I think it knows....

[david3921]

I trying to sell my Qlink XF200. The bike has given me very little trouble since I bought it new in 2009. A guy came to test drive it and ended up pushing it back to my house. He said it quit on him. I was able to kick start it but not with starter button. It has been starting fine for the past few weeks but I didn't insure it this year as I've been riding my new 2012 Versys instead. My first thought was the battery as I put in a Walmart Never Start conventional last year. I put it on a tender through the winter but the acid did go down a few times. Maybe that was enough to kill it. So, I went and got a new sealed battery and it starts and runs fine now. The new problem is that the neutral light will not go off. It will show both neutral and the gear I'm in. At first the neutral was not showing but the other gears were. Now it stays on all of the time. I pulled off the side covers and un-bolted the switch looking for any damage or pinched wires. It seemed fine to me showing very little wear from the detent pin. I've checked the wiring diagram for wire colors and traced the wires to the plug and all looks well there also. My next step is to get into the guage housing to see if I can see anything wrong there. Before I do that can anyone suggest something else?

[FastDoc]

I'd like to add that the Q's are on my list of Bikes I Wish I Never Sold....

The acid issue probably frosted the battery and it just took more time to die all the way.

I don't know about the neutral light. I know on a Honda the light is on when a contact is made. If the contact is not being made in the switch it may be shorted elsewhere?

[FastDoc]

Please remind me, does the Q use a light or the letter 'N' on the gear counter?

[david3921]

It has an N. From the wiring diagrams (from the english manual on left, Portuguese on right) it looks like each gear and neutral has it's own wire. That should help me track the problem down. That diode in the pictures has me a little concerned, though.

[FastDoc]

The Lifan engine I used in my XR200 had a similar setup but I did not use it.

Don't let the diode scare you, there are guys here that can help. Cheesy comes to mind.

[SpudRider]

The QLink definitely knows. How could you sell your faithful companion?

[MICRider]

Originally Posted by SpudRider

The QLink definitely knows. How could you sell your faithful companion?

Lol! I did it... Twice!

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by MICRider

Lol! I did it... Twice!

So did FastDoc!

[david3921]

Originally Posted by SpudRider

The QLink definitely knows. How could you sell your faithful companion?

I have three now that I got the Versys. I have to thin the herd a bit. Insurance is high here in Michigan as we are a no-fault state.

[david3921]

Ok, now it's just slapping me around like a cat toy. I turned it on today and the neutral light will not go on but the others will. It was doing this earlier this week. The other problem started yesterday while riding. I was shifting through the gears and I could see the N light along with the gear #. The light was stronger when I got into the garage out of the sun. It seemed like the N light came on faintly then got stronger but I can't be sure.

I also found that the english wiring diagram is not totally correct. The colors change at the plug. I'm going to print out the P one in color and continue.

[david3921]

New update; I turned the key on after checking wires and such and the N light came on. 15 minutes later, it didn't.

Yep, a big ol' cat toy.

I did check the diode per the manuals and the interwebs. One website says between .6 and .7 on the meter, the english manual says .4 to .7, and the P one shows a meter reading .651. I got .554 when I checked. I'm guessing it's ok.

Here's the really strange part in all this. Last year the starter relay was clicking. I went to TSC and got one for a tractor as the bolt pattern fit. It is made in China, or course. Anyway, the old one had a plug with two wires. One was Y/G and the other B/W as seen in the picture below. Neither manual show these colors. When I was replacing the relay I checked which wire triggers the relay. It was the Y/G. So I cut the wires at the plug and installed a female spade end for the relay on the Y/G and a female post end for the B/W and wired them up. The bike started fine.

Here's were it gets weird.

When the guy pushed the bike back I was able to start it with the kick starter but not the electric. After a few attemps, the 15A fuse blew. I screwed around with this for awhile trying to figure out what was going on. Long-story-short, I had to reverse the Y/G and B/W wires as now their polarity has reversed. WTH! It starts just like it did before but it shouldn't. Those same wires are loomed up next to the diode. The diagrams show that the diode is also tied into the neutral wire and the starter relay.

The diode is reading good but all evidence says that it isn't. I'm going to see if Radio Shack has what I need to replace it and I will report back.

Maybe .554 isn't good enough.

Oh yeah, something else. The bike will start in gear and I don't recall that happening before either. I just check and yep, it's tied into the diode also.

[Weldangrind]

Interesting. There is a diode on my Lifan, and I wondered if it was there for the gear shift indicator.

It hadn't occurred to me that a solenoid could work with the polarity reversed.

[zingshoen]

could it be that the guy broke sth when he rode the bike around the block? it sounds like some bad connections. do you have good engine and frame grounds? broken wires? in my car the indicator came on when you pulled the handbrake.

[david3921]

I think I have narrowed it down to the starter relay. Or rather, me, buying one not intended for a motorcycle. Right now, I need only one wire to start the motorcycle as the body of the relay is grounded to the frame. I think that second wire of the circuit "tells" the relay not to open if the bike is in gear.

I will get the proper relay and try it out. There is a scooter store in town that may have what I need.

It's doesn't address the neutral light problem, though...or it might. I'll have to see.


By the way, my 1984 Honda Magna V65 and my Qlink both use the same diode. The one on the Honda is bad while the Qlink one was found to be good. I did buy some diodes from RS and made two sets for the bikes and replaced the one on the Honda. The three diodes from RS were $2.49 with tax. A Honda replacement is $17 - $24.

[SpudRider]

I love Radio Shack.

Keep up the good work, and I'm sure you will succeed!