wrgoudy

FWIW I went with the Yamaha R1 option, which has held up fine for years. A little more work involved in making the connections, but it has much better cooling fins (IMHO) and was, at the time at least, very competitively priced.

Have you pulled the handle bar pods to check their wiring? Their wires can be pinched too easily to the handle bar and could cause a ground problem, which still sounds like your issue. I'd first try (maybe you already have and I missed it) disconnecting all of the turn signal connectors , switch pod connector, and if it's separate (can't remember) brake lights (and front brake switch) from both ends to see if the problem remains. If it's gone (which it should be since the switch's are no longer in play), start additional testing be reconnecting the switch pod wiring, then each lighting connector one at a time. If the problem recurs after connecting the switch's, your issue should be with the wiring between the switch and the particular light selected. Hope this helps and isn't too confusing. Bill

Makes me wonder if there is a valve timing issue from a worn timing belt or whatever the Jeeps use, but I'm probably in the wrong ballfield.

Sounds like a grounding problem somewhere, which can cause a host of strange problems. Had a similar problem with a 595 Triumph Daytona. After rereading this thread, the other thing that comes to mind is a problem with the control wiring grounding somewhere, possibly under or within the switch pods. Just some ideas FWIW.

Sounds like a ground problem somewhere.

Just did my new (several months old) garage floor with the Rust Oleum stuff too, and found out the hard way you don't want to leave Chlorox sit on it for a day. Had a garden sprayer sitting around with chlorox in it for several weeks under pressure, and the other day the hose blew off at the compression fitting overnight, emptying the container all over the floor. Found it the next morning and rinsed everything off, but left a few small puddles behind that I didn't get with the squeegie. This afternoon I noticed the puddled areas had turned yellow. Guess I'll use the leftover gallon for some touch up. One thing to check with a twelve year old floor is to ensure you remove any sealers that may have been put on the concrete during the prep stage.

Now that Jaysus mentions it, I did mine the same way he did - it's been about 6 years and I didn't remember about tearing the XX connector apart to reuse the spade's (as I didn't get the Yammy pigtail either). Good luck, Bill

When I did mine with the Yamaha Regulator I just cut the connector(s) off my old Honda regulator and soldered theim to the Yamaha pigtail. It's been fiine for 30,000 miles or so. Bill

After going thru the Battery/Stator/Voltage Regulator death spiral, I mounted a Sunpro analog gauge in the right side fairing cover that's beside the fuel tank (don't know the proper name of the panel, but it's the dark plastic one). It's a 2" lighted version from Advance Auto, and while not weather proof has been functioning fine for the last several years in all types of weather. I did add a small relay so it only sees battery voltage when the ignition is hot. You need to make a conscious effort to look at it as it's not in your normal line of sight, but one only needs check it infrequently anyway to know what's going on electrically. Bill

I put a simple analog Borg Warner Voltmeter in the fairing panel on the right side, and wired it thru a $10.00 relay from Radio Shack that picks up only when running. Not waterproof, but haven't had any problems to date even when it gets full of water occasionally. Bill

I didn't think anyone relied on the marks provided from the factory anymore for wheel alignment. I, and most riders I know, always use manual methods to iniitally align the wheels front to rear whenever the rear wheel's been off, and then simply use the "turn 1 flat of the adjuster on each side at a time" approach to adjust the chain to ensure alignment is maintained. JMHO

As others have suggested, try replacing the CCT. It's easier than changing a spark plug on these motors, costs very little, and even if you have no idea what you're doing should take no more than an hour even if you go about it slowly, especially if you enlist the phone help offered by Stan. I'd be willing to bet most cam chains have tight and loose spots, just as drive chains and most other chains do once they've been in use awhile. It's the nature of the beast IMHO.

I could be all wet, but you might want to check the shifter mechanism that rotates the shift drum to make sure it's adjusted correctly. I haven't looked in the shop manual yet, but assume the XX uses a shift pawl, spring loaded device to rotate the shift drum like most of the bikes I've had apart. I doubt that it's the problem, but I'd check into it anyway before I tore things apart. Could also just be wear on the gears dogs (assuming it has them on sixth gear), rather than the gear teeth themselves - a historic problem at least with Yamaha XS11's and second gear. You might try loading the shift lever when in a sixth gear romp to see if it tries to "push out of gear". Good Luck, Bill

As for the knocking noise at idle when hot, I believe the counter balancer adjusment may be the culprit. I've adjusted mine several times over 56K miles, but even when adjusted with the engine hot, the noise eventually returns once it's run long enough and gets truly heat soaked. I've been afraid to run the adjustments any tighter as I suspect there'll be too little lash when cold (which produces an audible whine), and I'm afraid excessive wear may result. I'll need to talk to a buddy running a full blown turbo motor that's had the counter balancers removed to see if his makes the noise that seems to be so popular. Any other ideas on possible sources would be appreciated. FYI - I have a 2004XX with about 56k that's been noisier than usual lately, although it runs just fine if you ignore the knock at idle. Changed the cam chain tensioner already, but did notice when I tore the clutch out last winter for inspection that the "dual offset" (don't remember the correct nomenclature) drive gear to the clutch basket seemed "sticky". Wasn't about to dig into that issue, but wonder if it's a contributing factor. Guess I'll reset the CCT and adjust the balancers once more to see if that helps.

I sure hope my XX doesn't have steel pistons too.

I've had the same "bearing knock sound" that's not a bearing, CCT, or clutch basket issue on my 2000 for probably the last 30,000 miles or so (now at 55K). Have adjusted the balance shafts a few times, as it sort of sounds like "they" do if there is too much "free play" prior to adjusting them. The noise only seems to appear once I've ridden many miles and get the engine truly heat soaked. I may try adjusting the balance shafts one more time to see if that helps, but I'll probably do what I've been doing so far and just wear my ear plugs and ignore the noise when I hear it. Bike runs great otherwise.

Mine was the same way when I changed both sprockets with the chain at 48K on my 2000 XX. The new sprocket was a little tighter when installed. It appeared that the old sprocket splines had worn over time a little, which is expected as it is designed to float somewhat as CBR Rob mentioned. Interestingly the teeth on the "old" sprockets at 48K were nearly still a match for the new ones. Bill

FWIW - The ECM was bad. My fuel pump didn't work when I put the '99 ECM on my 2000 either. Bill

Thanks for the reply. That was my first suggestion (the "kill" switch that is). Bill

One of my friends that recently aquired a 1999 XX had a failure the other day while returning from a trip, luckily only about a mile from home. He tell's me the fuel pump won't run and with a friend and my shop manual, thinks the probl;em is with the ECM. The fule pump does run when hot wired. He wanted to trade me temporarily for the ECM from my 2000, and is on the way here with his '99 ECM to cpmpare. I they appear to have the same connectors, I'll simply try hie ECM on my bike to see if it works, since I believe there is less chance of smoking mine that way. Was wondering if anyone knows wether the ECM's are the same between those two years. I've printed the issue with the wire loom ground issue, as I suspect that may be the problem. Interstingly I had exactly the same problem happen to me with a Triupmh T-595 while out one day, and the cure was the same - i.e. tear the ground loom apart and resolder everything together. Thanks in advance. Bill

Just had mine apart at 57K and it looked so good it just went back together for what it's worth.

The only throttle synch available according to Honda is to synch the starter valves, since the trhottle bodies are done at the factory in pairs. I've checked them several times over the years and only adjusted them once. I guess you could loosen the true sysnch adjustments and try, but I believe the end result could get ugly. On a side note, my '04 (56K miles) suddenly wouldn't go to high idle on start-up late last year after a 4000 mile run when I was getting ready to put it up for winter maintenance. Did a valve adjustment (no shims yet), tore the clutch out to check the rattle (clutch plates, etc. fine and reinstalled), and a few other minor things (cleaned and checked all main wiring connectors). When I fired it up this spring still no high idle. Found the starter valves weren't opening, which according to the shop manual meant tear down the wax idle unit, etc. Put a small screw driver in there and "broke free" the starter valves (they were sticking) and have had no problems since.

My suggestion would be to check the balancer shaft and backlash adjustments if you have any serious miles on the bike. Mine are due for another checkup, since once I ride for awhile in 90 degree plus weather, I start to hear what sort of sounds like an intermittent, irregular rod knock at idle. Experience has shown that when I adjust the balancers slightly I can get rid of the knocking noise. As the book says, do the adjustments and then get the engine to operating temperature, and if noise reappears, readjust until it "just" disappears. I have found that at least for my bike, I must ride for several miles to truly get the engine to operating temperature and then adjust everything. If I simply let the engine idle until it appears to be at operting temperature and then do the adjustments, the knock may still show up once the engine is truly warm. I'd guess it has to do with getting a true heat soak into the engine internals, but when I get it truly warm this way and then do the adjustments, the knock stays gone for several thousands of miles. I've also replaced the CCT with the updated one (last year) which did quiet down some of the other oddball noises I'd been experiencing. Hope this helps, Bill

Don't know the part numbers, but you should be able to get a full set of tapered bearings (upper and lowers) from "All Balls" set for around $30.00.

Checked them at 18000, 28000, 36000, and recently at 47000. A few moved less than .001" between 18k and 28k - no changes since for what it's worth.