engine cut out in rain

[bobber]

raining hard,riding along at freeway speed,the bike just cuts out.took tank & seat off.unpluged connectors sprayed them with wd40 & plug caps.bike fires up on starter,but will not run.took left cover off,dry & wires good on pick up.
any ideas. bike runs fine normally.i 'll try tomorro,hopefully dryed out and runs.thanks, roo

[GARTHXS]

old coils

Hey Roo, longtime no hear , old coil wires like to arc when wet, when you say it wont run what exactly happens?

[petejw]

not sure what model bike you have,
but if its the earlier model, theres a ballast resistor
that sits along the left side frame under the tank,
remove the ballast wires and join them up, if its faulty
it will run with it bypassed.

[3Phase]

fires up on starter,but will not run.

Roo, does the ballast resistor have any water inside the case?

The ballast resistor gets bypassed when you press the start button. If it's full of water that would let the engine start, sort of, then go back to being a wet short circuit and kill the ignition when you let off the start button. Talk to you tomorrow!


Regards,

Scott

[Ken Talbot]

Check for cracked insulation where the pick-up coil wires come out of the engine cover, and where they pass along along from there back up under the tank. Remove the cover and look for any signs of moisture inside there too. Cracked insulation and moisture will give you the same effect as broken pick-up coil wires.

[motoman]

Hey there Roo!.........Quit riding in the rain and that way I would'nt keep getting this white crap, which is just enough that riding sucks right now! Think Scott and Ken got ya on the right track. See you in June. Drop me a PM, later, Brant.

[3Phase]

Ballast Resistor

Okay, I'm on the way up to Ventura in a few minutes. Roo got it running and sends a big, "Thank you!" to everyone for the help (sorry about the ginge, Pete, your message wasn't showing when I replied!).

It was the ballast resistor so I'm bringing a spare and going for a ride.


Regards,

Scott

[GARTHXS]

cool beans

Scott you are too cool , always willing to help anyone with a problem!

[motoman]

Scott going for a ride..........dern, gonna make it crappy weather here again.

[petejw]

All good Scott,
glad he sorted it out.

[3Phase]

It was a good day today! BTW, does anyone have a model ship? We have some ballast. sfsf

The ballast resistor is spot-welded together and bolted upside down under the tank. When it's ridden in the rain there is just enough gap between the two halves to fill the cover with water and simmer the resistor to light, carbonaceous crunch.

Brilliant!

After the spare ballast was installed we took a little shakedown cruise out through the canyons from Ventura to Ojai and Santa Paula. Both bikes ran like the fine little Japanese machines they are so we grabbed dinner Mickey D's and I made it home in time to catch the last quarter of the game.

Nice day; nice ride; Go Saints!


Regards,

Scott

[GARTHXS]

nice!

I wish I could have been there, I am going STIR CRAZY , I have only ridden like an hour this month and there has plenty of good weather! my wife is still recovering from surgery and wont be back to work for another month , I have spent the last two weeks taking care of her and the kids Mucho "quality time"

[petejw]

couldnt you wrap a small plastic bag around it 2 weather proof it?
ive got an 81 so havent seen 1 fitted.

[bobber]

cheers

thanks lads for all the help.scott ,your a star .thanks for all the help.bikes running great.it was chuckin down hard when she stoped. gonna stick some sealent round the ballast resister,before the next heavy rain.
keep riding boys. see ya roo