Troubleshooting A Wet Motorcycle (Won’t Start/Run)
1. When motorcycles get wet, many things can happen to prevent normal starting and running.
2. Ignition coils, due to their mounting location under the gas tank, can overheat if sufficient air flow is not provided causing minute cracks for moisture to get in shorting the coil.
3. Sparkplugs wires and caps need to be replaced as the heat from the engine makes the wires(High Tension Leads) get brittle causing the insulation to fail. The caps contain a resistor to limit the RFI(the snap and pop heard on radio’s) that will fail, again from heat/age. They can be checked with a multimeter ,and will test at 5000 ohms.
4. Most Japanese motorcycle electrical connectors are open at the rear, letting in moisture, that will collect on the male and female pins/sockets causing a short, blowing a fuse or creating corrosion limiting current flow.
5.Check the right handlebar switch pod for signs of corrosion or broken wires on the run/stop switch. Some older Kawasaki’s are experiencing broken/crumbled solder joints in switches. If needed, I have a repair procedure, just ask.
6. I recommend buying a spray can of “De-oxit” electrical contact cleaner/preservative available in the U.S. or any other electronic supply store.
www.deoxit.com
is their website.
7. I’d advise not using WD-40 on any electrical connection/fuse clips as it over time becomes a non conductor(more like an insulator).
8. If the popular “Pods” type air filter is used and gets wet, it will act like having the choke on causing a very rich condition. The only repair for wet pods is to remove them and either using an oven set at 250 F, a wet/dry shop vac to vacuum the moisture from the filters, or a air nozzle at low pressure to blow the water away.
9. Use caution when using an air nozzle, as at high pressure, the fabric of the filter medium may tear making the filter unusable.
