Solenoid Removal

Pair Valve (2nd Air) System Removal - The Final Chapter!
Removing the Electronic Solenoid from the Harness

For those who wish to shed the entire system on their FI equipped C90, C50, M50 models
THIS IS A DIY PROJECT AND REQUIRES THE ABILITY TO SPLICE AND SOLDER WIRING

For the Boulevard Cruisers with Fuel Injection systems, when you remove the pair valve (also known as "2nd Air" System) from the bike, it is usually necessary to leave the small film canister sized electronic solenoid attached to the bike's wiring harness in order to avoid getting a fault reading during routine startup diagnostics (engine light on). The reason for this is that the system will send a signal to the solenoid to make sure it's there and working, and if it isn't, you'll be notified with the check engine light. This last little nagging part can be dealt with by replacing the solenoid with an inline resistor, which will satisfy the diagnostics check.

This is a complete pair valve assembly, with solenoid still attached. Your bike's assembly may look slightly different due to model variations, but the solenoid (wired) part is essentially the same on all C90, C50, and M50 bikes.

This is the solenoid after having been removed from the pair valve assembly. Below it is a 4.7k-Ohm 1/4 Watt inline resistor that we'll use to replace the solenoid on the wiring harness.

These resistors are available from most any electronics store, or you can order them in bulk through Amazon

It will be necessary to cut the original pigtail wire from the solenoid in order to solder in the resistor and have a plug-n-play component. Although the solenoid COULD be put back into service by splicing the original wires back together, this should be considered a permanent change to the bike.

NOTICE! That solenoid is a $180 part, so if you think there's ever a chance you might want to put it back to original configuration, STOP NOW and just plug the solenoid back into the bike harness as per your pair removal instructions!

Stagger the wire cuts by about 2 inches, cutting the longer wire at 4.25" from the connector and the shorter one at 1.25", then strip about a quarter inch of insulation off the wiring.
Twist the thin leads from the solenoid around the exposed wire ends, and solder. It does NOT matter which way the resistor is positioned as it works the same in both directions.
Slide a 3.5" length of glue sealed 3/16" heat shrink tubing over the entire piece, leaving about half an inch off the end.
Immediately after heating the protective tubing, fold the tip over before it cools.
Slip a half inch length of 1/4" plain heat shrink over the folded end and shrink it in place. This will permanently seal the end, although the whole thing is sealed with internal glue anyway.
Now simply connect that piece back to the bike's wiring harness, and zip tie or tape it along the harness so it's well protected and hidden from sight.

Please note: If at ANY TIME during the removal process, you purposely or accidentally turn your ignition on, while that connector is not in place, your bike will record a fault in the system, and may continue to light the check engine light for up to 50 start ups. To avoid this annoyance, remove the key from the ignition before you ever start your project!

Many thanks to my cyber friend Daniel "Redfire 05GT" from the Volusia Riders for technical and component information for this project!