Bike has no accessories and is basically dead

[nigel6527]

Hi All,

I was wondering if any one has experienced this. I have stripped down my K1100lt which is currently a cafe racer fitted with a Acewell clock and a bep 3.0. The bike ran fine last year and I also fitted a Motogadget M-lock which operated as it should. Now this winter the bike has been pulled apart and the frame and engine painted. I have stripped out all the ABS loom as it is no longer present on the bike.

So the frame has gone on to the engine fixed at the front mounting points only, I have put the loom back in, connected the clocks and all the other wires and check all my earths which are the main harness earth, Acewell clock water sender earth, motogadget earth these all go to the frame earth point and an earth from the mototronic unit which goes to the gearbox at the moment. . Now, when I activate the m-lock all I am getting on the clock is a red oil light! no horn indicators nothing, no start button.

I then pulled the loom again went and traced all the wiring to check if I has snipped a wire by mistake and all seems to be ok apart from 2 wires. Blue brown wire coming from the frame to Engine plug, this is not connected to anything and I believe it went to an ABS plug. Then I also have a white/brown wire from the main instrument plug which is the 4L warning light wire. This is also not connected to anything. Neither of these I think will cause the issue I am having.

I would point out that I have had the clocks work once then they turned off again. The engine currently has no fluids in it as I am basically trying to test the electrics.

Can anyone shed any light have I missed anything here? I have power on the positive and neutral terminals on the starter relay also. Any help would be greatly received. Thank you.

[Laitch]

Welcome, nigel! In which year was your moto manufactured? Go to the Photo Guidance section and figure out how to post photos. Describe what you calling the engine plug.

The main ground connection—which you have undoubtedly come across because you have stripped down the moto—is on a frame member under the tank. Did you clean all the paint from it and make the metal bright when you reattached the component ground wires? The engine and frame are also ground at the right rear frame bolt on the K100 so that may also be true with the K1100. That connection must be stripped of paint, also. The battery ground connection on the transmission also must be clean and tight.

That should start you off. Others will chime in.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Depending on the model year, the front engine mounts are bushed with rubber.  The connection from the frame ground to the battery is through the rear mounts and the ground screw on the side of the transmission. 

You can run a jumper wire from the frame ground under the tank directly to the ground point on the transmission.  I put a permanent ground wire between those points on my bikes.

[nigel6527]

Hi All,

I just ran an earth jumping cable from the frame bolt to the transmission bolt and I get a permanent oil light on the acewell clock not activated by the m-lock/key. I have no other power to the bike as the clock shows nothing else, no horn, indicators nothing.

I did strip down the starter and clean it just in case there was any earthing issues as I read up on this but still nothing. I am going to bench test this tonight to totally rule out the starter as I forgot to do this at the time.

But I would have thought I would at least get some power to the clocks illumination or some thing as a starting point.

[Laitch]

I did strip down the starter and clean it just in case there was any earthing issues as I read up on this but still nothing.

Does this mean that the ground point beneath the tank is bright metal and all the connections to it are tight?

[nigel6527]

Hi Laitch,

Yes, all are good. Main loom , acewell clock, motogadget m-lock are all grounded at this point. Mototronic I have grounded to the transmission ground at the moment and I have an earth coming from this point to the earth on the battery. Positive from the battery to the starter red wires.

But why no other lights? I get no signs of life if I press the starter nothing? Cheers Nigel

[Laitch]

But why no other lights? I get no signs of life if I press the starter nothing? Cheers Nigel

You should disconnect the connector to the ignition switch, clean it and reconnect it. If all ground connections are bright and tight, your Motronic ecu connection is clean and tight, your instrument cluster plug connection is clean and tight, you'll need to review your loom connections again.

[nigel6527]

Hi Laitch

Sorry my bike is a k1100 year 94 and my reference to the engine plug refers to the frame loom to engine harness. I have a random blue/brown wire which I think goes to the abs socket .

Hope this helps a little.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Are you still using the original ignition switch?  They are known to fail from dirt and corrosion and cause strange electrical problems.  Even if it doesn't fix your problem, it's not a bad idea to clean it as a preventive measure.

http://www.motobrick.com/index.php/topic,4909.0.html

[nigel6527]

Hi Mighty Gryphon,

No, the bike is fitted with a keyless - m-lock.

[rbm]

Do you have a schematic diagram showing how you have hooked up the M-lock?  Can we assume that there are no other wiring changes on the bike?

[alabrew]

You can run a jumper wire from the frame ground under the tank directly to the ground point on the transmission.  I put a permanent ground wire between those points on my bikes.

I believe this is the first I've heard of anyone doing this...

[The Mighty Gryphon]

I believe this is the first I've heard of anyone doing this...

There is something reassuring about having copper instead steel and aluminum diecasting alloy as a conductor of electrical current.

[rbm]

Yeah, but you still have to bond that nice copper to aluminum diecasting alloy using steel screws, which could cause galvanic corrosion over time.  That's why we clean the ground contacts so much.

[nigel6527]

Hi All,

Want to thank you all for your input yesterday. I managed to locate the source and it was a frame to earth issue. Frame bolts not done up tight enough and too much powder coat on the frame at these points.

A lot of head scratching went on this week but now so far all electrics are operational. Now to continue on with the build. Thanks everyone. Cheers Nigel.

[Gio]

Glad to hear you got the problem sorted ... a buddy of mine used to say that, more often than not, electrical gremlins are either due to a bad battery (seen that more than a few times here) or faulty ground / earth ...