UPDATED: Why won't it start? It did! Yay!

Fortunately the bike held out long enough for me to pass my road test. Now it gets fussy on me...

I tried to start the bike yesterday with no luck. A bit surprising, since I had started it a few hours earlier. I futzed around with the idle screw a bit and gave up.

Today, I started trying to get it to go. I pulled a spark plug to check for fire, but found none. Ah - an ignition problem! I dug out my multimeter and may Clymer manual and started poking around. Not quite sure what I am supposed to be checking, since I am fairly new at this, but I started running some of the tests in the manual on whatever component I could see. This first thing I found that didn't look right was the regulator/rectifier - according to the book, positive on yellow and negative on black should give me less than 20 ohms, and vice versa should be more than 100 ohms. I'm getting no reading at all.

What I am not sure of, is am I reading this right? And would this be my problem?

Any ideas would be helpful. We're supposed to have nice weather for the next couple of days, and I'd much rather be riding than wrenching...

Post edited by: DrWhizBang, at: 2007/05/12 13:44

I'm new too..but I managed to bring a 79 650 back from the dead with the help of these guys. I would quit on the regulater that's more of a charging system issue..Yours wont start..no spark. Charge that battery all the way up...measure the volts at the battery, make sure it's 12V. Try to start..check for spark. No spark (check all plugs against the case w/fully charged battery) go to the coils and points...more likely the points...point gap..dirty etc. Could be a bad coil if not in the points area. One coil handles 1 and 4 cylinder...other one handles 2 and 3. Same with points..one side 1 and 4..other 2 and 3.

clubhobo wrote:

Charge that battery all the way up...measure the volts at the battery, make sure it's 12V.

It was when I started out - measures about 9V now from running the headlight while I jump up and down on the kick like an idiot.

Try to start..check for spark. No spark (check all plugs against the case w/fully charged battery)

yup. no spark

go to the coils and points...more likely the points...point gap..dirty etc. Could be a bad coil if not in the points area. One coil handles 1 and 4 cylinder...other one handles 2 and 3. Same with points..one side 1 and 4..other 2 and 3.

I checked the coils per the directions in the Clymer book - all readings were correct.

The PO told me that it has been upgraded to elecronic ignition. Doesn't that mean I don't have points? This all foreign territory - all my vehicles have been fuel injected/computer controlled high-tech monsters for ages!

What bugs me the most is I even had it running earlier in the day! Bleah!

I had the same type problem--no visible spark and bike would not start even when it had been running (roughly) earlier. I pulled the rectifier and spark igniter, checked the coils and used the manual to check the resistances. The readings I got were inconclusive so I put it all back together. I trickle charged the battery and

---

BOUGHT NEW PLUGS----. The new plugs made all the difference. Even though the old ones didn't look bad, the difference in the amount of spark was immediately noticable. The bike started immediately after I made this simple change. I hope this is all that is wrong with your bike.

Grantl wrote:

I had the same type problem--no visible spark and bike would not start even when it had been running (roughly) earlier. I pulled the rectifier and spark igniter, checked the coils and used the manual to check the resistances. The readings I got were inconclusive so I put it all back together. I trickle charged the battery and

---

BOUGHT NEW PLUGS----. The new plugs made all the difference. Even though the old ones didn't look bad, the difference in the amount of spark was immediately noticable. The bike started immediately after I made this simple change. I hope this is all that is wrong with your bike.

Heheh. Me too. It sounds like you were exactly where I was, so I'll take your advice. I guess I will just go through the chapter on routine maintenance and make sure I have covered all of that off.

Thanks for the advice, guys!

pull the point cover to see if it has a upgrade ignition, if so check to make sure that it has not come loose, I chased that one for a couple of hours

sounds like no points....check and see your electronic ignition under the cover...might be loose....should be a test to see if it's getting power too.

As Grant said clean or replace the plugs I had that problem too when I put a set of auolite plugs in mine. I never did like them but they were all that were available when I went to buy them. I replaced them with a new set of champions and it started right up.
Also, not to demean you or anything, for basic diagnostic help on the electrical system. Always test the battery and make sure it is fully charged, and only work on one system at a time. If you are having ignition problems just work on that. Then when you get that working do your charging system testing if you want. Doing them together can and will totally get confusing. I know the systems all work together, but they are seperate circuits. When working on the one circuit you may just find a corroded or loose component and fixing that may correct both problems. It just makes it less confusing and simpler to work on one circuit at a time.

The Milkman wrote:

Also, not to demean you or anything...

I think I do a pretty good job of demeaning myself, thank you very much

I'm asking because my degree of cluelessness is fairly high - somewhere north of dismantling lawnmower motors in 8th grade shop class, but way south of troubleshooting ignition systems. Fortunately I can read, so I just started looking through the manual and testing stuff. So does this mean if the regulator/rectifier is dead then I should still get spark? If so then great, I will ignore it.

I bought some new plugs, and I will change those. I will also pull the cover on the ignition to see what I've got. Stay tuned for the next thrilling installment...

BTW, I appreciate all the help here If it weren't for you guys, I would have to save a lot longer and buy a new-ish ride, and that wouldn't be nearly as much fun

DrWhizBang wrote:

The Milkman wrote:

Also, not to demean you or anything...

I think I do a pretty good job of demeaning myself, thank you very much

LOL,, I'm glad you took that line as it was meant, and we all demean ourselves pretty well here, :laugh:

Personally, I would do the ignition tests first to get it running because then you can do the voltage tests on the charging system.
Again, Good luck.

OK, here is what I am working with:



Definitely not what they show in the manual. I notice that it looks a bit scored:






and twisted:



Is this alright? Can I test this by checking for voltage across the two sides?

yep electronic ignition...I don't know too much about em but those look old and worn...if it was me I would swap them out for peace of mind...especially on a new bike to me.....EBAY is my friend.