Bird just died while driving?

[jeffro67]

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

[ironmike]

Check the simple stuff first.

New battery? Did you bench charge it before installation? If not, remove and do so... (search is your friend) and reinstall.

Locate and examine all ground points; be thorough in assuring good grounds.

Ride & test.

If problem persists, remove PCII from system.

Ride & test.

If problem persists, consider doing the "loom fix"... (search is still your friend).

Ride & test.

If problem persists, check R/R and alt output... (search etc...) if warranted, replace malfunctioning component.

Ride & test.

If problem persists, perform continuity tests on wiring harness - an intermittent short can be a bitch to find, so be patient.

I'm sure there may be other potential issues, but these are the most likely culprits in the order of frequency of occurrence (notwithstanding that any glitch/issue with the XX is statistically pretty rare, despite the increasing age of the model). Other experienced owners may add their own anecdotal suggestions and recommendations as well. Just remember to always consider the simple things first - and the last thing you messed with... Best of Luck!

[kevinskii]

Check the simple stuff first.

Make sure you tightened the terminal screws enough when you put in the new battery.

Seriously, the same thing just happened to a friend. His battery died on the freeway due to the terminals being loose.

And like Mike said, completely remove the PCII from the system and ride with the stock computer for the first couple of weeks.

[John01XX]

ditto on the PC removal

I had a similar problem while at NeXXt in Pennsylvania which is a long way from home in Florida !

Turned out to be an intermittant wire connection on the PC 2

Easy to do since it is just plug and play

[Zero Knievel]

ditto on the PC removal

I had a similar problem while at NeXXt in Pennsylvania which is a long way from home in Florida !

Turned out to be an intermittant wire connection on the PC 2

Easy to do since it is just plug and play

Of other things....

I installed a voltmeter because it was the only way to know the state of the charging system while the bike is running, but that said, there is a simple way to test your electrical system with a decent voltmeter when it's parked.

The battery should have more than 12v when nothing's going on. Start the bike and gently rev it up to 3,000 RPMs. You should have (IIRC) at least 13.5v. Rev it gently up to 5,000 RPMs. The reading SHOULD NOT exceed 15v. Go higher than 5,000 RPMs and it should not go higher than 15v. My '99 caps at 14.7-14.8 based on my installed meter.

If your R/R is bad or your stator is bad, you will have charging issues. This simple test lets you know something is out of whack.

As far as the PCII, if you are not going to put a map on it, remove it. Odds are the problem is a loose wire somewhere, but if you have a PC with a serial interface, you'll see the map is more involved than just pressing buttons. You might have settings on the PCII you have not cleared. Only someone with the software (I can e-mail it to you if you don't have it) and a computer with a serial port for the cable interface can tell you what is actually on your PCII.

And mapping isn't such a bad thing. PCII is NOT obsolete. They still work well for what they are designed to do, but if you're not going to use it, remove it.

[jeffro67]

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.