97 M900 - NOT STARTING

[koko64]

Sounds like those broken wires may have cut in and out possibly causing a voltage spike or shorted to the frame or both at different times. Howie and Speeddog will know more. Loose cables cutting in and out and harsh jump starting off a running pick up truck or car can fry components too.

With the bike running check voltage at battery is between 13.5-14.5 V with your meter. As you rev the bike the Voltage should rise to 14ish Volts from 13ish from idle. A bad reg could choke voltage starving the battery and ignition or let too much through cooking components.

OEM needle jets/emulsion tubes can wear oval in short time causing excessively rich mixtures in low throttle/rpm and lumpy running in as much as 5000 miles. Don't get the soft bronze oem needle jets, instead get the shiny nickel coated/hardened ones from Factory Pro. Iirc they were once hardened stainless, but I think they are coated now. If they were recently replaced then you are ok. If they are ovaled out, the combo of Ignitech advance curve, your excellent CCW Exactfit coils and new needle jets should help smooth things nicely.

If your airbox is open and jetting not adjusted to suit (jet kit), then the bike can run like crap from midrange up.

Let us know how you go

[ducpainter]

A faulty ground is what generally cooks ignition modules. It can also cause charging issues.

There is a ground wire under the battery box, one at the R/R, and probably most important there is a heavy strap that runs from the cases to behind the r/h footpeg bracket.

[Howie]

There is also a ground wire from the ignition modules.  I don't know just where the ground is, but for that ground going from the connector at the module to battery negative is sufficient.  For the Nate is referring to voltage drop while cranking is the way to go.  Yes, you could just clean them, but you will not know if they were a problem.  Though robust (originals still working on the 750 I had with well over 80,000 miles on it), they are easily damaged by bad connections and ground.  The fact that both went south leads me to believe you have a problem in that area.

[greenmonster]

Did you check wiring around steering stem?
A well known place f causing shorts.

[greenohawk69]

A faulty ground is what generally cooks ignition modules. It can also cause charging issues.

There is a ground wire under the battery box, one at the R/R, and probably most important there is a heavy strap that runs from the cases to behind the r/h footpeg bracket.

Grounds are good - part of connections that I've checked 3x. Bought new, heavy duty battery cables (OEM were in poor shape) and it grounds to engine case. Sanded and cleaned connection. Bike did not start initially when I moved back, fixed bike and was ready to roll. The heavy duty cables - first push on start button and it ran.

[greenohawk69]

Did you check wiring around steering stem?
A well known place f causing shorts.

Where my issue was after bike had been running and I was doing some tuning after cleaning carbs - gas had gelled around jets.

Fixed those wires - no fuses popping after this fix.

[greenohawk69]

Here are the 3 grounds:  R/R, under battery box and - battery post to engine case. Battery cables were replaced with new heavy duty cables.

[greenohawk69]

Wiring around steering stem - fixed broken wires and shortened others and re-wrapped with electrical tape.

Plus wiring for ignition modules. Outside non-rubber sheathing looks bad near connections, but did not see any broken wires. Wire inside connector looks good.

[greenohawk69]

Battery was ~ 12.91V with the mutlimeter and was ~ 14.05V running.

Checked Ignitech map, showed base advance as 10*, vs. 6* I've seen in threads.

First map - better running, but smoke from right exhaust (looking from rear).

Anyone have a map for a 97 M900 with Sil Moto CF slipons and an open top airbox with K&N filter?

[greenohawk69]

Second map...ran better, no smoke from right exhaust and was good on short ride. Decel pop seems > it should. I probably need a new jet kit, etc.

[koko64]

Sorry, but all my maps are for high comp bikes. Other forum members should have some good maps for stock compression and your fuel.

With stock low comp you can try hitting max advance earlier maybe at 5-6k as long as the map is smooth and gradual down low. You can play with the timing under 5k to get that balance between smoothness and response. You can also run low comp timing a little steeper as long as it doesn't ping and tolerates your fuel choice.
I have a very gentle curve from 2-3k to remove snatchy response and chugging (helps especially with a light flywheel). A slightly leaner pilot jet helps too, but it depends on the nature of your local fuel.

Does it already have a jet kit? If not, it does need a "stage 2" Dynojet kit to be able to rev out with the open airbox.

[greenohawk69]

Not sure on jet kit. Bike was modified when I bought it. Seemed to run well at the time, and had belts replaced and shims checked by AMS in Dallas.

[koko64]

Probably jetted ok if it can rev out and not choke with an open airbox. Worth checking on a rainy day.
The Ignitech is pretty cool eh! I like how you can measure rpm, dwell, voltage, etc in real time and see the map graphed out. Shift light and rev limiter can be set to your taste. Advance can be set according to fuel availability too as well as compression/cam/cam timing changes. Have you noticed how much smoother the bike is down low? The Kokousan has a crude angled step and some have said this contributes to lumpy, snatchy low rpm operation and I believe them.

[greenohawk69]

It is a pretty neat unit, even though I don't understand all of the info. I like the advance map and how you can make changes - the RPM is nice to see and mine is a tad high right now.