Issues after sitting for a bit

Hello all,

new to the forum, but I've had this Seca (XJ550) for about 2 years. Bought it from a friend who'd had it for about 8 before that. Bike was operating pretty reliably for most of 2019 and 2020. I took it on a 600 mile trip in late 2019 and all felt pretty good.

Ended up parking it around September of 2020 and didn't ride it again until the Spring. Last time I rode it in earnest was in May, and since then it's been pretty finicky. So, the long and the short of it are : bike starts easy, idles, revs, etc. but will now always die when shifting into gear. I know that this is usually a faulty or disconnected sidestand switch, but the sidestand relay was already removed from this bike.

I tightened the clutch cable a bit, thinking it might have stretched, no dice. My next thought is maybe the clutch switch? This would shutoff the ignition if the switch were stuck open, correct? It feels electrical - I used to be able to start the bike in gear with the clutch pulled in, but now I'm not able to. The red oil light illuminates in gear when I try the starter.

 

The clutch switch makes it so you can't start it in gear without pulling in the clutch. If you disconnect the clutch switch or the switch body is broken which happens a lot it comes apart there's actually a threat on this. The bike will only start in neutral

 

The oil light is supposed to come on when you press the starter button it is a test to tell you the bulb is good. When you do an oil change turn on the key do not press the starter button in the oil light should come on again when there's no oil in the bike this is a test of the oil level switch.

 

When you say you pulled the side stand relay you are talking about the relay under the seat just behind a little tool track correct?
When you put the bike in gear in the and it dies is it lurching forward?
Also do you have the side stand up when this happens or is it down? It shouldn't matter if you're pulled out the side stand relay.
You didn't mention it so I will ask does your neutral light come on when the bike is in neutral?

 

I had a problem similar to this with my 550s and what it was was the connector from the control right side with the kill switch was a little loose and the wires weren't all pushed into once I pushed all the wives and seat them and push the connect together after cleaning it of course the problem went away this connector is located right aside of the ignition coil under the gas tank. I discovered this problem when the bike died wouldn't start and I slapped the gas tank on the right side then it started. So I looked under the gas tank to see what was there

 

Yep, neutral light comes on. Bike starts right up. I've tried it both ways, with the sidestand up or down, no difference. This connector on the harness isn't plugged into anything, I believe this originally goes to the sidestand relay.

Should any of these wires be jumpered together?

 

Harness connector wire colors:
- on all XJ550, all 1982-84 XJ650, XJ700, XJ750 models, all XJ900, and XJ1100 models:
* Red wire with white tracer stripe
* Black wire with white tracer stripe
* Blue wire with yellow tracer stripe
* solid Black wire
The side stand relay does not need any jumpers when you remove it. Those two look like the correct color wires and it is located under your seat between the tool box and fender

 

Thanks for the quick replies. So, normally, I should be able to start the bike in gear with the clutch pulled right? If so, I think that indicates my clutch lever switch may be faulty or disconnected.

 

Look closely at the clutch lever you will see the switch stuck in there if it looks like the body is pulling apart it is probably broken I have been able to push a few back together and glue them but if you feel it is the issue or maybe the issue. Open up the headlight bucket you will find a green connector with three positions but only two wires in it and it runs up to that switch you can either pull the connector apart e then put a jumper wire across the main harness connection this will allow the bike to start in gear without the clutch pulled in so be careful and see if the issue goes away the second thing you can do is just cut the wire from the switch and twist them together again this bypass is a safety feature so you want to repair it. I'm supporting vendor sells them it's also the same switch as the brake level switch just has a different connector on it. To remove the switch from the clutch lever there is a little hole where you can stick a small drill bit in to depress a tab in the switch and then the switch should pull out this will allow you to get it closer inspection. You can also test to see if the switch is working when you disconnect the connector in the headlight bucket with an old meter which is closed when lever is pulled in switches open when lever is out so if you push the little button in on the switch you should get no reading and when you let the button out you should get continuity or an ohm e reading

 

I am talking to my tablet for these posts so please excuse the odd word or two that show up when I get back on my computer I'll try to edit them correctly

 

damn saftey items lol
not 100% sure about the seca, but the safty switches are routed into the diode block in the headlight housing on a ground circuit, and if tripped will only kill the ground signal to the tci. I believe its a black wire with a white stripe on the largest connector on the tci. all the saftey switches are routed into the diode block, and it kills this tci connection, shutting the tci off and killing the engine.

 

Just wondering since I don't know enough about electrical systems. What would happen if the diode block was not there? I know it only lets current pass one way, that's all. Would there be short circuits and blown fuses?

 

You are correct, diodes allow current to flow one way. Good example is there is a diode in the block that allows the oil light to light when the starter button is pressed but prevents the starter from cranking when the oil level switch turns the light on. In short, you can't simply remove it as the safety circuit would not work correctly and you'd lose the oil light test feature. Would suck if you were actually low on oil but the bulb was burned out, without the starter light check you wouldn't know.

Do you have a FSM for the bike? They have a detailed section on how the safety circuits work and testing procedures for each component. It's a well designed system that works reliably when maintained. I've seen many bikes over the years with hacked up safety systems, I assume because people don't understand them or have the patience to work methodically though the issue.

 

It stops current getting to the starter motor when the oil is low. I didn't know that and when l got the bike the oil light switch cable was earthing onto the crankcase. I fixed that and fitted a new neutral switch during my engine rebuild. Thanks for the explanation do you know where l can get the FSM?

Found it cheers.

 

it can be removed, however will require more extensive harness modifications.
So its not just as simple as removeing it and done... a lot more work will follow.

 

Yes I am going to read up on the electrical system in the manual as jayrodoh advised.

 

Mine was converted to a trike, so the side stand switch was not needed, plus I removed all safty features except for the oil level switch., and clutch safty switch. used a different left lever assembly so I could convert the side stand wiring into a parking brake safty switch. left lever has a second pull cable setup running to rear caliper for the added park feature.

 

So update: The clutch safety switch is coming apart so I figured I'd test that theory by unplugging it and jumpering the harness side wires together. No change as far as I can tell.

However, after doing a bit more research, seems like my clutch plates may just be sticking together and shifting is just forcing the engine to stop. I revved it to about 3k and then downshifted and while it killed the engine, it felt like it wanted to stay running. Any advice for unsticking the plates besides removing the cover and rebuilding?

 

Nope, if that is in fact the case, only one way.. pull cover, and if you do pull it just replace them.
Im not saying its not possible, but more likely its not, I've seen bikes that have sat longer still have good plate function.

answer me this: when it dies, does it still attempt to fire,backfire,buck and jerk.
or is it just a flat out shut off with no other indication of dying?

 

Seems to lurch a bit. After thinking it through more, I feel like the clutch is probably the most likely issue as these issues came after just sitting, covered.