ian
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Isle of Man
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Post by ian on Apr 22, 2023 20:14:09 GMT
Our friend Chris runs fishing & pleasure trips on his boat in the summer, so he & wife Elaine usually take a little trip to the Lake District in April, before his boat gets lifted in & they invited us to come along. With the Conti GT waiting for new tyres & the Hunter waiting for it's 1st service, my 400N was pressed into service. Once in our B&B in Ambleside, it was off to tick a couple of 'must do' boxes. First was a trip on the ferry across Windemere.  Next up was the Wrynose and Hardknott pass   My SD had a little tantrum coming down Wrynose. After trundling up at 20mph, I killed the engine with the kill switch to coast down & get a bit of cooling airflow on the way down. When I pressed the button to fire it up again near the bottom, it refused to start. Eventually, I put it in gear & managed to bump start it before I reached the bottom. Next, we stopped at Dalegarth station on the Ravensglass & Eskdale railway for coffee & cake   The SD started up fine after our break & I forgot all about it's tantrum, but at the next stop for petrol a few miles later, it wouldn't start again. Off with the seat & tank, I disconnected the kill wire on the CDI & had no problems for the rest of the trip & I soon got used to stalling it in gear to kill the engine  Yesterday was the ride back to Hesham for the ferry, and our 4th consecutive day of sunshine  . Lots of bikes on the ferry for the trip home  |
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Post by Graeme on Apr 23, 2023 16:33:44 GMT
Great pics...I know that road...great until you meet a bus coming the other way.
I had the same issue with my 400 Dream yesterday, it cut out while coasting and wouldnt start off the button, bumped it and all fine...got home, tried it again and it started fine off the electric.
Not the first time it has done it.
Gee.
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ian
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Isle of Man
Posts: 5,285
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Post by ian on Apr 23, 2023 18:33:24 GMT
Three Superdreams over many years and it's the first time I've had a problem with it, but luckily I knew from the forum that it's a common problem. I took the headlight out today & pulled the single black/white wire from the kill switch out of one side of the red connector block, leaving the other pair of wires in the other side so the ignition switch & CDI are connected, so now I've got the luxury of being able to switch the engine off with the key instead of stalling it.  |
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Apr 23, 2023 20:14:29 GMT
So is the problem the kill switch or ignition system. Why would it be kill switch if it starts after leaving to cool a bit.
I'm asking because I had same problem and got the stator coils tested and they have been found to be defective. Work OK initially when cool and not loaded, but cuts out after a bit of a run.
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Post by kickstart on Apr 23, 2023 20:22:50 GMT
Sounds like a great trip and time we’ll spent, on my things to do this year The Hardknott Pass
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ian
Member Of The Year 2019
Isle of Man
Posts: 5,285
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Post by ian on Apr 24, 2023 18:54:46 GMT
So is the problem the kill switch or ignition system. Why would it be kill switch if it starts after leaving to cool a bit. I'm asking because I had same problem and got the stator coils tested and they have been found to be defective. Work OK initially when cool and not loaded, but cuts out after a bit of a run. The roads we had been on in the lakes were very rough with lots of potholes, so I think in my case something in the kill switch had been dislodged or broken by the bouncing around. I had some spare spark plugs in my toolbox, so I stuck one in each of the plug caps in turn & there was no spark. My first job when investigating ignition problems is always to remove the earthing wire from the CDI & as soon as I did that the spark returned. I might get round to looking at the kill switch sometime, but I'm not too bothered about it. |
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Apr 24, 2023 19:51:47 GMT
So is the problem the kill switch or ignition system. Why would it be kill switch if it starts after leaving to cool a bit. I'm asking because I had same problem and got the stator coils tested and they have been found to be defective. Work OK initially when cool and not loaded, but cuts out after a bit of a run. The roads we had been on in the lakes were very rough with lots of potholes, so I think in my case something in the kill switch had been dislodged or broken by the bouncing around. I had some spare spark plugs in my toolbox, so I stuck one in each of the plug caps in turn & there was no spark. My first job when investigating ignition problems is always to remove the earthing wire from the CDI & as soon as I did that the spark returned. I might get round to looking at the kill switch sometime, but I'm not too bothered about it. Thanks Ian. I guess if the problem stopped and did not return after you disconnected the kill switch it must be that. It's just I had very similar symptoms to you and Gee, so wondered what was the cause. Now I have got a used stator as the cost of a full rewind (as recommended) was a bit too much for the project budget. So I'll see if this used stator works first and will post on the other thread results. Hope I don't need to go full rewind of stator coils. Have you guys gone down that route with yours? Probably find it was the kill switch, but don't think it was as it only started after 15 mins cooling down. |
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ian
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Isle of Man
Posts: 5,285
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Post by ian on Apr 24, 2023 20:02:02 GMT
Been lucky I guess, I've not had a problem with the stators on any of my SDs. My problem was certainly intermittent, it wouldn't start on the button going down the pass & the bump start was pretty hesitant. Then, after the coffee stop at Dalegarth station it started on the button ok, but didn't want to know a few miles later at the petrol stop. Someting loose in the switch making & breaking??
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willy3pigs
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Post by willy3pigs on Apr 24, 2023 20:36:52 GMT
The roads we had been on in the lakes were very rough with lots of potholes, so I think in my case something in the kill switch had been dislodged or broken by the bouncing around. I had some spare spark plugs in my toolbox, so I stuck one in each of the plug caps in turn & there was no spark. My first job when investigating ignition problems is always to remove the earthing wire from the CDI & as soon as I did that the spark returned. I might get round to looking at the kill switch sometime, but I'm not too bothered about it. Thanks Ian. I guess if the problem stopped and did not return after you disconnected the kill switch it must be that. It's just I had very similar symptoms to you and Gee, so wondered what was the cause. Now I have got a used stator as the cost of a full rewind (as recommended) was a bit too much for the project budget. So I'll see if this used stator works first and will post on the other thread results. Hope I don't need to go full rewind of stator coils. Have you guys gone down that route with yours? Probably find it was the kill switch, but don't think it was as it only started after 15 mins cooling down. I have exactly the same problem with my 250, I can ride for miles with no problem, but stop at traffic lights or whatever once it's fully warmed up and if I let the revs drop to idle speed for a second or two, it often cuts out, and won't restart for 10-15 minutes. I have fitted a new Rex Speed shop CDI, and had a full rewind done also, I've sent the stator back to Rex's for checking, and it tested OK. The bike performs well otherwise, and runs like a little sewing machine, smooth and quiet. |
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Apr 24, 2023 21:01:52 GMT
Thanks Ian. I guess if the problem stopped and did not return after you disconnected the kill switch it must be that. It's just I had very similar symptoms to you and Gee, so wondered what was the cause. Now I have got a used stator as the cost of a full rewind (as recommended) was a bit too much for the project budget. So I'll see if this used stator works first and will post on the other thread results. Hope I don't need to go full rewind of stator coils. Have you guys gone down that route with yours? Probably find it was the kill switch, but don't think it was as it only started after 15 mins cooling down. I have exactly the same problem with my 250, I can ride for miles with no problem, but stop at traffic lights or whatever once it's fully warmed up and if I let the revs drop to idle speed for a second or two, it often cuts out, and won't restart for 10-15 minutes. I have fitted a new Rex Speed shop CDI, and had a full rewind done also, I've sent the stator back to Rex's for checking, and it tested OK. The bike performs well otherwise, and runs like a little sewing machine, smooth and quiet. That's really odd. Now I'm concerned it might not be the stator at all. Although the test at Rex's said it was faulty/ not perfect. What about the ignition coil. Could it be that. Is that new? |
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willy3pigs
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Post by willy3pigs on Apr 24, 2023 21:07:10 GMT
New coil fitted from Rex's as well, and I don't have a kill switch fitted either..
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Post by buster on Apr 25, 2023 15:19:31 GMT
great pics ian, you had more success than me, last time I tried to go up ambleside it was jammed solid with traffic, in the end I parked it and sat at the top end of windermere and watched the boats for half an hour.
the wires can fray in those kill switches and everything is so fiddly and close to each other that they can easily be problematic
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ian
Member Of The Year 2019
Isle of Man
Posts: 5,285
mini-profile background: {"image":"","color":"29908d"}
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Post by ian on Apr 25, 2023 18:29:26 GMT
Ambleside was pretty busy when we were there, but the B&B rented a few parking places nearby for their guests. They kindly said as we could squeeze 4 bikes into a car slot, our friends Chris & Elaine could park with us too, which was great for them. They were staying in their family's cottage just a few doors up from our B&B, so it was handy for them as they usually have to hunt round for on-street parking
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. Lots of bikes on the ferry for the trip home
