EHC replacement

Energy One
Axel

Axel

Active Member
Hi Todd,

Wow, nice bike :) The pics have put a big smile in my face. I like the exhaust style. I still have the boring original exhaust at my bike. However I just paid some bucks to an airbrush guy and my wallet is a bit empty due to 65 hours, what the airbrush guy got paid. So, a better exhaust will follow in the next winter...

The external relay is now an internal highside switch, what is a bit better for long term operation (if the test device will work...). So, there is no need for an external relay anymore.

I also thank you for testing the EHC. It´s just a prototype and let´s see, what happen.

All the best!
Axel
 
Todd W

Todd W

Member
Great, I am glad to be the test rat :)
I am a industrial maintenance tech for 30 years now and have a good understanding of electronics and will be somewhat knowlegable to anything you need help on for test purposes :) Again, excited to help out :)
 
Todd W

Todd W

Member
dentdude36 said:
Awesome job Axel! Big dog owners all around owe you a big THANK YOU for the things you have done and engineered for us, your a very valued member, great to deal with, and offer a high quality reliable product!:old2:
Click to expand...
Very Knowlegable and So helpful :)
 
Axel

Axel

Active Member
Hi Kevin and Todd,

Thanks for the flowers :) Here are a lot of great persons in this community, who are helpful with their infos and suggestions. I got many good infos about BDM bikes, when I started with the EHC project. I have to thank you all !!!

About knowlegable: it´s still a prototype and I hope that your bike will not burn down, while tesing the EHC ;-)

...and beside of it I love these bikes :)

All the best!
Axel
 
Axel

Axel

Active Member
Sorry guys for the late reply. I was the last 2 months busy with production and service, cause everybody here wanted to bring his bike on the road after the winter and I was hanging in my workshop and had assembled and tested electronicboxes and other toys and had absolutely no time for internet.

However, the EHC03 is ready. I had sended one of the first samples to Curtis almost 2 months ago and I got the response, that the box works fine. I have finish a tester and 25 EHC03 boards last week and will pot and test a few 03 EHC within the next days. Here is a pic of the tester and one of the boards:

EHC03 Tester.jpg
However, I had "build in" 4 mistakes in the board layout of the tester, when I made the pcb layout. This had cost me a few hours to find out the issues and solve it. Sometimes it is not the computer, what ist stupid. It´s the guy in front of the keyboard :-/

By the way, when I talk about stupid: I got airbrush on my bike within the winter. 3 weeks ago I assembled the parts together and had put the seat on the bike. This was the result :-(

bd.jpg

I have decided to cut my seat after I recovered from the shock and brought it to a leather guy, who have covered it new. Now is everything "under control" and my seat is much smaller, more flat and in a friendly looking black leather :) I had ride 250 km last weekend and there was no need to recover from it :)

I come back with the next infos, when I have finish some 03 EHC.

All the best!
Axel
 
Todd W

Todd W

Member
That is Great news and we appreciate all the hours you put into this. Can' wait to try one out :) Awesome Airbrushing job as well :) Rode today in 50degree weather Indiana and had a blast :)
 
Axel

Axel

Active Member
Hi Rick,
Hahaha, Yes, you are right in many cases :) :) :)

Hi Tommy,
Yes, this is not ver far from my place. Have fun :)

Hi Todd,
Yes, I also looking foreward to get the first devices out for test it on the road. A workshop or a bike in the workshop are not the real life. but I have a good feeling. Let´s see...

All the best!
Axel
 
Todd W

Todd W

Member
Axel, My one question is where is the headlight relay on your board ?? I dont see it. There is no compression relief on the 03 so it really isn' needed, did you bypass this internally ??
 
Axel

Axel

Active Member
Hi Todd,

Thanks for the comment. Yes, I have put a 2 channel high side switch on the board, what replaces the "traditional" bulky relay. I believe, this a bit more modern compare to the old mechanical relay, what can (and will...) make trouble after a time. I think the time for mechanical relays in a bike should be a matter of past.

About the compression relieve valves: You are right. There is no need for taking care of decompression valves.

Big Dog had use an extra "start module" in the 2003, what take care for driving the starter solenoid and the ignition. I haven´t see it yet, but I think it contains just 1- 2 relays and maximum 3-4 additional parts. My EHC 03 just drive the starter module with 12 Volt. I have implemented a 20 Ampere high side swtch just in case. This high side switch can drive the starter solenoid direct without the starter module. So, there is basically no need for the starter / ignitiojn module if the ignition switch can handle the current for the rest of the bike but I haven´t the opportunity to try it out in a bike yet. I think, it´s a good opportunity to test it. Here is the 2003 schema, where you can see the starter module as well:
2003_EHC_1.JPG
Does anybody had open a starter module already and have checked what is inside? What is the maximum rated current of the 2003 ignitiojn switch?

Alll the best!
Axel
 
Axel

Axel

Active Member
Last weekend I was a bit out with my bike and had a bit trouble with the original ignition, what stopped to work when it was warm. After a few minutes cooling down I was able to start my Ridgeback again for the next 2 kilometers until the ignition stopped again. The end of the story was that I called a friend, who picked me up with a trailer :-/

I already checked the crank sensor and my EHC, what work both fine. I still have my own app controlled ignition not ready yet but I had luck and got a Thunderheard ignition from Dragan, the Swedish Big Dog importeur, what I want to put in my bike tomorrow. This ignition have a 16 way switch and I can adjust with it the pre angle of the spark time what should bring more power and better performance. I wonder if anybody knows, what curve would be the best solution for a 2 liter S&S engine? I attach the curves.

Thanks a lot in advance!

All the best!
Axel
 

Attachments

Rottweiler

Rottweiler

Well-Known Member
Sorry Axel,
My 2004 has the old nose cone pickup. Hopefully some else with info. on this will chime in soon.
 
BWG56

BWG56

Guru
Axel said:
Last weekend I was a bit out with my bike and had a bit trouble with the original ignition, what stopped to work when it was warm. After a few minutes cooling down I was able to start my Ridgeback again for the next 2 kilometers until the ignition stopped again. The end of the story was that I called a friend, who picked me up with a trailer :-/

I already checked the crank sensor and my EHC, what work both fine. I still have my own app controlled ignition not ready yet but I had luck and got a Thunderheard ignition from Dragan, the Swedish Big Dog importeur, what I want to put in my bike tomorrow. This ignition have a 16 way switch and I can adjust with it the pre angle of the spark time what should bring more power and better performance. I wonder if anybody knows, what curve would be the best solution for a 2 liter S&S engine? I attach the curves.

Thanks a lot in advance!

All the best!
Axel
Click to expand...
Stock timing I believe is 30*BTC which is setting 3 keeping the original stock RPM.
I've tried setting 2 and 4 and I didn't notice any seat of the pants difference, dyno tune I'm sure would prove different.

"Ok, i am a research nut! I called S&S, and Bob Wood, and come up with the same answer on timing. They both say that 30-32 degrees of advance is what makes these motors run the best. So on the Thunder Heart, setting the box at the 3 or 4 setting should give you the best overall performance. You can go to 5 if you have good gas and live in a low altitude location.


Setting 3 is 30 degrees


Setting 4 is 32 degrees
Setting 5 is 34 degrees
Setting 6 is 36 degreesI was told by the local BDM dealer that with stock compression to be no more that about 30 degrees. I ran mine at 30 and 32 and I am staying at 32 for now until the gas goes to shit!
 
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Axel

Axel

Active Member
Hi Ker,

Great, thanks a lot for your answer :) This helps a lot ! I´ll try it out later today.

All the best!
Axel
 
SKOGDOG

SKOGDOG

One of the old ones.
Hi Axel,
Thanks for this project.We are fortunate to have a skilled member who has taken an interest in solving a problem as significant as the EHC in Big Dogs. Yours is one of the more powerful contributions to our community, and I sure hope to get a chance to meet you someday, maybe at the next Gathering in Flint Oaks in June.
I put a Thunderheart in my 2008 K9 a few years ago and it performed much stronger. I recall originally setting it to fire at 32 degrees before top dead center. A skilled mechanic suggested that could be harder on the engine as a permanent setting, so I changed it to 30.
 
Axel

Axel

Active Member
Hi Rick,

Thanks for the info. I have changed and tested the Thunderheard ignition today. Yes, I absolue agree that the power of the bike is much stronger compare to the original ignition. I have tested it a short time with 30 and 32 degree but have not found a difference.

However, unfortunately the issue is still the same. The ignition stop to work after some minutes and I can start it again after a bit cooling down. I have checked the spark plugs and have seen the front cylinder spark plug was almost black and a bit wet. The rear spark plug was brown and dry. So, I think it should be the coil or the front spark plug cable or the spark plug, what makes the trouble. The cable looks fine. The sparks looks ok when I put the spark plugs outside of the cylinders and turn the engine but I can of course not check the spark plugs when they are build in.

What is your opinion from the far? Should I change the spark plug or the coil? Could the spark plug make this issue after a few minutes when it get warm?

Thanks a lot!

All the best!
Axel
 
Kiwirider

Kiwirider

Active Member
Axel said:
Hi Kurt,

The older software switches on the ignition when the key is be turned on. A press on the "Engine" button has switched off the ignition for 2 seconds, before it was switched on again. Curtis told me that it makes sense to let the ignition in the off position when the "Engine" button was pressed and keep it off until the next press on the button. It´s just in case if somebody have trouble with his bike whille riding. The old software will switch the ignition on again after 2 seconds, what might result in trouble in this case. However, I haven´t had a similar situation before but Curtis had some clients, who asked for this function. So, I have implemented it and it is more similar to the software of the original box.

However, it´s not a big change in my opinion and I have implemented the old software in the box as well. So, everybody can choose his personal setting. For myself I prefer the older version, what is faster for me, but I understand that the new setting is a bit more save in a few situations.

Have fun !

All the best!
Axel
Click to expand...
Hi Axel. Yea one of them was myself. My concern was that if riding and you had for example some sort of stuck throttle or runaway bike, you couldnt cut power to the engine at the hand control (While still keeping two hands on the controls), instead having to go to the key as the only option to kill the engine. As it was, hitting the off button would kill it, but it would re energize and probably restart the engine after the 2 sec pause.
Can my model be updated with the new changes? EHC07/08 EFI/05-08 Carb 000-00000-85 ?
 
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Rottweiler

Rottweiler

Well-Known Member
Axel said:
Hi Rick,

Thanks for the info. I have changed and tested the Thunderheard ignition today. Yes, I absolue agree that the power of the bike is much stronger compare to the original ignition. I have tested it a short time with 30 and 32 degree but have not found a difference.

However, unfortunately the issue is still the same. The ignition stop to work after some minutes and I can start it again after a bit cooling down. I have checked the spark plugs and have seen the front cylinder spark plug was almost black and a bit wet. The rear spark plug was brown and dry. So, I think it should be the coil or the front spark plug cable or the spark plug, what makes the trouble. The cable looks fine. The sparks looks ok when I put the spark plugs outside of the cylinders and turn the engine but I can of course not check the spark plugs when they are build in.

What is your opinion from the far? Should I change the spark plug or the coil? Could the spark plug make this issue after a few minutes when it get warm?

Thanks a lot!

All the best!
Axel
Click to expand...
Alex It sounds like the coil to me. When the coil gets warm / hot it must be a open circuit? I would replace the coil and plugs.
Good luck
 
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