washing my bike.bad misfire?

[graybird78]

seems when ever I give my bike a good bath,It has a really bad misfire.have owned bike almost 4yrs and it has always done this.have to this day been unable to find culprit.After bike drys off it runs fine.Doesn't seem to do it when it rains.Last time I washed the bike I used air compressor to dry off ,but to no avail missed until it dried off.has anyone else had this problem if so what was causing it any help would be great.

[dragxs11]

Yeah, I can sympathize. I have had the same issue with mine in the past. I just started spong-bathing it instead of using a hose. If I do hose it, I only use enough water to get the soap off and without a nozzle at only a turn and a half or so on the valve. Never did know exactly what causes the ruff running.

[T1ny]

Mine does the same thing. I just pick a really bright day and wash it at 7:30 in the morning, then by the time I'm ready to go anywhere it's dry.

Last saturday I gave her a good bath so she's be all shiny for a wedding, and lost my headlamp in the process. Spent last evening with a case of beer, and a volt meter. Going to wire a 3 position headlight switch directly to the battery until winter when I'll have to pull all the wires and start from scratch.

Already have a toggle switch for the dash lights, so what's one more? <sigh> At least it's not british electricial.

[strom]

What kind of air filters do you have on?
Check and (re)seal all the connections from pick up assy. to TCI unit to coils to spark plugs. Make sure your plug caps are sealing and not letting any water in.

LP

[johnstewart]

Ya, I had this problem, which *didn't* go away after a couple of days, and it turned out it was water in the pickup coil area - the gasket just wasn't stopping the water from getting in the left cover.

I sealed it up with Form-A-Gasket and no problems so far (been in rain but no high-power wash).

[uk1.1s]

Jet wash mis-fire

Common problem for me over the years - especially the damn XS250 twin that refused to start miles from home after I decided to jet-wash at a garage. I ended up trying to bump start up and down the road for 1/2 hour....phew

I found out it was water gettin into the coil / HT lead connection....silicon sealant at the joint cured it for good!

[procamper]

I've had the same problem since my plug leads have long ago lost the rubber seals that are usaully on the end of the boots.

the spark will arc over the outside of the wet plug until the engine is warm enough to dry it out.

[graybird78]

washing misfire

Hi everyone. thanks for replies. I'm still using the stock air box,but did put new dyna coils on with new accell plug wires and d.i.s plug boots from a car application that are hi-temp silicone.They don't leak voltage when wet.maybe my problem is in cover gasket for ignition pickups. Will look into that further. thanks again for replies

[talcon]

Greybird, did you ever figure out what the culprit was? I'm experiencing this same problem now. Washed the bike tonight, towel dried it, and thought a little ride would air dry it further (hehe - you know - any excuse to ride). It ran rough. My plug wires look pretty sad and cracked, that was going to be my first attempted fix.
I'll also have a look at the other suggestions from the group. I'm glad I found this site!

[graybird78]

misfire

No I haven't found the culprit yet! But I'm sure it's in the ignition system somewhere.I think it's in the pickup coils ,somehow water is getting in there. I now use my air compressor to blow off as much water as possible and doesn't seem to afeect the bike near as bad.I pay close att to anything with the ign.I also take my side covers off and blow dry in there too.Hard to get a handle on it tho.hope this helps

[Jeff]

My old XS only does this when I get water into the little buckets that the plugs sit in. If I get ANY water around the plugs... it starts rough and misfires for a few minutes until the water evaporates. My bike is also missing 2 of the 4 of the little short sealer boots that slip over the end of the regular plug boot to help shield the plug body.

[fusionking]

Fair weather dude???

My 80 midnite did this when it was only 4 years old so I always figured they all did it.(LOL) Because I remembered this fine feature of the XS I just try to avoid these situations.(DUMB)

[Bob Falter]

I have had my XS for just over one year and I've put about 4500 miles on it. Was thinking it was about time to wash it, but after reading this thread, I think I'll just wash the bugs off the windshield and keep riding it.