It’s not starting…

[bigDogbikerchick]

So when I bought the bike, it needed new compression releases so I installed them and it worked fine then one day installed so we gave it a jump and it was OK then probably about a week later did that again but we couldn’t jump it. It seems as if we just kept jumping it, and nothing was happening. It would not start we couldn’t get it to jumpstart or anything we had to tow it down it’s been sitting since before Christmas and I have replace the battery. The guy before he claims that he put a new brains in it I’m assuming that’s Ehc you rewired a whole bunch of stuff because that was a problem with these bikes so when I checked the wiring on the bottom half of the bike, there were some wiring issues. Wires weren’t soldered. They were connected shrink tube, so I had to fix it then I replaced the spark plugs and spark wires. I just replaced the coil because I wasn’t getting 12 V to one of the cylinders replace it I’m still not getting spark spark plugs. My next step is to replace the ignition module but I feel like I’m going down a rabbit hole. I’ve tried every troubleshooting tree out there can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong or where the problem is if there’s anybody they can help me out. That would be super helpful. I’m really wanting to get on this bike. It’s been sitting way too long with their layers of dust on it now. Thank you so much for your help .

 

[Mickmorris]

Well you can test your ignition on the bike. What does it currently have? Also what year & model BigDog do you own. I might have missed that info. Also never jumpstart one of these bikes with the car/truck running.
Mick

 

[Mikeinjersey]

I agree with Mick. You will need to give more specifics about your bike. It seems like your original issue was possibly the VR not charging the battery. These bikes require a healthy battery to run properly. Since you said originally you had lost spark on one cylinder I can only assume you have a single fire ignition. When you press the run button the red light on the ignition module should light. When the bike is cranking you should see a yellow and blue light blinking indicating the ign module is sending the signal to the coil. Just a guess, because you indicated you went from not having spark to one cylinder to not having spark at both after you replaced the coil, you may have wired the coil incorrectly.
Also, it's up for opinion but, soldering crimp connectors on a motorcycle is not necessarily recommended. To each his own.

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

So when I bought the bike, it needed new compression releases so I installed them and it worked fine then one day installed so we gave it a jump and it was OK then probably about a week later did that again but we couldn’t jump it. It seems as if we just kept jumping it, and nothing was happening. It would not start we couldn’t get it to jumpstart or anything we had to tow it down it’s been sitting since before Christmas and I have replace the battery. The guy before he claims that he put a new brains in it I’m assuming that’s Ehc you rewired a whole bunch of stuff because that was a problem with these bikes so when I checked the wiring on the bottom half of the bike, there were some wiring issues. Wires weren’t soldered. They were connected shrink tube, so I had to fix it then I replaced the spark plugs and spark wires. I just replaced the coil because I wasn’t getting 12 V to one of the cylinders replace it I’m still not getting spark spark plugs. My next step is to replace the ignition module but I feel like I’m going down a rabbit hole. I’ve tried every troubleshooting tree out there can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong or where the problem is if there’s anybody they can help me out. That would be super helpful. I’m really wanting to get on this bike. It’s been sitting way too long with their layers of dust on it now. Thank you so much for your help .

Since per your profile you seem to have a 2006 Mastiff with a replaced EHC, we need to figure out which EHC you have. Based on your describtion of how the wires are, it sounds like you might have a wires plus.
The best thing you can do for us to help you at this point is to take some pictures of the ehc and the wires.

Does the bike turn over when you press start?
Do the compress releases work (you should hear them or you can feel them move).
When you say you were not getting 12v to one cyclinder, that concerns me that you might not understand how the bike is wired.
The coil has 3 connectors to the ignition system, F, 12V, R -- The coil fires when either the F or R is GROUNDED. The 12V is constant on the common wire. Now you will see the voltage on the F, R wires with the bike not running as the power will flow thru the coil to the F or R. You may well of had an open coil, I just wanted to be certain going forward that you get what happens at the coil.

What battery did you install? You will get a strong leaning on this site by many users to only use a Deka. How many cca was it rated at? Many "no-name" batteries claim insanely high CCA with nothing to back it up, ie it was never properly tested for CCA on estimated by algorythm and test tool that I have seen wrong in the past.

Depending on where you are in CA, you could also reach out to WildSteedWorx, the owner Curtis is on this site and has help a large number of usover the years. 619-823-8557

 

[bigDogbikerchick]

Since per your profile you seem to have a 2006 Mastiff with a replaced EHC, we need to figure out which EHC you have. Based on your describtion of how the wires are, it sounds like you might have a wires plus.
The best thing you can do for us to help you at this point is to take some pictures of the ehc and the wires.

Does the bike turn over when you press start?
Do the compress releases work (you should hear them or you can feel them move).
When you say you were not getting 12v to one cyclinder, that concerns me that you might not understand how the bike is wired.
The coil has 3 connectors to the ignition system, F, 12V, R -- The coil fires when either the F or R is GROUNDED. The 12V is constant on the common wire. Now you will see the voltage on the F, R wires with the bike not running as the power will flow thru the coil to the F or R. You may well of had an open coil, I just wanted to be certain going forward that you get what happens at the coil.

What battery did you install? You will get a strong leaning on this site by many users to only use a Deka. How many cca was it rated at? Many "no-name" batteries claim insanely high CCA with nothing to back it up, ie it was never properly tested for CCA on estimated by algorythm and test tool that I have seen wrong in the past.

Depending on where you are in CA, you could also reach out to WildSteedWorx, the owner Curtis is on this site and has help a large number of usover the years. 619-823-8557

Ok will pics included. I’m sorry I was using talk to text and meant to say I only had 12v going to 2 out of the three connectors I can’t I think it was the R that was getting like 2.5v

yes bike turns over and yes compression releases work.
Battery is ‘no name’ brand and I don’t have the box it came in so don’t know cuz it doesn’t say on battery the cca. When u purchased it they looked up the bike and said this was the one I needed but now after what u said it probably is what u said not correct.

 

[bigDogbikerchick]

Here are the rest of pics

 

[bigDogbikerchick]

Well you can test your ignition on the bike. What does it currently have? Also what year & model BigDog do you own. I might have missed that info. Also never jumpstart one of these bikes with the car/truck running.
Mick

How do I test the ignition ? How come you don’t jump it with car/truck running ? I have a 2006 mastiff less than 5k miles on the motor

 

[bigDogbikerchick]

Okay if I have to get a new ignition module and new battery any recommendations where to get them?

 

[HMAN]

How do I test the ignition ? How come you don’t jump it with car/truck running ? I have a 2006 mastiff less than 5k miles on the motor

When you jump these bikes with the car motor running, you run the risk of frying the ECH. Great bikes but like everything, they can be quirky.

 

[Mickmorris]

How do I test the ignition ? How come you don’t jump it with car/truck running ? I have a 2006 mastiff less than 5k miles on the motor

1st off don’t jump the gun on buying stuff. That looks like a BDM rip kit in there. Really hard to tell. I don’t know much about the ‘05 & up bikes. But there’s a bunch of guys on here that do. So be patient and give them as much information as possible and as a collective we will get your BigDog barking again.

 

[Mickmorris]

When you jump these bikes with the car motor running, you run the risk of frying the ECH. Great bikes but like everything, they can be quirky.

Exactly

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

That is one of the BDM ehc's and not a WiresPlus -- this is good news.
Let's review the process of what you are doing
Turn key on
Press run/off switch to run
Press start

When you do this sequence, what happens?
Do you hear a click at all?
Does the bike try to start?
Look at the lights on ignition module and EHC and tell us what is lit/pulsing

One of the easiest things that could be wrong is bad PCB in the handlebar controls,

They are relatively easy to test,

But give us the results of the above first.

 

[bigDogbikerchick]

I know sounds like a silly question but still learning terms what does PCB mean? In answer to your questions the bike tries to start but no lights come on ignition module or ehc.

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

I know sounds like a silly question but still learning terms what does PCB mean? In answer to your questions the bike tries to start but no lights come on ignition module or ehc.

PCB - Printed Circuit Board
So that starter turns over the engine successfully but no spark.
You need to check the run/kill switch in the handlebars -- this enables the EHC and if the PCB/switch is bad, the bike will not start.

Remove theright side handlebar controls and expose the wiring.
You can short from ground to run with a little jumper and then try to start the bike.
This will need to be your next step in troubleshooting this.
Have you downloaded the manuals for the BDM -- you should links are all over posts on here.

In the right side control the wires are orange, brown, red, blue, green and black
The red wire is for the Run/kill switch -- jump that breifly to the back wire then press start

Let us know what happens.

 

[bigDogbikerchick]

Thank u will keep u posted once I try that

 

[Mikeinjersey]

Thank u will keep u posted once I try that

This video will help you test the PCB.

 

[bigDogbikerchick]

Thank you for all the help we started flawlessly but now I have a problem with the throttle an idle cables, they keep coming out of th track by the carburetor. so I replaced the ferrels because they were extremely worn and kept popping out, and the circuit board that was supposed ti be the circuit board for the right side handlebars sbit correct, so I think I need to order new board, in the meantime does anyone know where I can get an annunciator for the speedometer? I have all the parts for the speedometer but not the annunciator and can't find where.i can purchase. any thoughts on how I get the idle and throttle cables correct? thank you again.

 

[Rottweiler]

Did you adjust the cables at the handlebars? Mine was the same thing. Then I bent the cable bracket at the carb up away from the carb. That got rid of some of the slack. Not saying it was the correct thing to do, but it helped.