires soldered to the switch and see the colour of the wires.

[Frank]

Looks like you have already checked for voltage at the coil, brown wire and that's OK so the kill switch must be OK. Now check for voltage both sides of the 10A fuse feeding the TCI. I still reckon it is an earth fault, not necessarily the main earth but perhaps an earth to something else that is on at the same time, neutral light perhaps? You could try putting it in gear to kill the neutral light, pull the clutch in and see if it sparks then.

[Frank]

Another thing I can't get my head around is why you got a voltage as high as 14.63v at the coil. That sounds like a DC output when the engine is running at some revs and on charge. If it is not sparking it can't be running.

[Norm]

Frank is about as close as you can get, if all the test so far have been done correctly I'm running out of ideas, I don't think there is any hidden earth wire Frank. Clutch,neutral and sidestand switches need to be proven to be working, and then it comes down to the pulse coil and that would be a last resort. These things are a complete crap heap when you have these problems and part of the reason I have contempt for them, talk about reverse engineering they went backwards 50 years with this ignition setup. The Japs started using these ideas 50 years ago but the Indians should never have thought they were good enough to try it

[Robin]

There's a resistance test you can do for the pulse coil. The approximate resistance needed is stated in the Electra x workshop manual.