..long story short, as there will be a neat build thread later on in it's life. But trying to get this XS I bought started before tear down, and well. It's not going well. Gentleman I bought it from had troubles with it himself, which is why it's in my possession. So, here we are, we have spark, we have fuel(almost brand new VM34 Mikunis), we have air, and! We have compression. So much so that the machine backfired whilst me kickstarting it, and literally, and I mean this in complete truth, put a hole in the sole of my shoe. Yup, it felt nice. So, here it is, play by play of what is happening.
So few things going on, first, battery is way flat(6v) eek! So put her on the charger, charger says it is good to go? That's odd. The charger, depending if the bike's key is on or off, says the battery is 'charging' or 'charged'. The only time it says it is charging is with the ignition on. No idea why. Thoughts? I have it now sitting overnight on the charger, maybe tomorrow a nice 12v reading will appear, even though the charger thinks it is already there. Maybe the charger is toast, but I doubt it.
Next thing, this one is fun. There is this relay, I believe it is the 'starter lock out relay'. On the right side of the frame, there are three relays, it is the top one. Apparently, if it trips shut, the entire bike's electrical system is shut down. I have no idea why, it just is happening. Maybe someone has run into it before. So how does it trip shut? Lots of fun ways, using the starter too much, hitting the brake lights too many times, just seems like any excessive electrical load and donk, no power, no lights, no nothing, battery reads 0v too. Battery leads are good, good ground, everything is a-ok on that end.
Lastly, the 'hurt' part. So I'm attempting to kick-start this baby, key in, ignition on, verify we are getting spark, ok, plugs back in. Big kick, I think to myself, man this is a way harder kick than my CB350! Again, again, nothing, not even an attempt, and then, kick, backfire out the intake, kickstart lever shoots back up, throwing me back and sending a hefty shock through my foot/leg, feels awesome let me tell you. So I think, timing has to be screwy, pull the cover, set it at TDC, yup, piston is there, valves closed, roll around the area, spark plug is firing at the right time. So, we have the four elements(spark/fuel/air/compression) Why, oh why, will you not start, and why do you hurt me so? Coincidently, when she backfires out the intake, that is also when that relay trips, shutting down the electrical system.
Few plans of attack, new harness, scratch built, bare essentials, just enough to get her running, similar to my CB setup. Find resources online for people having the same problem(not many it seems). Return machine to stock, carbs, airbox, etc, and see where I can go from there.
Sorry for the long post, just get to typing, and well, here we are. I appreciate any help you folks can offer me. Ultimately this engine may be getting torn down for a refresh, but as mentioned, I want to get it running before I do...
Steve
