Where I am now........bike starts fine when key on, kill switch on, clutch lever out and in neutral IF THE SIDE STAND IS UP! If I try and start it with the side stand down...no go. It doesn't matter if I hold the clutch in or not (by the way, I do have continuity across clutch switch when engaged). Anybody ever have the 3-way diode (up behind headlight shrould) go bad? When I remove the diode and jump the green/white to the green/red from the neutral switch it starts fine w/out having to lower the side stand. For whatever reason, when the side stand is down the bike won't start. The neutral light goes on in neutral, so the neutral switch must be working?
Summer before last my bike got hard to start. Backfired a lot when starting, often started when I released the starter button. I found that all of those problems went away when i retracted the side stand before starting. Oddly it would still run most times if I deployed the side stand after starting it. I never tried to figure it out. I would just retract the side stand and start it and go ride. Later after cleaning most of the built up chain lube, from around the counter shaft, side stand, and nearby frame, with degreaser the problem went away. Now it starts easily with the stand down. This is why I suggested earlier that you clean the side stand switch. Or just start it with the stand up, or bypass the switch. Walter
Thanks, I pulled the switch and tried to clean it; it looks like it's sealed. It didn't do much good, I'm not sure how to pull it apart....does it come apart? There was a switch off a later XR on eBayfor $16; I bought that and figure I'll try it out. Any ideas on how to pull the switch apart? If I keep this up, I'll have built myself a whole new freakin' bike!
Here's what you want to do to make the problem go away. I just did this on a customers bike: First, put the side stand switch back on or the kick stand gets all wiggly. Cut the three wires at off the switch. Remove the seat so you can get to the 3 pin connector where the side stand wires connect to the main harness. Cut the green and the green/white wires from the side stand harness about an inch from the connector. Remove the 3rd wire. Strip, twist, and solder the green and green/white wires together and insolate the solder joint. The old connector from your side stand switch is now your new bypass jumper. The bike will start with the side stand up or down now.
I beg to differ. The switch mounts to the end of the kickstand through bolt and does nothing in the way of the kickstand being WIGGLY. If the stand is wiggly, it's just wiggly and the switch is there for the ride. BTW... If you do have a loose fitting side stand just remove it from the bike and use a vise to squeeze the end that mounts to the frame together. Remount and the looseness should be gone.
Fair enough, I was moving pretty quickly to by-pass all the ignition and starter interlocks on the XRL and didn't look too hard at how the switch was mounted. It just looked as though it was held on with the same bolt as the side stand. My mistake, but I stand by the wiring solution and I assure you that it works.
Well, figured I update the thread on this nightmare. After all the troubleshooting I ordered a new pulse generator. I unplugged the old one and plugged the new one to the harness. I pulled the sparkplug and left it hanging off the lead. Previously when the bike wouldn't spark I'd test the plug against the frame and no spark. This time when it wouldn't start I did the same....no spark. With the new pulse generator plugged to the harness I waved a screwdriver across the "nib" that sticks out from the pulse generator (the trigger point) and a bright blue spark jumped the plug gap. So, I pulled the side cover and the old pulse generator had some metal filings stuck to it, removed it and installed the new one. Put the cover back on and presto!
Fairly common,,and plugging in the PG and waving a chisel or something in front of it is great as you don`t need to pull the clutch cover unnecessarily if it`s not the PG.. I have a thread on ThumperTalk on repairing the CDI as the solder joints are a common failure...it`s at the top of the XR600-650 FORUM if anyone is interested.. http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/881740-xrl650lnx250650transalp-cdi-repair/ B
Dude you saved me a hell of a lot of time and energy. Spade connector on my coil was super loose. Pinched it so it’s tight and the bike is like new again. Thank you
I've been having an intermittent-stall issue for months, which I thought I have resolved with a loose ground under the seat, but the bike just stalled out on my way into work this morning. It started right up again so luckily I wasn't stranded. I'll be the first to admit; I'm an idiot when it comes to this stuff: where's the coil and which connector did you pinch? Any other suggestions would be much appreciated.
Take off the tank and follow the spark plug wire from the plug to the coil. You’ll see the connections on top of the coil.