Rapeseed Blossom

[milton]

Hi Milton,

....... The issue with the wire worries me a bit, especially because I am planning a little easter-ride soon. Can you post or send a picture of the broken cable so that the JH600 guys can try to trace it once someone get's into a similar situation?
AW.

I will take a picture later of that mess of wire and show where the bad wire came from (off the ignition assembly) in my case. I believe this bad situation of wiring may be a common problem, as Motokai also had a bad one which made his bike not able to start depending on the orientation of the handle bar.
Before the picture is ready, i'd describe the symptom. Typically, the turn signals would flash once to indicate the successful initial dignosis when the ignition key is first inserted and turned. Should it fail the diagnosis the signal lights would continue to flash with a dignostic message displayed on the instrument panel. However, if it failed to pass the anti-theft check, namely the key didn't match the ID programmed into the ECU, the lights would continue to flash but without the error message. Obviously the anti-theft check would not succeed if one had a bad wire.
Cheers.

[milton]

A picture of that bad wire:



It is a long wire, which twists and turns through 2 tie rods before entering the instrument panel. I can see the whitish stress mark on the wire, the sheath of which eventually split and the wire severed. That mechanic in ChangHua trimmed the wire and re-attched them with duct tapes, which actually works nicely as strain relief now. Jialing factory in ChongQing sent me a new wire. I am not sure if i want to replace my patched up wire with it.

[milton]

Reminds me of our Zhejiang ride many moons ago! Glad to see the Jialing back in working order, and luckily this time the problem was much more minor. Great photos and lovely writing, very nice read.

Hans, thanks. Zhejiang is no Cambodia, but a nice ride nonetheless. So very envious of your trip in SE Asia.

[euphonius]

Jialing factory in ChongQing sent me a new wire. I am not sure if i want to replace my patched up wire with it.

Milton, is the replacement wire the same length as the bad stock wire? Any chance of choosing a slightly shorter route to the ECU (or wherever it leads)?

[milton]

The replacement wire is with Xiao Fan right now. Will find out later this week.
Cheers.

[Lao Jia Hou]

Those are great pics of the countryside, thanks! It is interesting to know that nice riding is not too far away from SH.

Very informative about the faulty / frayed wire. At only 4,000 kms, I'm still a learner on my JH600, but expect to increase the mileage this season.

Thanks very much to all of you for leading the way, suffering the pain, solving the problems ... so that I can enjoy!

[MotoKai]

A picture of that bad wire:



It is a long wire, which twists and turns through 2 tie rods before entering the instrument panel. I can see the whitish stress mark on the wire, the sheath of which eventually split and the wire severed. That mechanic in ChangHua trimmed the wire and re-attched them with duct tapes, which actually works nicely as strain relief now. Jialing factory in ChongQing sent me a new wire. I am not sure if i want to replace my patched up wire with it.

Great posting Milton. Thanks for the text, photos & map!
As for my wiring problem, a couple of weeks ago my JH600 wouldn't start (luckily I was in my home garage and not on top of a mountain 400km from Shanghai!)

First the symptom was that it just wouldn't start at all (no fire, just the click click of death). This happened the week after I changed-out the battery which died in Jan and then had further issues recharging, so I immediately attributed it to the new battery. I pulled off the batter cables and reconnected. Still just the click click of death.

After pulling it to another area of the garage, it started up. (What the hell?) While I was pleased that it started, I was still confused as to what the original problem was. I started to ride it out of the garage, but then it cut-out again. What was the going on? After further tinkering, I finally realized that it starts with the handlebars turned left, but cuts out when turned straight or right.

Discovery: The rats nest of wiring had a frayed wire that was connected to the cut-off switch. During this discovery, I noticed that the same wire that you indicated above was also frayed (frayed, but not yet creating any problems). These 2 wires were repaired via a quicksplice (not fully replaced).

* As you mentioned Milton, my JH600 has just 6,000 kilometers so not really comfortable knowing I've already had 2 bad wires (dry/brittle/frayed). While I'm pressing my luck that a 3rd issues doesn't arise, I am considering doing a full-inspection one day soon that includes "brittle tests" to fix any other suspect wires in the rats nest with full replacements.

Question: Are these issues caused by bad wiring design, or cheap wire materials (or both)?

[milton]

On Sunday night there was an attempt made to steal my JH600.The thief did not know that there is an anti-theft mechanism built into the bike which made it impossible for him to succeed without my key.
Although the attempt was unfruitful for the damn thief, unfortunately it also ended up damaging the lock so I have to order a new set from the factory. Actually all three locks: the ignition lock, the gas tank lock and the helmet lock all need to be replaced.
You JH600 owners may be interested to know that Jialing has redesigned the original wire of the anti-theft assembly. The wire is shorter(less than half of the original length) and the three leads are now separate and protected by a plastic shroud instead of a single long and flimsy wire like before. It looks sturdier.
I hope this new wire assembly will last longer.

[euphonius]

Damn, Milton, that really sucks. Where was the bike when this happened -- in your garage or out in public somewhere. If the former, what can you do to deter subsequent attempts? On the other hand, it's fantastic to know the anti-theft system worked as it should. So the thief cut the wires and tried to hotwire it?

(For those who don't have the JH600 or know how the system works, there is a circuit between the lock assembly and the electronic control unit that runs the fuel and ignition systems, and the ECU won't operate without the correct signal, which is contained in a microchip in the key. So without the key, or even with a key that lacks the microchip, the fuel system won't fire. No ignition.)

Have the replacement parts already arrived? Did you have to prove that you are the registered owner (to prevent thieves from asking Jialing for replacement parts...)?

cheers
jkp

[Lao Jia Hou]

Milton - very sorry to hear about your misfortune. The silver lining is that by you sharing your experience it serves as a reminder for all of us, and also helps us other JH600 owners to better understand what is involved with the security system, and perhaps a design flaw.

But I am getting a little confused. It seems like the original problem was that the wires were stressed from being stretched too tight? And now the replacement switch has a wire half the length? What am I missing?

I have not experienced this problem (yet), but would you recommend to me that I have the wiring replaced as a preventative maintenance measure? I'd hate to be stuck somewhere.

Again, thanks for sharing your experience & expertise. Mucho appreciated.