2000 Buell Blast - first bike - Ignition question

[uolen]

Hello every one,

My name is Nathan and I am 36. This is my first time posting so allow me to say a bit about myself. I have been dreaming about owning a motorcycle and have had my license since I was 21. Every once and again I look over classifieds to see what there is, often finding good deals but never matching up with the times I have had extra cash.

I found a Buell Blast selling for 1000. A few days later it dropped to 700, and upon questioning the seller, he said come get it right now for 500. I am now a motorcyclist.

This bike looks like I paid 500 dollars for it....

That being said, the ignition was broken and they wired a simple on/off switch into the old plug on the bike. In this set up, plugging in the cable acted like park, and then flipping the switch was like turning the key to ON. I have purchased a new switch and with limited experience and no electrical diagram for the switch itself, took some guessing and wired it into the old ignition switch plug.

Switching to the park setting, I get nothing, but switching to ON, everything lights up. At this point I can start the bike just fine, and I would sit back feeling accomplished except...... Now the bike idles high. I mean really high. Before the new ignition, If I didnt give it a few revs after a cold start, it would easily die. Now I don't even need throttle when starting off, just throw it into first and ease off the clutch. When i come to a stop, the idle is like im holding the gas 1/3 open. Even cruising in any gear, it seems like its at 1/3 gas until i give it more. The ONLY thing I did was change the ignition/key switch so my question is, did a bad wiring job cause this issue? I am pretty sure at least 1 wire is not correct as I wired one onto the grey (nothing) plug. Can post any pictures needed.

I am pouring over all of the information you all have collected here and other places.

Got a new air box coming and am trying to work up the courage to mess with the carb and needle shim stuff I read.

So far I am LOVING owning my own motorcycle and I want to get this bike back to a quality state. Any help is greatly appreciated!

-Nathan

[uolen]

I see you all refreshing this post, curiously wondering what the answer might be to my buried question. The answer is: YES, changing the ignition will absolutely change the idle.

How you ask? when they zip tied the previous switch to the throttle cable! That is my only guess. I was scared to change the idle speed in case the issue was something else and I was just masking it. However, today at the store a couple bikers stopped in and when leaving i stepped outside and asked them my question. They didn't see how an electrical change would alter something mechanical. I agreed. One then went on to show off how he zip tied his throttle cable so that when the wheel is pushed hard right and the throttle is revved the bike holds a higher idle. It was my Ah-Ha moment. Came home and installed the new air box that came in today. Then i adjusted my idle screw and boom, im a successful mechanic! now I just need to figure out how to get these damn turn signals to work.

Hope I helped some one in the future!

[KennyG]

Uolen,

Good for you.

Kenny G

[Jet-Lee]

Well that was unexpected, lol. Glad it was a simple fix!

[BruceKoukalaka]

So did you ever get those signal lights working? LOL

[uolen]

Bruce;

They started working after rewiring the ignition switch. Swapped a few wires and all of a sudden i could hear clicking from the new flasher relay. Plugged in the signals and they work great! Glad they did because I read you didn't need them in my state and the officer doing the inspection pretty much checked the VIN, Turn signals, and break light. PASS

I am doing so much work to this bike. Just finished changing the trans fluid with 20w50. It was a white foamy liquid in there. Also changed my oil and filter. I removed the spacer on the primary chain adjustment and used the sound method. (bike has 6500 miles and I am the first to remove the spacer, also still not sure it is properly adjusted). I removed the stock exhaust and sanded the rust off then repainted it with rustoleum high heat matte black. I started this to change my tires. one tire is from 2007 and the other from 2006. The nuts obviously havent been loosened since then and with my less than impressive tool box, my body weight bouncing on the axle nuts wouldnt break them so im actually considering taking it some where to replace them but I want to clean the rims with it off the bike so bad. This was one neglected bike but honestly its still in good condition. This winter I am going to paint it. Haven't quite decided yet but those white blasts look pretty good to me!

[uolen]

Welp, got the rear wheel off. Got the tire off the rim and new one on with a couple screw drivers. I used a car cigarette lighter plug in air pump to seat and fill the tire to 32psi. Was almost easy. Getting the wheel back on the bike was difficult. Making 3 things line up while tapping the rod back in was fun but I did it alone.

So to any one wondering, I took off a stock dunlop tire and replaced it with a 140-70-16 shinko sr568. I am very excited to get the front tire replaced from the stock dunlop to a 100/80-16 pirelli MT-75. Let me just say that IMEDIATELY I can tell a HUGE difference in handling. On the stock tire I was balancing on a rail, and on this larger tire I have a much nicer mid area to ride straight on and it feels like turning is a choice where as before it was more a balancing act. I can also tell how much softer this tire is compared to the 12 year old dunlop. GRIPPY! I haven't broken in the tires yet but I am already much more confident. Ill update when I attempt the front tire tomorrow!

[uolen]

Okay, quick question. I have a titled 2001 buell blast. It was advertised as such, and titled as such. Why do all vin checks come back as a 2000 buell blast?

[Jet-Lee]

DMV messed up, maybe? What's your VIN?

My 1988 RX7 was titled and smogged as 87.I pointed out the VIN sticker and asked, "How can it be an 87 if it wasn't produced until Jan 1988?"