Thoughts on new quirks

Britfan60

Britfan60

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Jan 5, 2014
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Creature of habit. Forgot to plug in my bike after a ride 5 days ago. Went for a ride yesterday. Info screen frozen as usual when the battery drains a bit, but fires right up. This time however, the trip meter counted without resetting itself. 30 mile ride, get home, still frozen. Have been getting an ILL 8 message while holding down the button. Eventually WARN sign...…..then all went normal. Bike ran great, however, strong fuel smell after start. Getting a lot more vibes in the foot pegs. Also, can't figure out why I'm getting 5 to 6 mpg less with fairly gentle riding. Summers coming and she knows it. Got me on edge again.
 
Britfan60 said:
Bike ran great, however, strong fuel smell after start. Getting a lot more vibes in the foot pegs. Also, can't figure out why I'm getting 5 to 6 mpg less with fairly gentle riding. Summers coming and she knows it. Got me on edge again.
Click to expand...

Curtis,
Vibes and smell of fuel could be one cylinder not firing, or firing intermittently.
Check your plugs to see if the drop in mpg is due to overly rich condition.

Remember, quirks is Commando spelled backwards.
 
How many battery surface volts do you have when engine is off?
How many battery volts do you have when the engine is running?

If your voltage is low (less than 12) when running, you may have a battery or alternator issues. Fuel injection needs full voltage to operate correctly. (13+ volts when running)

If the alternator isn’t charging and you’re running only on battery voltage, the ecu will only function to 12 volts then starts to drop off as the battery dies. The ecu will not work to control everything bellow 10.5 volts.

Also make sure all grounds are good, clean and tight.
 
BritTwit said:
Curtis,
Vibes and smell of fuel could be one cylinder not firing, or firing intermittently.
Check your plugs to see if the drop in mpg is due to overly rich condition.

Remember, quirks is Commando spelled backwards.
Click to expand...

I pulled both plugs last week. (Posted photo in thread "lean") bikes runnung great aside from the extra fine vibe.

Both look good although one cap was little loose.

Ill check the voltage. Like I said, couldn't scroll through display and the bike fired up immediately. Thanks for your replies.
 
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At the end of my ride, and finally the display started working normally, I plugged the Battery Tender onto it. Just went out to check and start the bike. Again, the display is frozen on Trip (wound up resetting that to zero). When I turn the bike on, it stays on UNIT for an unusually long time....a minute or two, then goes to its current page. Trip. The bike fired right up, but still, no scrolling. Also, I think my battery is on its way out. The tender LED is still red from yesterday instead of green...or fully charged. It's a shame too. 200 bucks and only two years for the Yuasa lead acid. First one only 3 years, but bike sat at the dealership untendered for most of that time. The only time I have trouble with the display is when my battery is weak from forgetting to plug it in or its dead. I'll try a long ride to see if it charges. Yesterday was only 25 miles.
 
Man it's hard to believe that 5 days off the charger and the battery is flat.
You probably need to check the parasitic drain when the key is off.
Something has to be drawing too must juice.

Last year when I loaned my bike to the Union Garage for the 50th Anniversary of the Commando show, my bike was off the charger for 16 days.
I was concerned about the battery.
When I got the bike back and put in on the charger, after about 5 hours the battery tender light went green.
Bike started without issues.
 
Man....this bike drives me nuts. Now...green LED, can scroll. 12.4V not running...14.5V running at idle. 14.0 at 2800. I'll take it. Needs to be ridden more.

That's the thing Fred. Not flat. Lights on, fires up instantly. But weak. And always the problem with the display. Once charged...A-OK

Like yours, only takes a few hours to charge @ .75 V (or 1.25....I forget)
 
You need a battery load tester. A stuffed battery will often take a charge and appear ok, but under load the voltage rapidly falls.
 
a poor set of diodes can cause all kinds of electronic issues. a weak battery will put more load on the charging system and increase issues. a simple test is with a low battery set your DVOM on the AC scale and see what you have. it should be below .oo volts also add all the load you can with accessories . also check with a new hot battery. i have seen AC voltage in auto charging systems cause all kinds of issues.
 
Britfan60 said:
Man....this bike drives me nuts. Now...green LED, can scroll. 12.4V not running...14.5V running at idle. 14.0 at 2800. I'll take it. Needs to be ridden more.

That's the thing Fred. Not flat. Lights on, fires up instantly. But weak. And always the problem with the display. Once charged...A-OK

Like yours, only takes a few hours to charge @ .75 V (or 1.25....I forget)
Click to expand...
It’s a low charged battery. If I were you I’d remove it and do a battery test. Could be bad or have a bad cell.
 
Voodooo said:
It’s a low charged battery. If I were you I’d remove it and do a battery test. Could be bad or have a bad cell.
Click to expand...
That's what I think. A battery lasting only two years is not unheard of. My buddy's RSV4 died in a year and was on a tender. Not the first time the display freaked out because of low battery, but a longer range of vibration. 35 to 4500
 
BritTwit said:
Man it's hard to believe that 5 days off the charger and the battery is flat.
You probably need to check the parasitic drain when the key is off.
Something has to be drawing too must juice.

Last year when I loaned my bike to the Union Garage for the 50th Anniversary of the Commando show, my bike was off the charger for 16 days.
I was concerned about the battery.
When I got the bike back and put in on the charger, after about 5 hours the battery tender light went green.
Bike started without issues.
Click to expand...

They also asked me to use my bike. But I live too far. Would have if I lived closer. I do have their Robinson Jacket and love it.
 
richard-7 said:
They also asked me to use my bike. But I live too far. Would have if I lived closer. I do have their Robinson Jacket and love it.
Click to expand...
Fred. My original factory installed battery was off tender at GC for 4 months, then 7 months, then 4 months. It still took a charge but lasted a total of 3 years.
 
My original battery was off charge for 3 months in 2014 when the smoking fix was installed and new replacement tank.
Then again for 10 weeks waiting for a new starter when the starter failed in 2015.
My first battery lasted 4 years. Died in November 2017 - actually 47 months.
 
BritTwit said:
My original battery was off charge for 3 months in 2014 when the smoking fix was installed and new replacement tank.
Then again for 10 weeks waiting for a new starter when the starter failed in 2015.
My first battery lasted 4 years. Died in November 2017 - actually 47 months.
Click to expand...

Im still on my original battery (2014) Optimate Tender only during storage months (dec-april)
 
richard-7 said:
Im still on my original battery (2014) Optimate Tender only during storage months (dec-april)
Click to expand...

Richard,

Now that's what I would see as normal for a bike on a BT when not being ridden.
I hope I can get 5 or 6 years on my current battery.

P.S. has your dad begone building the FCR / Atlas framed 961 yet?:cool:
 
BritTwit said:
Richard,

Now that's what I would see as normal for a bike on a BT when not being ridden.
I hope I can get 5 or 6 years on my current battery.

P.S. has your dad begone building the FCR / Atlas framed 961 yet?:cool:
Click to expand...


Started yes. Close to being done. No.
 
I'm getting a fuel smell upon starting, heavier than norm, and a heavy odorous exhaust (according to riders behind me) while riding, more than usual. The bike is running well except for a few bouts with 1K rpm and a stall at stop signs when hot. Intermittently, anyway. 36 mpg, down from 41 end of last fall. That vibey spot....3700 to 4400 is stronger now too. Should I clean my throttle bodies? Is it all of a sudden odd fueling from the ECU? This pretty much started after removing the 02 sensors.
 
I'd certainly be reinstalling the o2 sensors if I was getting those symptoms with them removed. They do play a role in the ECU idle control - looking at the factory map settings for the SC ECU (no reason to suspect the OMEX is very different). The o2 sensors are only active (i.e. adjusting fueling) when the throttle is less than 25% open and below 4,000rpm.

Thoughts on new quirks
 
Interesting. Easy enough to play around with and compare. Thanks. I've had bouts with high idle when the IAM flange loosens, but the low idle, 1K when hot and the intermittent stall is the new glitch after the Lamda delete.
 

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