The unusual sparking issue has persisted so I went and asked on the megasquirt forum what could be causing it and/or if I didn't have the settings right in the tuning program. Turns out in the case of the zs190 engine, the ECU needs to think that it is controlling a parallel twin engine. The ECU, as it is configured, thinks the signal from the crank VR sensor is coming from the cam/distributor (spinning half the speed of the crank), so it thinks the engine is spinning twice as fast as it really is. The ECU needs an RPM input signal once per 720 degrees (4 up/down strokes) on a single cylinder engine. I can tell the ECU that the engine is a parallel twin (which would need a RPM input signal once every 360 degrees, which is what the 190 does) and just ignore the spark output for the second cylinder; that way I'll be running wasted spark on just one cylinder. It does seem like a bit of a work-around, but my particular use case is probably very rare for these ECUs, they are mostly for 4+ cylinder engines. I have yet to test and confirm what I've been told to do on the megasquirt forum, but I'm positive they won't mislead me.
I noticed from the first day I had this bike that on the LCD dashboard there was a section that was there, but not being used with the abbreviation "TEMP". It's to the right of the word "total" and above the odometer numbers. Curiosity got the better of me and I took the dash off the bike and took it apart as much as I could. luckily there was some silk-screen labeling next to the main connector that seemed to match what wires went to those connectors. I didn't write down all of the wire <-> PCB connections, most of the important ones are clear like power, ground, ignition, neutral, right turn, left turn, high-beam. There were also 6 pins, all together in a line, labeled oddly enough 1-6. Thats where the stock engine's gear indicators went. But... there's 6! Assuming you have an engine up to 6 speeds that has gear indicator outputs for each gear, this dash will display your current gear. Of course, this does me no good, all I have is a neutral indicator. Oh well.
I tried probing around the two unused connector pins, but got no reaction from the dash. I did, however, discover two more... enticing things about this dash. First, above and to the right of the neutral light and above and to the left of the high-beam light, there are two more indicator light "channels" WITH an LED for both of them already soldered on the PCB! There are also icons (a thermometer for temperature and a generic check-engine-light) already engraved in the black plastic piece that covers the dash. So, theoretically, even though I haven't been able to get one of those LEDs to light by probing the main connector, I could just drive one of those LEDs with an output from the microsquirt directly (with a resistor). One problem with that is that I would have do de-solder all of the LCD connector pins to be able to get to the side of the PCB where the LEDs are mounted. I don't think I can do that.
The second thing I discovered is how to change some parameters on the dashboard. I don't know what the parameters are for and I don't know what I would be changing them to, but I can (won't though) change them. With your bike off, press and hold the "CLR" button while turning on the ignition. Something like what I have taken a pic of should be displayed. I THINK that one of these numbers is a calibration for the speedo. I'm not positive what the other number(s) are. I'll look into it.
A few more parts and services; non-chinese fuel lines all-around, tap and die for the most common bolt thread pattern on Chinese scooters/bikes - M6x1, and I finally got the exhaust bung and hooks welded on. It could look better, but it appears to be air-tight and that is what matters. I had them drill out the hole for the bung, that saved me from having to buy a drill press and a very expensive bit.
Ironically, I also bought a drill press. I decided that paying the price of a drill press to not have to hurt myself trying to hold a drill straight AND press it into the work was worthwhile.
I know I've said this before and I'm gonna jinx myself even thinking this, but there is very little left to do;
- Ignition gremlin squashed
- new sensors installed and connected (I'm most likely going to swap the coolant, air intake, and map sensor with genuine GM parts, for piece of mind)
- wiring harness finished
- fuel lines plumbed
- final exhaust installation
- wait for warmer weather