Ok, new problem with my '00 V11S.
Bike has been occasionally dying at idle since I've had it (six months). I've assumed the idle has just been set too low, occasionally it'll miss, usually on the left cylinder, and about half of those times it won't pick back up in time. No big deal, restarts immediately, I just haven't gotten around to adjusting the idle.
Riding around last weekend, bike dies at idle at a light. It didn't feel the same, instead of just a single miss that the bike didn't recover from, it just died immediately. Go to restart, strong crank, but the bike doesn't start within three seconds. Try several times, finally it starts and seems to run fine again. Hmm.
I get home and park the bike, next day when I go to ride it, strong crank but won't start normally. After several five-second attempts battery starts to weaken, I put it on the charger and leave it. Next day it is fully charged, I try to start again, it still takes much longer than usual, but finally starts and idles ok for a couple of minutes, then dies and again won't restart (still cranking strongly). Put it back on the charger and get on with my life.
Fast forward to this weekend, when I have a chance to do a little troubleshooting. Here's what I've done so far, and the results:
- Try to start bike, strong crank but no fire (usually starts in two seconds when cold).
- Pull all fuses and relays and replace (this bike does have updated relays). No change.
- Open gas cap in case I have a fuel-vacuum issue. No change.
- Pull plugs. They look ok if a bit rich. Fuel smell but not wet. Holding one on the cylinder head, crank the bike, no spark. No change other than that the bike cranks a lot faster with no plugs in it.
- Bypass Power Commander unit. No change.
- Headlights, indicators, all the other electrics appear normal throughout all this once I got the battery recharged from the initial extended cranking sessions.
So... it seems like ignition? Except that the "hard start but runs fine after" symptom sounds more like fuel? All this hard/no starting is definitely new, and while the bike has always died at idle when cold occasionally, it has never died at speed or any other way that suggested an ignition problem.
I'm a terrible diagnostician - I can bolt and unbolt stuff ok, but that's about it. Am I describing a known issue like a flaky coil that I can replace with high confidence, or can someone suggest a good series of diagnostic steps, or do I need to bite the bullet and arrange a tow to the shop?
Thanks for any suggestions!
KeS
