Flyinfool

A lot more than once............... Happens for cages too..............

First we have to be on the same page with terminology. The pick up coil is located down by the Stator and it is what tells the TCI the location of the crankshaft and the RPM of the engine. The TCI uses the information from the pick up coil to decide when each plug needs to fire. Since the coils are all wired hot the TCI controls this by switching the ground on and off. At the moment that the ground is taken away by the TCI is the moment that the spark plug fires. Each ignition coil has 2 windings of wire, the primary and secondary. The primary is the one that the TCI is controlling the power to. When the power is flowing through the primary it is an electromagnet and builds up a strong magnetic field. As soon as the power is turned off BY the TCI that magnetic field collapses, it is the magnetic field that is collapsing around the secondary winding that actually creates the spark voltage for the plug. With all of that said, since the coils are wired hot to both the primary and secondary windings you will me able to measure a voltage present at the spark plug with the ignition on and the engine not running. As to what Yamaha does with the old test equipment from the factory floor, Most places will put it into storage for a while until it gets in the way and then destroy it to protect any proprietary design info. In the past I have tried to buy tooling and info for a discontinued items and there was no way they were going to sell it.

As far as your ignition circuit is concerned having a bulb filament is like having a direct short across the coil. No electronics appreciates that. The reason that the bulb does not die instantly is because the spark circuit is not capable of producing enough amps to make the bulb act like a fuse. That is why they make spark testers so that the power is still jumping an air gap for proper resistance. As for what you are seeing with your test. I wonder if it is indicating bad coils. You have +12V to both the primary and secondary sides of the coil at all times the ignition is turned on. The TCI switches the ground on and off to the primary side control the spark. So with the key on you should see voltage at the high tension leads at the spark plug. there is a small resistor in the spark plug cap, it is very common for this to corrode and cause a poor connection. You can take the plug cap apart and clean the parts. DO NOT remove any material from the resistor element or you will kill it.

Looking forward to it.

I melted yesterday and then passed out on the couch. I hope to be there tonight.

I had that happen a few times also. Just making sure to shift very firmly each time and it has not happened now in years. When I shift I use a quick and very firm foot motion. Usually when it is a shift segment issue it will go up to a gear and not go any farther, depending on which pin fell out. Since you can continue thru to 5th says it is likely something else.

"Love it when a plan comes together"

First it is entirely possible to have a new bad part. IN the testing did you fully charge the battery and have it load tested? If not start there. BY Rec I am Assuming that you mean the Regulator/Rectifier (RR)? Since the voltage starts a bit low at idle and drops as RPM goes up. it could be something drawing a lot of excess current, especially since he said he keeps blowing RRs. the only RPM dependent thing that draws power is the ignition system. The faster the RPM the more current it pulls. Do you have a clamp on DC amp meter to easily check current draws on things while it is running? Check all of the fuses to be sure that the correct fuse in in every slot and that someone did not put in a bigger fuse to stop a fuse blowing issue. Don't forget to check any aftermarket lights horns or other stuff to be sure it is properly fused and a realistic fuse rating for the job.

That is where the beach umbrella and/or the EZ-UP come in.

This might be a fun toy, I mean tool to add to your collection. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/172200298063?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true It even has a hook attachment to try to grab things, and a mirror to let you look at the walls of a hole. Hmmmmm....... I think I just talked myself into getting one of these to mess with...........

Same problem here. You can only take off so much clothing and then you get arrested. May have to go find an all nude beach to cool off at................ I have never handled heat well, but since my heart issues and the meds that I am on I really am intolerant of heat. anything above 85 is hot to even ride the bike the 21 miles to/from work.

The only thing it might interfere with is the fuel sender. if you leave it in for your trip keep a close eye on the trip odometer in case the tube got under the float and is holding it up. The tube is designed to be in constant contact with gasoline it will not deteriorate while in the tank. I would be surprised if the tube floats on gas. If you can get it to move around in the tank while shaking it and you decide to leave it in there for the trip, at least shake it over to the side of the tank that has the fuel sender so that it is away from the sender and least likely to jam it up. It should stay down in that bottom corner where it can not get into any trouble. It may also knock a mile of of your max fuel range since the tank will now hold a fraction of an ounce less fuel.

If Common Sense was actually common, more people would have it.

Yea I priced that "3 Hour Cruise" It was $500 for a round trip with The Truck, Erika, and myself. The bike would have been more. Let me know when you are coming over. I live closer to the ferry landing than Puc does. I know lots of places for the real good Ice Cream and burgers and even hot dogs, on this side of the pond.

Gee Puc, the Badger (The less expensive one) would drop you off not to far from there.

OOOoooooo......... Another one to add to my list of those ASKING for snow...................... The days are getting shorter, winter is coming................ I am still working on that secret snow formula for @cowpuc that will not melt until it is above 60° out. The 100° snow is still a very long way off. Lots of R&D for that one. Shoveling snow is such a glorious waste of time, cuz you already know it will all be gone soon anyhow.

Man if you could get the DOT to build a bridge over this big puddle between us......................... .............................I would probably be 200 lbs heavier................

I have had good luck with a long sleeve cotton shirts for hot sunny days. Cotton is good at keeping you cool, you can wet it and almost be cold while it is drying. Cotton is good in the summer for the very reasons it is not recommended in the winter. There may be modern fibers that work better than cotton at keeping you cool, but I have not found one yet. On the down side, cotton has very little abrasion resistance to pavement if you are sliding down the road. It will only help you out for the first 2 or 3 inches of the slide.

How big of flags are you talking about? Big flags are a lot of wind drag and can be loud flapping in the wind, your poles have to be quite strong to hold up at 100 mph wind speed. (70 MPH into a 30 MPH headwind is not unrealistic) Big flags also add a lot of side load in a cross wind. So if you are talking big flags then I would say to go for it but only for around town. Small trunk mounted type flags are no problem, tell her they will look great. Now if you have a receiver hitch you can make a plug in flag pole holder to put them on and take them off in just seconds. That way you can have the flags when solo and take them off for 2 up and both be happy.

I looked at my bike and decided to give it a bath. So I rolled it out of the shed into the middle of the back yard, and wouldn't you know, that silly bike is still afraid of water. It took off down the block and made it around the corner at the end of the street and the next thing I know is it is wanting a drink of gas. so give it a good drink right up to the top and while I am paying the bill, sure enough it takes off on me again. It took another hour to get it back home, now it is to late for a bath, so I tucked it in and went to bed.

Touring with "characters"? So has he ridden with @cowpuc yet?

Most cheap ohm meters have difficulty measuring low values like the stator. If you wand a "good" meter get a Fluke. That is what most pros use, but they are expensive. I have a Craftsman P/N 73756 meter, I like this one because it has a clamp on amp meter so that you can measure the amps AC or DC without having to disconnect any wires. I found it on sale for $50. This feature makes it easier to test the charging system. Just clamp on to each of the 3 stator wires one at a time and they should all be putting out the same amps. If one leg is different then you have a bad stator and/OR a bad rectifier. The ohms function works well enough for testing a stator. I use an Amprobe P/N AMB-35 for measuring low resistance things. It also lets me run a megger test on the windings insulation. But that is getting to a whole new area of messing around with stuff. This is a very expensive meter that can hurt you if you do not know what you are doing.

I've made a squirrel head shot with a .357. It just takes 5 years of 8,000 rounds per year of practice first. The trick is to get it while it is still outside, saves on roof repairs. The other advantage of a 357 over a pellet gun is that the squirrel can not hide behind a stick, well he can but it won't matter. Dang, I sure do wish I could still shoot like that...................

I guess a lot has to do with your circumstance of the moment. IF you going COP because one or more of the stock coils has failed and you need to get running and willing to "upgrade in the process" but funds may still be an issue? This is a good reason to try to make the stock TCI work. Are you going COP just because you can and money is no object? Then replace the TCI at the same time as the COP.