Bought a 1984 FJ 600, Need Advice/Help

[fintip]

Just saw this, if it helps:

http://panamacity.craigslist.org/mcy/3774941399.html

[bigbore2]

Wow- 84-600. That is rare.    Plug wires are easy and cheap to replace. If they are like the 84-1100 boots and coils, new wires just screw into the plug caps and coils. Removing old wires , just unscrew wire from caps. You may need to grab wire with pliers close to caps to unscrew if you cannot do it by hand. The outside of the insulation can get stuck and heat fused to cap and make it hard to remove by hand. There is a center pin/looks like a sheet metal screw pointed at you/ that turns into the middle of the spark plug wire as you screw wire in. If I remember correctly they are 8mm. [ Somebody confirm that for me ] Napa or any auto store, you can buy stock wire from them fairly cheap.                            An easy way to clean carbs is to get a can of Berryman carburetor/parts cleaner and just soak dissambled parts for 6-8 hrs. They will get very clean.  This comes in a 1 gallon paint can with a plastic basket inside. About $20.  I am suprised how often I have used it since I cleaned my carbs.

[tiedieguy2k7]

So I have been away from the Forum's for a bit but have been doing a ton of research as to why my bike isn't getting any spark. I have replaced the two ignition coils with used ones from eBay (so they are not guaranteed to be working), but people say it is very rare to have two coils die together. I have trickle charged the bike overnight and checked the voltage with a multimeter and it read over 13 volts. I have also replaced some extremely messed up wires that were completely melted and corroded (bare copper that turned oxidized). To do this I spliced in wires and clips from a parts bike by soldering and heat shrink wrapping them. I have also replaced some wires in the fuse box that had broken fuse clips (the clips seemed impossible to change without making the situation worse). I have checked the pickup coil using the Ohm specifications in the Haynes manual and it is within spec. Checked the clutch switch by verifying there is slight resistance when pulled and in infinite resistance when released. I tried to check the side stand switch but i believe i may not have checked it properly ( could not track down its connector, but checked the resistance at a relay the wires eventually go to). I also did not check the neutral safety switch because i did not want to dig into that location unless I had to; however, the neutral light comes on in neutral and turns off when in gear (and the clutch switch should over rule the neutral switch, right?). So now I am tempted to check the "main relay" on the bike (which is not in a casing and is wrapped with electrical tape (redneck engineering from a previous owner), or have a dealership check the TCI Ignitor that runs the show ( i hear they are basically impossible to troubleshoot and generally determined faulty after verifying/fixing every other part of the ignition circuit). The bike ran when i bought it, did not want to start the next two times i was able to get it running, and then has not had an ounce of life since then. Long story Long, i just want to learn to ride a motorcycle on this bike i just bought!

[jscgdunn]

Hi,
Sounds like the ignitor to me.  The simplest way to check it is to find another bike with a good ignitor....but of course not always easy to find.

Try cleaning up all the contacts on the plugs for the ignitors.

My son's had a couple of XS 400s and we had two ignitors fail. 

There are a few up on ebay; I am not sure if there are aftermarket ones or not.

Good luck and keep trying.

[tiedieguy2k7]

So as of last night I am quite the Happy Camper! I was starting to come to the conclusion of it being the Ignitor as well because I could not find a weak link anywhere else. However, I noticed that the side stand switch was putting out too much resistance so I knew it was a bad switch. I bypassed it with a small piece of wire so that it was out of the circuit and the switch would read no resistance. Earlier I had removed the side stand relay (which i think also grounds some lights), and with both disconnected.... I GOT A SPARK! i hooked everything back up (fuel tank, lines, relay, and throttle controls; not the switch) and..... No Spark! it turned out that it was both the side stand safety switch and the switch's relay! Removed the relay and gave a small spray of starter fluid and she finally started right up!

It just baffled me the most that when I bought the bike she Ran and Idled right in front of me (albeit a little rough), then when I got her home it fought me to start, then i discovered no spark. I guess I was a victim of extremely bad timing when that relay failed. Just wanted to update everyone on this issue and thank everyone for all their help once again. Hopefully someday someone else has this same stupid issue... and finds this post on Day One!

[jscgdunn]

Great job....persistance pays off!

[fintip]

Bravo. Sounds like a nightmare! Glad you found it.

I have an intermittent phantom starter issue on mine, but it's not a spark-killer, so I've just been living with it and push starting it when it decides not to work. Electrical issues can be the worst.

[VaughanCustoms]

Wow a lot going on with this bike but I was originally looking for a FJ600 when I started my search but couldn't find one so I ended up with a FJ1100 and I hope it doesn't end up have to much power lol. Glad you got her going and good luck with it.