MartyNZ

I'd pull the plugs from the ECU to the coils at the coils out. Then you won't have so much risk.

Motortouring, you are correct that some types of lithium batteries can be hazardous. We have all heard of Samsung and Apple phones catching fire. We need to consider the many types of lithium chemistry batteries, some safe, some (lithium polymer) so unstable you only get them in radio control toys. The brand of battery I put in my bike uses LiFePO4 cells which have much lower performance than phone batteries, but significantly higher stability and safety. This is shown in that excellent website you gave us links to. http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/types_of_lithium_ion That's why I feel safe enough to sit on that battery on the road.

You may be right, but so far there are no signs of a problem on my bike. The Shorai NZ dealer has a written guarantee on the battery so long as I use the recommended battery for the bike. Their website makes this claim: "Shorai LFX™ batteries have the same charge requirements as AGM lead-acid batteries and all modern vehicle charging systems work with Shorai LFX™ batteries." US website- http://shoraipower.com/faq http://shoraipower.com/about-us NZ website- http://www.shorai.co.nz/blog/category/battery-technical-info/ Your question made me go check voltages, so I stunk up the garage running the bike inside because I was too lazy to push it outside in the heat. I measured at the battery terminals. After start the volts were slowly climbing, but I took the numbers from the first 30 seconds. 13.37 v Resting 13.20 v Ignition & headlight on 11.58 v Cranking 14.08 v 1000 rpm 14.22 v 2000 rpm 14.23 v 3000 rpm 14.25 v 4000 rpm I'm happy with these figures, so I suspect that any reported regulator problems on other bikes probably relate to poor grounding, fuse or wiring, not the Shorai battery.

I finally fitted a lithium iron phosphate Shorai LFX21L6-BS12 battery to my bike. I like it. It is very slightly smaller than the previous battery, so is a better fit with clearance off the frame and seat. The bike cranked noticeably faster with it too. It came in a box which was packed with lots of shapes and thicknesses of self adhesive foam so it can be made to fit snugly into the battery cradle. I did buy Shorai's dedicated charger for it, as ideally it benefits from a balance charge every year or so. Shorai does say that a normal charger is fine, but desulfitation mode will damage it. If you can tolerate the eye-watering price, then you could consider it.

Could the injectors be leaking? You can check this by releasing the velocity stacks off the throttle bodies, and sliding them back into the airbox. Then you can use a mirror to look into the throttle bodies. With the throttle wide open, turn on the key and look for dribbling from the nose of the injector during the few seconds while the pump runs.

The symptoms you describe all suggest that the clutch is dragging, and a small amount of wear may fix it. Can you slip the clutch under power, with the front wheel nudged into the corner of the garage? Just bedding the friction material may be enough to help. Don't do that for more than a few seconds at a time to avoid overheating, because warped plates will make things worse. If that doesn't work, then adding a washer sounds like a fine idea. An off the wall thought, can you temporarily fit the clutch hose to the front brake master cylinder? The greater volume of fluid from that larger cylinder may push the slave an extra 0.6mm, so you can test the extra washer theory. Although bleeding the brake and clutch again may be more hassle than just adding a washer.

Kiwi Roy is right. The same warning about not exceeding 6 volts is in the V11 workshop manual. However, when I tried 6 v, the injector didn't open. 12 volts worked, but I only applied power for 1 second bursts. Knowing that injectors are normally powered for milliseconds every second revolution, it is clear that they are not rated for continuous power. I haven't burned out any injector yet, using 12 volts for 1-2 seconds, but I don't know how close I am to damaging it.

I just measured the relay temps on my VIN 03 Sport Naked, and found this: First column Omron G8HN-1C2T-R-DC12 all 5 positions Second column OMRON G8HN-1C2T-R-DC12 in position 1-4 & G8HE-1C7T-R-DC12 in position 5. position 1》 37°C---38°C position 2》 51°C --51°C position 3》 52°C --54°C position 4》 58°C --54°C position 5》 63°C --50°C The temp for the Omron G8HE-1C7T-R-DC12 relay seems to be better, just as Docc's research tells us in post 20 above, and here: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19755&page=5&do=findComment&comment=216605

Have you taken another look at the plugs now? Black smoke out the exhaust means soot at the plugs. The atomized fuel injected at the wrong time may settle in the intake area, so droplets get into the cylinder instead of mist. A brush over the plug centre electrodes and a fast run could help clear the soot.

It is possible to cross connect the injector plugs and the plugs to the ignition coils. It's hard to imagine the engine running with the ignition cable crossed, but I expect that it is possible for the engine to run (badly) with the plugs on the injectors crossed. I remember seeing "SX" printed on the sleeve of the LH injector cable in small white lettering on my bike, but nothing on the RH cable. Left and right = sinistra e destra.

As I see it, the baseline TPS setting is done with the RH throttle valve fully closed - not on the grubscrew stop, but actually blocking the throttle body. This is below the idle position. You will have to release the link between the TBs, then check that the RH butterfly is not touching either the throttle stop or the idle-up stop to do this. The TPS voltage should then be below 157mv and anywhere in the range of 150-156 is good. The workshop manual actually says 150mv. After setting the TPS, you hook up the throttle linkage, which opens the throttle to an idle position. The TPS voltage will rise as the throttle is opened from full closed to a normal idle position. Then comes TB synchronizing... My TPS voltage is about 155mv fully closed, and 535mv when ready to ride. Though I notice the idle is a bit too low at the moment, so I expect that I would see 550mv (ish) after I wind in the LH throttle stop screw a tiny bit. If you set 550mv on the TPS when the RH throttle valve is fully closed, then it will run really badly, with lots of spitting, before it pops the throttle bodies off the rubber sleeves. Not nice! (Don't ask how I know this)

You can prove that the pump is priming properly by releasing the fuel hose to the pressure regulator, and holding the hose over a can while you switch on the ignition. You should see a small amount come out each time you turn on the ignition. I recall about 50cc on my bike. OSH Warning: this procedure could set fire to your bike if you do anything really dumb..

That flywheel looks like a work of art alright, but I worry that you may be disappointed if you fit it. Aluminum is not durable as a flywheel material. It would be great for racing, where frequent inspections and rebuilds occur, but it cannot last as long as a steel part. There are some reasons why aluminum is not used in most flywheel designs. Aluminium is weaker than steel and softer than cast iron. There are some very strong aluminum alloys, but these are susceptible to corrosion and stress corrosion cracking, so need surface protection and frequent inspection. Alum does not have a fatigue limit like steel, so it will eventually crack from the constant load reversals from the engine compression/power strokes from those two cylinders. The surface of alum can be made hard enough for wear resistance in the contact faces of the clutch rotor teeth by hard anodising, but still wear in those teeth will exceed that of the factory flywheel. The inertia is important too. An alum flywheel has less rotational inertia, unless the manufacturer does something clever with a thicker rim. If there is less inertia, then the torsional vibrations through the drive train will be greater (worse for your gear backlash). I don't want to be a downer, but you should be aware of these things before spending money on an aftermarket product. The factory flywheel & clutch is a well optimised design, if you ride on the street, and value durability, tractability, and cost.

I have an FullRiver HC14B battery in my bike that just won't die. It has May 2012 written on it, so after 5 years, I expected it to fail soon. It looks like I might be too pessimistic, if a PC545 lasts 10-12 years. I bought a Shorai LFX21L6-BS12 to replace it, but before I fitted it I found that the bike had wiring and grounding faults. Once I tidied the burned alternator connectors, bad regulator ground, and fitted a better 30 amp fuse holder, the old battery kept doing it's job. I really want to try out that Shorai battery, as it claims to be "high zoot", prismatic cell, lithium iron phosphate, and is MUCH lighter than a lead acid battery, but that FullRiver still still cranks well and thrives on neglect. And I'm just too tight to throw away a battery that works well. If someone has a good home for the HC14B, then I can report back on the Shorai LiFePO4. [ Edit: O2V11 swooped in and claimed the FullRiver battery. By swooped, I mean he PM'd me. Now he just needs to arrange collection. I might go for a ride while he works that out.]

I removed and cleaned my injectors when I did some work on my fuel system at 80,000km. When I fitted a new fuel filter and fuel hoses, I noticed some brown fuzz matted in the fuel pump intake screen. I found lots more on the tank shutoff inlet screen, and a little of the same stuff in the screen of the pressure regulator. Where did it come from? My guess was an old fuel filter deteriorating. I decided that there must be some of this fuzz in the injector inlets too, so I took them out and backflushed them, and washed out the fuel tank with hot water & detergent. Afterwards the bike ran just the same as it did before : awesome! So do you need to remove your injectors and back-flush? Probably not, but if you are like me, you want to. Scud posted a picture of the tools he and I used to flush throttle body cleaner through our injectors. Let one of us know if you want a loan. http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18805&page=18&do=findComment&comment=215324

I've seen oil inside the bellhousing caused by tiny cracks and splits in the crankcase ventilation hose which runs from the top of the bellhousing to the frame. A new hose fixed that leak. I've had oil on my rear drive from a bad job I did replacing the valve cover gasket. Oil was also on the pork chop and my foot. I've not see a bevel box leak unless it is removed and laid on it's side. I read somewhere on this forum of a crack in the gearbox housing causing an oil leak near the gearbox mount. Have you tried sniffing the leaking oil at the three locations? Engine oil smells different from gbox & rear drive oil.

I've had a couple of broken springs examined.The experts tell me that in both cases the springs broke at a place where they were damaged before installation, probably at manufacture. A tiny scratch or a corrosion pit in a stressed area causes a fatigue crack, which eventually breaks. One spring had a scratch which I expect was made by the wire bending jig at manufacture, the other had a row of pits along its length, as though the spring wire lay on a wet area before it was bent. If you have a rusty spring, then I expect that it will still work for an emergency repair, but have a shorter life when installed before it breaks than a shiny new one, depending on how deep the rust goes. It is still good as a talisman though. I'm thinking of finding some better spring wire, and making a jig to make a batch of longer life springs. It will probably not happen till this coming winter (July in southern hemisphere) . Anybody want one to try?

I would have called the colour of that filter "Man Salmon". It doesn't get more masculine than that. It is just sitting there saying to the engine "Suck on this!"

Two thoughts on that leaky seal. Is the gearbox vent blocked, forcing oil out the seal as it heats up? Or was the gearbox overfull? I took out the gearbox sight glass and blasted it clean with brake cleaner so I could see the level clearly. After seeing the photo of Scudd's Champagne gearbox after he took off the selector plate, I don't think I will rely on draining and adding a quantity of oil. http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19680&page=5&do=findComment&comment=216567

I'd like to read that, but the link gives me a "page not found" error. Sorry, post edited with a link that works. https://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.w8ji.com/dielectric_grease_vs_conductive_grease.htm&ved=0ahUKEwjWxZrynPfRAhXGo5QKHUD7Ac0QFggYMAA&usg=AFQjCNHwibqeA9xoggY2S8AvFyuRQxLNQQ There is a lot to wade through in this post, and you will probably want to skip past the heat sink tests, but he offers a thorough analysis of his subject.

The service temperature for DC4 is -40 to 200 °C. I assume that there is little decomposition of the grease till greater than that temp. PVC wiring insulation starts to melt and burn above 80 °C, so I believe that we don't have this problem on motorcycles. Conventional wisdom says dismount if your bike catches fire. By then relays will not be your biggest concern. However, there was a problem of some types of silicon sleeving gassing off and ruining open relays in the 1970s. Perhaps this is where Ford's research was focused. I think things are better now, more stable silicone, PVC automotive wiring insulation , and some types of relays are sealed.

US$5.18 + shipping direct from Lubriplate https://www.lubriplate.com/Online-Store/1-75-oz-tubes/DS-ES-1-75-oz-tube.html

Sorry mate, but it is time to gently euthanize that story. I have the greatest respect for your expertise and achievements, but you have been misled. Wayne Orwig needs to explain why he has the "facts", and aircraft, auto, and boat manufacturers have been fooled for the last 70 years. Even those little squeeze together wire connectors for lawn irrigation valves use silicon dielectric grease to keep moisture out, and still allow a good electrical connection. . The best examination of the benefits of silicon dielectric grease is here: (link edited) https://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.w8ji.com/dielectric_grease_vs_conductive_grease.htm&ved=0ahUKEwjWxZrynPfRAhXGo5QKHUD7Ac0QFggYMAA&usg=AFQjCNHwibqeA9xoggY2S8AvFyuRQxLNQQ There is a lot to wade through, but this guy explains the relative merits of insulating grease, "conductive" grease, and vaseline in a better way than I could. Sure he has an electronics perspective, but connector corrosion is the same for them. My bike has Dow Corning DC-4 silicon dielectric grease in every electrical connection except switches since early 2015, and does not have any electrical faults. I agree that DC4 would be bad for inside switches & relays where an electric arc can happen. For the switches, I used Lubriplate DS-ES. It is a thin grease designed for electrical switches just like our ignition switches. Relays I try to keep dry from both water and grease, except for DC4 on the terminals. I see that some relays have little vents near the bottom that I try to keep clear. Sorry to be a grump, but it pains me to see people who live in wet/humid climates continue to have electrical problems due to corrosion in connectors, when the use of the right product would prevent these problems permanently.

On the topic of ignition switch faults, the soldered joints to the wiring can break, but still touch, making an intermittent connection. Vibrations could make or break the connection. See Walterg's experience with this here: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18953 See also Chuck's experience here: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18606&hl=%2Bbroken+%2Bignition+%2Bwire The comments on wiring loom strain relief are valuable advice.