XR600R Wiring/Starting Issues

[djw0057]

I have a '94 XR600R that I recently purchased. Started/ran fine last year. The guy I bought it from had no idea what was done to the bike, previous to him, so I don't know exactly what aftermarket work has been done. I do see that at one time, the bike had a road legal kit on it. I decided to piece together a road-legal kit this winter. Went to a motorcycle junk yard and grabbed some parts (all 12V). I have everything wired up and as far as I know, I did it right. Now I want to fire it up and see what works/doesn't work.

Can't get it to fire. 3 days of searching the web for tips, including this site for advice, and trying what I learned...my leg hurts. Someone will probably mention re-jetting, which is new to me, so I need to do some research. I don't know if the problem is that it has been a long cold Winter here in Maine, and the bike doesn't start in 20degree weather. Could I have screwed up the wiring, keeping the bike from starting (if that can happen)? When I kick it over, the tail light fires up...if that tells you guys anything.

[asf]

Pull the plug, check for spark. The totally unrecommended way to do it is ground the plug to the case with a screwdriver (while not touching anything metal, including the scredriver shaft....) and look for the blue. I really dont like that, have seen lots of guys get seriously hurt from electric shock. Saw one guy about 350lbs fly two feet back once:banghead:

You can buy a little pug tool that hooks between the plug and the wire, lights up (you dont even have to remove the plug!), usually in the $2 parts bin at your local auto store. If you dont see spark, we know it is electrical. Your stator wire isnt sending anything to the plug or something is disconnected/toast in that circuit.

If you have spark, make sure fuel is getting to the carb. If so, buy a can of starter fluid and spray in into the motor and give it a nice kick. Be careful with that stuff, it is really flammable, so try to spray it only into the motor. Best to take the airbox off and spray it through the carb (with the plate open..). It can flame the airbox if you arent careful with it or it puddles anywhere. It should start at least initially even if there is a fuel issue. If it dies quickly then we know it is a fuel issue.

Post up the results and then it will be easier to figure if it is an electrical or fuel issue:thumbsup:

[asf]

Bajadesigns.com has schematics of their DS kits, you should print one out and see if your wiring at least resembles theirs.

[djw0057]

I'll give it a try tomorrow after work. Thanks!

[djw0057]

Doesn't look like I am getting spark. Not totally sure if I did it right. I chose the unsafe way of checking for spark. Didn't see anything, but maybe I used poor grounding technique. One other thing-when I kick the bike over, the rear brake light comes on. What do you think?

I replaced the plug too. The old plug was black towards the business end...running rich?

[Horri]

I think this..Was the Tailight coming on before you did these Road Kit mods..If not then something is wired up wrong. (Whoops just thought..You probably didn't have a Tail light on previously so maybe ignore that) Disconnect the Kill switch .Connections are behind the Headlight, then try for Spark again. Check the Wires coming up from the Stator and make sure you have them in the correct plugs up under the Seat/Tank area, Those wires exit the engine on the left hand side down by the Sprocket. You may need to unwrap some of the plastic sheathing to get a proper look at them and also may need to take the Stator cover off to check the parts below where they exit the rubber grommet..Once thats checked and found not to be the issue you can move on to some other possibles..Does the bike have an on/off switch for the lights on the bars and also a high/Low beam switch...Just wondering if the previous owner maybe had it wired so the lights always run when the bikes going..

[asf]

Spark can be hard to see and yes grouding can also be hard to verify using that technique. Assuming it is spark you need to track the wires to the coil and make sure they are getting electicity if you have a meter or one of those probes that lights up when it sees electricity. Another $2 part that you should pick up (its my most frequetly used tool...)

The BD kit has something called a FET that should block the electronics from starting until the motor is running. Without that yes every time you crank the stator should be sending electricity to two places: 1. your spark plug and 2. your headlamp. The fact that it is getting to the light suggests the stator works, and your issue is probably with wiring somewhere. Try looking at every single crimp, and if you have that probe start from the stator wherever you can find an exposed terminal and see if it is getting electricity, and eventually you will find a loose connection or you will find a part that is not letting electricity past it like if your spark plug boot is too or the wire is rusted you might just need a new one but you will have to run through the wires to really know where the problem is.

[jmoliva00]

disconnect your kill switch & give it a try

[xjz]

I just dealt with this same issue on my 600. I'd really suggest you get someone else to watch the spark plug as you kick it over becasue you have to kick it over at normal kicking strength to get a good spark to see and if your concentrating on the spark plug you won't be concentrating on a good kick. Also make sure you have a good wiring harness to frame ground.

previous post of mine

Even though your lights are coming on doesn't mean you have a good exciter coil on your stator because they are separate systems, you need to see spark to know its good.

[djw0057]

Brake light was existing, but was broken, and not OEM. Sounds like I need to disconnect the kill switch and give it a shot. I'll also try the continuity method (lights up when a current is recognized). Someone had mentioned having someone help with the spark plug so one person can concentrate on kicking, the other on the plug. Sounds like a good Saturday morning job.

I will double check my connections again too.

I will keep you all updated! Thanks!

[Beyond The Pale]

You can think of the bike as having two electrical systems. One runs the ignition and the other runs the lighting. The lighting has nothing to do with the ignition. There is only one wire coning from the stator for the ignition. It is black with a red stripe. This supplies the 100volts or so AC to the CDI. This is the power for the spark. I'm guessing that this is either disconnected of mis connected.

[djw0057]

Well, I ended up deciding to disconnect everything I did this winter, and get the bike back to normal....2nd kick it started. After that, I started re-wiring my harness. Have everthing working now, bike runs great, etc. I think I was grounding to the frame somewhere, somehow.

Thanks for all the help guys. I wish I could pinpoint the exact problem, but I can't. It runs and goes, thats all that matters!