Bimota Forum

[SpikeC]

Driving down the highway yesterday with temps around 80f., doing about 70, speedo started showing random numbers, first 23, than back to 70, then all over the place.
After arriving at our destination we parked and had an ale, and when I went to start the bike would not fire! I could smell fuel, and I pulled a plug cap and stuck a screwdriver in it and to ground, and it has spark, but would not start. After a couple of hours of intermittent attempts at starting I ended up leaving it inside the pub to try again later today. My friend rode me home on the back of his beemer.
It was acting like it was flooded, but the usual trick of holding the throttle open when trying to start did not work.
I am a little suspicious of a connection between the wonky speedo and the non-start, but do not see how they could be connected.
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Spike C.
Portland, Oregon, USA
2008 Bimota DB5R
1965 Triumph T100SC

[2bims]

Hhmmm....firstly I can confirm that the ECU and clocks play no pat in being connected with each other....so none start not related to clocks playing up.....random speed fluctuating could be the magnets in the speedo sensor playing up on the back wheel reading off the disc bolts....do you have a small grub screw that holds the sensor to the rear brake caliper bracket? If this comes loose then the gap is not maintained and speedos become irratic on what speed youre doing....

What sort of none start was it...solenoid clicking....engine trying to turn but just not getting going? labouring...or just nothing?

THinking maybe battery...or maybe battery been toasted by a faulty reg rec that could also have affected the speedo....lights may come on, horn work, indicators, clocks on etc etc...but if not enough juice in battery,,,,ecu says NO...and wont start the bike....whip off the LHS fairing panel after disconnecting the indicator.....and you'll find the starter solenoid on the LHS in front of the battery box...theres a plastic cover on it covering the 2 terminals....flip this off with a small screw driver....then....with the key in the ignition...and turned on....make contact with both starter solenoid contacts with a pair of insulated pinch pliers/pliers.....effectively cutting out the ECU....see if this starts it

[SpikeC]

Thanks 32bims, it turns over with a vengeance! Spins like crazy, esp when you open the throttle a bit. Gas is getting to the injectors, you can smell it, and I determined that spark was happening.

At one point it did fire once on one cylinder, and my friend thought that that was just after he wiggled the kill button, but that was likely a coincidence.
This bikes kill button is unlike any other I have seen, it doesn't click on or off, but rather is a momentary thing, hold it down it works, let it up and not.
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Spike C.
Portland, Oregon, USA
2008 Bimota DB5R
1965 Triumph T100SC

[SpikeC]

Thanks 32bims, it turns over with a vengeance! Spins like crazy, esp when you open the throttle a bit. Gas is getting to the injectors, you can smell it, and I determined that spark was happening.

At one point it did fire once on one cylinder, and my friend thought that that was just after he wiggled the kill button, but that was likely a coincidence.
This bikes kill button is unlike any other I have seen, it doesn't click on or off, but rather is a momentary thing, hold it down it works, let it up and not.
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Spike C.
Portland, Oregon, USA
2008 Bimota DB5R
1965 Triumph T100SC

[2bims]

Does your "kill" switch look like this? with the starter button below it?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorcycle-Universal-Domino-Starter-Switch-22mm-Fits-KTM-EXC-125-EGS-125-300-/131571132937?hash=item1ea2402a09:g:TVoAAOSwPcVVwMkU

if yeh...its a domino unit...where the kill switch is only on if pushed and held...release and its off.....same as on my DB6 and DB5....and the starter button doubles up for resetting the service light on the clocks...and for starting and stopping the lap timer function on bikes with koso clocks....

When your bike was good...did it always require the clutch to be pulled in to allow it to start? I.e. is there the switch diode with leads coming from under the clutch lever?....these sometimes go AWOL telling the ECU that the clutch hasnt been pulled and thus engine wont fire...but will still crank from recollection...so check this...when clutch is pulled it allows the tiny button to come out completing a circuit....if its stuck or broke the circuit isnt complete even with the clutch pulled...its the same unit that they use on the front brake lever to activate the rear brake light........

[2bims]

with the igintion on...i.e. lights on...press and hold the kill switch....does the system reset and the tacho go through its sweep motion? If so then the kill switch is still functioning....

[SpikeC]

First, the Pegaso does not do a gage sweep, so the kill button check does not work on this bike.
A while back I installed a set of dry break quick disconnects under the fuel tank. It turns out that the o-ring on the feed side had failed. After recharging the battery and replacing the o-ring it fired right up!
All is now well with the world, and a few o-rings will henceforth reside in my wallet!
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Spike C.
Portland, Oregon, USA
2008 Bimota DB5R
1965 Triumph T100SC

[2bims]

Well...that would certainly explain why you could smell petrol....perhaps you should have allowed your avatar to sniff more precisely where the aroma was coming from.....

[SpikeC]

I only wish that he could come along and advise me! He ha one hell of a nose on him! He is the star of the nose work classes!
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Spike C.
Portland, Oregon, USA
2008 Bimota DB5R
1965 Triumph T100SC

[tenchu2x]

I got The same problem with the speed sensor . The screw of mine was a bit loose . How far exactly should the sensor be away from the screws of the disc ? What is the correct position ?

[2bims]

Around 4 or 5mm from recollection....position the back wheel so one of the Disc bolts is at the location of the speed sensor...and use a 4 or 5mm allen key to gauge the gap....squashing it between the bolt and the speedo sensor...then tighten the locking screw on the sensor....if speed is atill all over the place over say 40-50mph...then move it 1mm closer at a time