jeffro67

The only other thing i could suggest is a little trick ive used to hold the cig socket adapters together is get 3 zip ties and tie 2 small loops on the outsides of each plug and then use a long one to zip the 2 ends together tight..it works better than tape which will loosen after time.

Make sure that the video recorder is actually 12 volts and not being stepped down by the cigarette adapter to a lower voltage.. if it is you should be able to snip off the end and just solder or butt connect the wires together at the other side...But if you do this you need to be careful not to reverse the wires cuz it will smoke the camera.. If you look at the end that plugs into the camera and it is round with a pin in the center, the pin is the power, the outside shell of the barrel is the ground...You need to verify it through a continuity tester or multimeter to be sure you have it right. Good luck, and for the hell of it you may want to double check where you tapped for power originally and make sure that isn't the problem too.

I have a right side lower that is black from a 99 blackbird, a few scratched/bumps from a tipover when parked but no cracks, and i'm about 3-4 hours from you in Crown Point, In, Let me know If you are interested in it! Jeff.

It Idles at about 1,100, and i have adjusted it before to see if it would matter but it was still unsteady... The wiring to the computer was chewed up a little because the bike was in a barn before and a mouse made a nest in the airbox at one point, and chewed the wiring by the pc2....From what I can remember i had to "jump" a wire on the pc2 to repair it and it looked like it would have been a little more of a problem to just take the pc2 out. so i left it...But if removing the pc2 would fix the problem i Would bite the bullet and take it out.. I guess the only thing i'm not sure of is if the "unprogammed" pc2 is even helping the bikes performance whatsoever? If Not, it's coming off..Thanks again for the advice.

It might just be my imagination but my blackbird idles a little odd, kinda off sync like it's popcorn popping....It runs just fine when i give it gas but i seem to remember a much smoother sound when i first got it.. It Has a pc2 on it and vance & hines exhaust, k&n filter and 11,000 miles (99 fi model also) I had an issue last year with it chugging off the start and replaced the fp regulator(didnt fix the problem), then the plugs and the chugging problem was gone.. Question 1: Since the pc2 was never mapped, would it make any difference if i just took it off(some surgery would be required to do this because of a mouse chewing a wire before i got it)? Question 2:Is it possible that the timing advanced itself when it was having the chugging issue and maybe needs to be adjusted? The bike runs great overall but I distinctly remember a much crisper and smoother sound from the exhaust initially, any suggestions? P.s. I've run seafoam through the gas a couple times and it didn't make a difference.

I picked up a 99 bird in near mint condition with slip ons and a power commander for 4000, with less than 10,000 miles on it. You have a lot of nice extras that you might be better off selling individually here, unfortunately the market for used bikes is not bringing what you would expect in return for your investment..... With 44,000 miles, alot of people won't even be interested even though these bikes are bulletproof.......If you can get 5,000...take it and run. Good luck with the sale, and i hope things get better for ya.

I think that is the coolest looking bird ive ever seen, and worth the price. Funny thing is when i started looking for a bike a couple years ago i was searching for a 87 vfr750 red/white/blue. Then i let an 85 vf1000r slip through my fingers. I guess your bike is what would have resulted if the vfr750 i wanted and the vf1000r I missed out on had procreated, And that is a beautiful thing! I ended up with a 1999 blackbird, and couldn't be happier! Good luck with the sale.

I've found it's better to do wrong and ask for forgiveness, then to ask permission to do wrong! My bike just showed up in the garage and i said "surprise", and she eventually got over it. Too late now though...good luck!

I second that opinion. The service manual says to take off all kinds of pointless things from the front, just go from the top, i just did mine for the first time and it was relatively easy. If you have the bike tool kit use the socket they give you, works great and they are pretty deep in there.

Well i think i figured it out! Some of the best advice that everyone should take is"always suspect the last things you touched" Didn't want to go into detail about why the ecu wires were chewed up while sitting in the barn with the previous owner, but it's relevent to my bike, not many others. One wire was chewed apart by a mouse on the grey plug and had to be jumped over the plug to the pcII, making removing the pcII a little bit of a pain. along with about 5 other wires on the black plug that were also a little chewed but not in half. I was trying to go the extra mile and lifted the ecu and put a little foam under it as a cushion and apparently the ecu doesn't like to be moved around so much now. While checking the bas, fuel cut relay etc i decided to remove the pcII and fix the chewed wire at the ecu so i could see if it would start with it off. low and behold it did start, but would die if a fiddled with the repaired wire. So then i threw the PCii back on and it started, moved the ecu around and then it would die. Thus confirming that the problem lies in the main ecu wires. I've now got the ecu secured down and took it for a nice 20 minute ride and all seems to be ok. NO more sputtering at low rpms, but that went away when i changed the plugs. I'm probably gonna have to bite the bullet at some point and replace all the wiring if it acts up again. Anyone out there ever do the loom replacement? How bad was it to do?

Sounds like the battery is shot, At least put a digital multimeter on it and see what it reads with the bike off and maybe what it reads when running(if you can get it started) Battery on my 99 reads about 13 volts off and 14-14.5 running, and it's new because the battery i had in it would not hold a charge. I could jump it, drive it for 10 miles, shut it off and go to restart, dead as a door nail. And it isn't good for a bike to run with a bad battery anyhow because you could take out the r/r and stator in the process. Picked up a walmart sealed es12bs i believe, $55.00, and it cranks real strong now. Also, being a 99 if you havent already, do the "loom fix", mine was corroded pretty good and it was about a half hour job if you know how to solder+tape! I've been chasing down electrical gremlins on my bike for the last 3 weeks and i finally think i got all of them. Good luck, Jeff

I just got done replacing the plugs and fpr. took the bike for a nice ride and all the sputtering and hesitation were gone. SO then i realize that the air stacks in the air cleaner box were put in backwards and had to go back in to reverse them, thinkin this should make things even better. Took the tank off(3rd time) switched the air stacks around, relaxed around the house and decided to go for a ride about 6 hours later. Turned ignition on, pushed start and it started, let it idle for a couple minutes and then pulled clutch in and put it in gear to start going and........as soon as i let the clutch out...it died......restarted.......slowly let the clutch out and it keeps dying! kickstand was up, and i went and checked continuity for the kickstand switch and it was good also checked the two spade connectors at the clutch and they worked right. Pulled it back in the garage and started fiddling around while it was on the center stand and started it, put it in gear and slowly let out the clutch and it stayed running! Ok, problem solved right....NO! Pull it out side and now it cranks and cranks and cranks, but won't start! Checked all fuses including that 30 amp facing out on the left side and all are good. What am i missing? I should also add that it was pretty low on gas so i went and added 3 gallons to rule it out, unless trying to start it while almost empty is bad, and the bike does have a power commander 2. Is there something obvious about letting the clutch out and killing it that anyone knows about? ANY GURU help? This has got me really aggravated! Thanks guys, Jeff

Well i put the new plugs in and i took it for a ride, runs great now! Did notice that the old plugs weren't very tight, almost could take them out by hand. couldn't really tell you if they are"fouled" or not. So either the fpr was bad and fouled the plugs, Or it was just a bad plug replacement by previous owner, Or when i took the power commander off it caused the plugs to foul somehow. I may never really know, and i'm ok with that, I'm gonna leave well enough alone until it rears its ugly head again! And a knew FPR can't be too bad to have anyway... Just glad to have this thing running so good again, Thanks for the support, Jeff.

99 bb, slip ons, k&n filter Bike idles a little rough, and stumbles and surges until about 3500 rpms From all the advice and research on this it seemed like it had to be the FPR so i ordered one for 60 bucks from the stealership and the bike still is running the same, maybe getting worse. I didn't have the telltale fuel coming from the FPR vaccuum hose but someone else had a bad fpr with no gas in that either so i thought i was in the same boat. What to check now? Could the sparkplugs be fouled and need replacing? When you take the fuel line off off the rail is it supposed to slowly pour fuel out, or is it only supposed to come out when the key is on? I talked to a local shop and they said to change the plugs because they might be fouled and only clear themselves out when the higher rpms are reached. Well i guess it won't hurt to replace them, so thats what i'm gonna do after this post. any other suggestions? thanks alot, Jeff.

I would start with the basics. Make sure the kickstand is up, and the switch isnt stuck either! also, you said that the neutral light isn't coming on, fiddle with the shifter and rock the bike to get that light on....and check the handlebar kill switch! Probably something real obvious, i know all about that. Hope you get it goin, I'm waiting on a fuel pressure regulator myself and also hope i diagnosed my bike right! Let us know What the outcome was...

Thanks for all the responses. a couple things to add. The bike idles real crappy with OR without the pcII on it, So i think that rules that out, i think? After i did the "loom fix" i peaked at the r/r plugs and they were good(no burned up ends) New battery was put in also, and i metered the battery when running to about 14.1 give or take. So the charging system seems good also. I was thinking it might be a clogged fuel filter also, but the bike only has 9,600 miles and the tank looks real clean inside, hope its not that! I guess i'm gonna check out the fpr tomorrow for leaks, possibly change the plugs while i'm at it Any spark plug recommendations? OR words of wisdom to changing them! the only reason i really think it's the FPR is from searching this site and seeing EXACTLY the same symptoms which was remedied by replacing the fpr! Thanks in advance, When i figure out the culprit I'll be sure to let everyone know.

Well i'm still at it, and i think i may already know the answer to this question. But I'll ask anyway, cause i need some reassurance. 99 bird. k&n filter, vance & hines slip ons, pcII(no professional mapping). recently purchased and having a couple issues, i'll try to make a long story short! "fi" light came on, did "loom fix"---fi light is gone. Was just cruising along about 60 mph and tach dropped to 0, twice, but kept running. Thought it might have something to do with pcII, so i took it off to compare and symptom never reapeared. Put some seafoam in tank(about 3 ounces to a full tank) and drove it around trying to mimic the problem, didnt happen. But what DID happen was this: Now it runs real rough at idle, stumbles until it gets to about 3500 rpm then smooths out. Put the pcII back on, and it still runs like shit! What do the think .......Im guessing fuel pressure regulator? seems to be a common issue.. To check the fpr, do you remove the vaccuum hose and look for a fuel leak and that proves it? I wouldn't think the seafoam would have caused this in such a diluted quantity, or coincidence? any advice on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated, i just want to ride this thing, not keep fixing it!

Thanx for the responses! To address a couple of the comments: Battery was charged on the bench before i put it in use, But it it only took about 35 minutes to charge at 2 amps, Which seemed a little low but that is the lowest setting on my charger. That's why i took the bike for an hour ride to help ensure it was actually charged fully. I also did the "loom fix" before the battery was replaced. After posting originally i realized that i may have placed the pcII in a spot by the battery that may have been smashing it a little with the bottom of the seat hooks! Just a hunch. also, to make a long story short, a wire on the ecu was chewed by a mouse and needed to be jumped over the harness(a few years back), this kinda makes removing the pcII hard. Looks like some surgery would have to happen to repair the plug, so i'm gonna hold off for now. So i've relocated the pcII and i'm gonna take a peak at the r/r plugs and meter the voltage etc. Sound like someone else had the same symptoms of tach dropping to zero while driving and it was the r/r plug! I appreciate all the help, Thanks, Jeff. Thanx for the responses! To address a couple of the comments: Battery was charged on the bench before i put it in use, But it it only took about 35 minutes to charge at 2 amps, Which seemed a little low but that is the lowest setting on my charger. That's why i took the bike for an hour ride to help ensure it was actually charged fully. I also did the "loom fix" before the battery was replaced. After posting originally i realized that i may have placed the pcII in a spot by the battery that may have been smashing it a little with the bottom of the seat hooks! Just a hunch. also, to make a long story short, a wire on the ecu was chewed by a mouse and needed to be jumped over the harness(a few years back), this kinda makes removing the pcII hard. Looks like some surgery would have to happen to repair the plug, so i'm gonna hold off for now. So i've relocated the pcII and i'm gonna take a peak at the r/r plugs and meter the voltage etc. Sound like someone else had the same symptoms of tach dropping to zero while driving and it was the r/r plug! I appreciate all the help, Thanks, Jeff.

OK folks. Need some help on this one! 99 blackbird Recently purchased and having some issues....Ok, first thing. Bike has pcII and no map done, vance & hines slip ons. 9,400 miles. After reading through this forum pretty extensively learned about the electrical gremlins on the 99/00 birds and knowing the history of this bike(bought it from a friend) I thought i Would do all i can to get this bike ready for some use. Initially, i was intersted in programming the pcII but realized it didn't seem worth the effort since nearly everyone wrote it off as obsolete. But i took "partsguy" advice and tweeked the buttons a little to see if it would help. I can't honestly say whether it made a difference, but worth a shot. After driving the bird about 20 miles after I messed with the pcII, whammo, "FI" comes on. But what is interesting is that it really didn't come on until i "velcroed" the pcII on top of the bikes computer. After shut the bike off the first time the"fi" light came on it stayed off for about 5 minutes and came back on. I moved the pcII under the seat away from the computer and the FI light stopped coming on, interesting. Which brings me to the next scenario. The battery was dead when i picked up this bike and it started with a charger, won't seem to hold a charge for even a week! So i said screw it and i'll buy a new battery to be safe, and i'll do the "Loom connecter fix" as a precaution..... So today, installed a new battery and decided i'd go for a nice long ride to ensure it is charged up good. Also , I put the pcII settings back to "0" to help take that out of the equation. Rode the bike a good 40 miles and it ran great, no FI light to speak of and ran very nice, got on it a few times(nothin too crazy) and then as i was driving i hit a large bump in the road(just a pretty hard jolt). about 10 seconds later the tach drops to "0" Keep in mind I'm doin about 60 mph and the bike just died! But then it started back up(i didn't pull over, it restarted as i was coasting all by itself, smart bike!) and about 20 seconds later it did the same thing and came back to life. About 3 minutes later one more hiccup and then i get caught in a nasty rainstorm about 5 miles from my house.. I also velcroed the computer on the bike down previusly as a precaution. What do you guys think just happened? and by the way, THe fi light never came back on WOOHOO

Is there a way to look for something on craigslist, and search all over the country easily for it, It looks like there has to be a way, how else would you find these blackbirds all over? If somebody could tell me how you do that i would greatly appreciate it! thanks. :