Close...but not quite

[Ski_rush]

Still not starting, but I did try a few things today and have a question. I was able to confirm that here is not spark at the spark plug. Nothing new there, but I checked it again to confirm. In addition, I checked every wire connection that I could see and access, and they all seemed snug.

I was talking with Douglass today. Thanks again Douglass for trying to talk me through this. He walked me through hooking up a multimeter to the coil and checking for voltage. If my meter was working correctly, and I did it right, I was getting a negative reading. We both hooked up the red lead from a multimeter to the yellow and black striped wire going to the coil, and the black lead from the multimeter to the green wire going to the coil.

1. He got 0.3 to 0.6 volts while cranking.

2. I got -0.6 volts while cranking. So, if my meter is working correctly, I got a negative value here. Is this possible? My multimedia might also have been not working right, perhaps.

Thoughts? Are my wires switched? Can you reverse polarity on the coil? That is, does it matter what terminals the green/black and the green wires are plugged into on the coil?

Unfortunately, my multimeter broke while I was changing the battery (just my luck), so I can't do further testing with it until I get a new one. Just curious if it matters about the terminals on the coil.

Thanks.

[Ski_rush]

Originally Posted by Megadan

I wouldn't give up just yet. You have it narrowed down to a no spark issue. A little circuit chasing and diagnosing with a multi-meter should sort this problem out much more quickly than you think.

Dan, (perhaps a dumb question, but) do these bikes have a "fuse box", like a car has? If so, where is it located?

Can you walk me through where else I should check with the multimeter (finding an electrical issue is completely new to me).

Thanks.

[culcune]

Years back, had a '09 TMEC Enduro 200 I bought used. Commuted on it year round for two years. During the time I owned it, met the guy who distributed TMEC in the US, and ended up getting a heck of a deal on a brand new '13 model from him. I had a similar issue with the new one when I arrived at the front gate to my work (I worked in the Yuma prison complex). I had a spark plug or two on the '09 foul enough that the bike wouldn't start, so carried one on the '13. Popped it in--no start. Worked the day, got a ride home. Coincidentally, there was a guy from Germany having a similar problem, which was solved with a new CDI. I had still had the '09 bike, so grabbed the CDI, drove back to work, popped it in, and she started right up! Luck of the draw--they fail unexpectedly even from new, and my '13 was only a month or so old at the time. Bought a new one as a spare and never needed it (might still have it). Get a spare CDI is my suggestion, not to mention check the spark plug if you haven't already done so. Kill switch can frustrate until you check it, too...I have NEVER done that

[Ski_rush]

1. Can anyone please let me know what other parts I can check with a multimeter and how to check it. What I mean is, checking the coil with the meter was simple because there’s only 2 wires, but the cdi has many wires. Do I check them all? What color wire does the negative lead go?

2. I found many options on Amazon for ignition coils, but the cdi’s I found don’t look right. The terminal on them where the wires plug into do not look like the same size and shape as on my bike. How do I find the right cdi that I can get delivered quickly (like Amaxon)? I’d prefer to avoid having to order one from China and having to wait 3 weeks to get it.

3. I don’t exactly know what the cdi does but it looks like some sort of major rely point between the battery and most electrics on the bike. If that was bad, why would all of the other electrical components work on the bike except the coil? That seems strange to me.

It really sucks having to dump more money into a bike that’s literally brand new, right out the crate.

[mybike]

Originally Posted by Ski_rush

1. Can anyone please let me know what other parts I can check with a multimeter and how to check it. What I mean is, checking the coil with the meter was simple because there’s only 2 wires, but the cdi has many wires. Do I check them all? What color wire does the negative lead go?

2. I found many options on Amazon for ignition coils, but the cdi’s I found don’t look right. The terminal on them where the wires plug into do not look like the same size and shape as on my bike. How do I find the right cdi that I can get delivered quickly (like Amaxon)? I’d prefer to avoid having to order one from China and having to wait 3 weeks to get it.

3. I don’t exactly know what the cdi does but it looks like some sort of major rely point between the battery and most electrics on the bike. If that was bad, why would all of the other electrical components work on the bike except the coil? That seems strange to me.

It really sucks having to dump more money into a bike that’s literally brand new, right out the crate.

Hi, did you contact TXpowersports, I think thats where you purchased from. Ask them to send a new cdi or any other small part that may be defective.

I needed a new regulator for my Magician and they had it out to me in 4 days. I also needed a new bill of sale and also was very quick with that.

I'm sure its some small thing keeping from firing.

Hope you figure it out soon.

[KABANSKI]

If you can’t find parts on amazon,try whygostock.com

[Bruces]

sounds like you had the leads on your meter reversed

[Landsvw]

Just remember, you bought a chinese motorcycle which, especially after browsing this site, teaches us that it is the very definition of project out of the box. keep up the good attitude and work through the problem, and learn and maybe even enjoy the experience. You will have a decent ride when you finish and will still be 1000’s of $ of dollars saved, vs a quality bike.

[Azhule]

Someone mentioned it before but I couldn't find the answer reading through the posts, did you ever find, check and 'replace/upgrade' the Fuse... usually it's the old school "Glass" style that is crap and causes nothing but random problems for people... "upgrading" to the newer ATC/ATO style fuse of correct AMPs

Old School Fuse looks like this, found sometimes in a little plastic box, other times it's in a "tube shaped plastic holder"




I'm basically in the North East corner of Colorado and the South East corner of Wyoming... I know I'm a few hours away, but feel free to let me know before you finally throw in the towel... if you really need help "in person" we can figure all that out through PMing


PS... F*** Manny and all his shady business practices... I hope he knows it's HOT where he is headed in the afterlife... anyone else want to re-watch what happens to greed in the movie "Se7en"

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Originally Posted by Azhule

Someone mentioned it before but I couldn't find the answer reading through the posts, did you ever find, check and 'replace/upgrade' the Fuse... usually it's the old school "Glass" style that is crap and causes nothing but random problems for people... "upgrading" to the newer ATC/ATO style fuse of correct AMPs

Old School Fuse looks like this, found sometimes in a little plastic box, other times it's in a "tube shaped plastic holder"




I'm basically in the North East corner of Colorado and the South East corner of Wyoming... I know I'm a few hours away, but feel free to let me know before you finally throw in the towel... if you really need help "in person" we can figure all that out through PMing


PS... F*** Manny and all his shady business practices... I hope he knows it's HOT where he is headed in the afterlife... anyone else want to re-watch what happens to greed in the movie "Se7en"

Amazing how we got along with those glass cartridge fuses for, oh 70 years or so. But those were American made fuses and American made fuse holders. I suspect those fuses aren't made here anymore, so, yes changing to the current style plug-in fuses, like the ones in your car is a good idea....ARH

[Ski_rush]

Originally Posted by Azhule

Someone mentioned it before but I couldn't find the answer reading through the posts, did you ever find, check and 'replace/upgrade' the Fuse... usually it's the old school "Glass" style that is crap and causes nothing but random problems for people... "upgrading" to the newer ATC/ATO style fuse of correct AMPs

Old School Fuse looks like this, found sometimes in a little plastic box, other times it's in a "tube shaped plastic holder"




I'm basically in the North East corner of Colorado and the South East corner of Wyoming... I know I'm a few hours away, but feel free to let me know before you finally throw in the towel... if you really need help "in person" we can figure all that out through PMing


PS... F*** Manny and all his shady business practices... I hope he knows it's HOT where he is headed in the afterlife... anyone else want to re-watch what happens to greed in the movie "Se7en"

I found that fuse the other day and I can confirm that I looks good. I agree that this glass tube fuse seems kind of antiquated. I will replace it with the fuse you mentioned , after I get this bike running.

[Douglass]

I just did some tesing on my Apollo, hopefully this will be useful. Ski_Rush, and I both have a Black/Yellow wire, and a green wire going to the Coil. On my coil there are two connecting pins. One is black, and one is green. The black/yellow wire is connected to the black pin on the coil, and the green wire is connected to the green connecting pin on the coil.

- Using the Multimeter set on DC 2 Volts, I put the Positive mulitemeter cable on the green pin, and the black multimeter connector on the black coil pin on the coil. With everything connected I am reading .003 volts while cranking.

- When the wires to the coil are unpluged I have the multimeter plugged in as red to green, and black to black/yellow. I turn the key on, and I get a around a 60 volt reading, that slowly dropped to about 20. When I Crank I am seeing around 30 volts.

When I tested the ohms on my coil, I unpluged the wires going to the coil, and going to the spark plug. Multimeter set to 20k, connected to green, and black pins on the coil I measured 0.00 resistance. Same setting on the multimeter with one lead connected to the green pin on the coil, and one lead connected to the spark plug wire I read 7.87. I got the same reading when I tested the black pin and spark plug wire.

Ski_rush did the same test, and had 0.00 restance when the multi meter leads were connected to the black and green coil pins. When he had the multiemeter connected to the green pin, and the spark plug wire he measured 8.7 ohms. He also did verify voltage is getting getting voltage to the coil, and it does fluxuate while cranking. We are both a little sckepic of multimeter his is using, becasue after testing he noticed it would read -300 volts not connected to anything.

Hope this helps with the next step. He is going to get a new multimeter tomorrow.

Douglass

[OneLeggedRider]

This is nothing to get yourself worked up over, and I guarantee it's something simple and inexpensive. There's nothing complicated on these China bikes. And there's detailed videos on YouTube explaining how to test any electrical parts on a bike. You will get it figured out.

[Jeff Richardson]

Have we bypassed the kill/run switch?
Pretty sure it's just ground wire deal.
Sorry if you're well past that, but it's not mentioned.

[Ski_rush]

Originally Posted by OneLeggedRider

This is nothing to get yourself worked up over, and I guarantee it's something simple and inexpensive. There's nothing complicated on these China bikes. And there's detailed videos on YouTube explaining how to test any electrical parts on a bike. You will get it figured out.

I get what you're saying. The frustration is partly because it's brand new and then you start thinking about the money spent and the lack of functionality; feels like you've just been swindled and lost $1700.

The whole deal with the broken multimeter is also frustrating; it's like I can't win here. I live in rural Nebraska, so the closet store (like Harbor Freight or Walmart) is an hour away. I will have to wait until tomorrow to buy a new one and then test it out tomorrow night. I did find some videos on Youtube on using the multimeter so I feel more confident in actually doing the tests. I just need a working tester.

Originally Posted by Jeff Richardson

Have we bypassed the kill/run switch?
Pretty sure it's just ground wire deal.
Sorry if you're well past that, but it's not mentioned.

I was going to check that too. As I stated above, my multimeter broke (it was an old hand-me down). Then...I borrowed my father-in-law's meter, but it doesn't seem to be functioning correctly. It's showing fluctuating numbers (between 0 and 400 volts) just sitting still and not connected to anything). So, any reading from that will be unreliable. It seems to be reading Ohms correctly, but it shouldn't be showing such "activity" reading volts when it's not connected to anything.

Did you mean check it for voltage or bypass it, meaning essentially cancelling it out? If you mean cancelling it out, then I'm not sure how to do that. Can you please explain? One weird thing I noticed about the engine kill switch is this. When I press that start button, the engine cranks regardless of whether that engine kill switch is in the on or off position. It made no difference on the switch position and how the engine cranked. What are you thoughts on that?

Originally Posted by jeffrey

Is there any chance the plug from the stator to the bike wire harness could be loose or poorly connected or any chance the wirers are pinched between the sprocket cover and the engine. Just a couple of ideas. Also look for any damage to a black wire with a white stripe on it. That is the CDI kill switch wire that grounds out the CDI.

I did find that and check it last night. If it's the same plug you're talking about, it's large, almost like a spark plug boot and plugged into the engine facing downwards. It's very tight on the cap where it goes. Very tight. I couldn't even remove it. I gave it a little tap when I was done checking it anyway.