Oh lawd...what have I begun?

GoldenMotor.com

kermit007

New Member
Oct 7, 2011
17
0
0
Las Vegas
So I ended up going to Burning Man this year finally (yay!), and found I've got an unholy fetish for bikes I forgot about since my last bike was stolen 10 years ago. Been looking for a road bike on CL, but ended up tracking down someone dumping their motorized bike on for $60. Problem they were having was laziness, a flat, and a spark-plug. Oh, and the damn thing needs brakes, but let's work on getting it to go forward first right? Got a spark-plug that I was told will "work" (it's a little short while I look for the right one), and replaced the inner-tube.

Getting to the problem here however. Damn thing just doesn't want to run. Engine seems to turn over, and sound like it's running. Even seems to vary the noise when I lay into the throttle. Yet every time it just dies when I stop pedaling. I also disconnected the killswitch entirely (tried searching a bit at least).

Any guesses where I should be going with this?

Oh, and I can't figure out who the heck made this thing so heres some pics in case anyone might be able to help me figure that out so I can find the right sparkplug for this thing.

Full Album
Right Side
Left Side
Engine
CDI Wiring
Stater
 
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MotorBicycleRacing

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2010
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SoCal Baby!!!
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Looks like a RAW motor from the exhaust.
Raw Motors is in Las Vegas now.

Why is the spark plug boot tilted over to the right?

First check is to take the plug out and hold it against the head to
see if there is a spark.
 

CTripps

Active Member
Aug 22, 2011
1,310
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Vancouver, B.C.
I put stopping ability ahead of everything, myself, but that's just me. ;)
That plug boot doesn't look like it's sitting right to me either... at a guess, it looks like someone's had the cylinder head off and put it back on turned 90 degrees.. Not sure if that matters, but if the head gasket isn't doing a great job you won't have good compression.
I'd check the plug wire, that one looks like it's being held taught when connected.. there could be stress issues at the boot or CDI end of it making for poor conductivity. Next up would be checking for power out of the magneto.
It could just be stubborn, too, as you have no idea what it's previous owner did or didn't do or how many miles it's had. Of the two bikes I have, one is nicely broken in and starts in a heartbeat, the other hasn't been out very often (maybe a half tank of break in mix so far) and sometimes I have take it to the top of the lane and roll all the way down to the house to get it to catch.
 

Mozenrath

New Member
Jan 13, 2011
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California
Have you opened up your carburetor to make sure the parts are screwed in? I know I say this a lot, but mine could hardly start for a while because the jet was unscrewed.
 

kermit007

New Member
Oct 7, 2011
17
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0
Las Vegas
Haha, figured no one would notice that. Those pictures were taken before I tracked down a spark-plug for the thing so it's not attached to anything there. It's in the right spot for sure now. Don't think it's a RAW motor though. Meant to link directly to the second image in the album since it's got a closeup of the motor. Has a big M on it, and you can almost make out the rest the logo, but it's been worn off from the heat I'm guessing.

I'll be mucking about with it in the morning though, and check all these things out, and yeah the gas is turned on. I'd shoot myself if I forgot to turn the lever. Fuel line seems to leak a little when it's on too, but will work on that as I go.

I honestly think the previous guy got it second hand, and never had it running. Seemed even more clueless than me about the bike which to me seems pretty hard:-||

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/gqMsRzYo9yS4qxvQ7VWTaooDTDxKz7UsewnA8Kse7pM?feat=directlink
 

DaveC

Member
Jul 14, 2010
969
1
18
Boise, ID
It looks to me like the CD isn't even hooked up to the motor. All the wireing looks to be going up to the throttle/killswitch area. There should be 3 wires coming out the front of the motor, a white, a blue and a black. The blue wires from the CD and motor go together as do the black ones, the white wire you cap off or use with a headlight. The killswitch wires go to the blue/black wires from the CD, one to each side.

Hope I'm right about this, from the 1 photo I'm pretty sure :p

At least give me a look at the other side of the bike :)

Is the frame drilled with the wireing going in and out?
 
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kermit007

New Member
Oct 7, 2011
17
0
0
Las Vegas
Actually yeah, the the body is drilled with the wires inside the DT. Thought it was kind of cool they did that at the factory. The wires appear to be wired correctly, but will be taking a continuity tester to it all shortly.
 

kermit007

New Member
Oct 7, 2011
17
0
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Las Vegas
Haha...damn spark plug terminal had the piece inside stay on the spark-plug when I just pulled it off. Now to figure out where I can track down a new cap.
 

MotorBicycleRacing

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2010
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Haha...damn spark plug terminal had the piece inside stay on the spark-plug when I just pulled it off. Now to figure out where I can track down a new cap.
Get a spark plug cable and molded on cap to replace your cap and wire.

The wire screws out from the CDI and the new plug wire screws back in.
Some of the new CDI's have the wire glued in.

The original Chinese cap required the brass nipple to be removed from the
sparkplug end or you will break the cap.
 
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kermit007

New Member
Oct 7, 2011
17
0
0
Las Vegas
Yeah I figured out I needed to remove the nipple thankfully due to the guy down at the ATV shop down the street. Got another plug too & screwed it in. Sure an NGK will be way better than that POS (**** it slid off the cable), but still requires the cap to be removed. Wiring appears to be good too. Checked the killswitch too which appears to work (closed when pushed right?). Even tossed a fuel filter in since I'm paranoid about some crap being in the tank too.

Oh, and more pictures. Updated the initial post with all photos so far too.

Left Side
CDI Wiring
 

Saddletramp1200

Custom MB Buiilder
May 7, 2008
1,451
83
48
Houston, Texas
Gas has a nasty habit of turning to varnish over time. Clogs the carb jets. A single strand from a bicycle cable will unclog the jets. An auto wrecking yard has tons of spark plug wires with caps on them. Most of the time there free. :)
 

kermit007

New Member
Oct 7, 2011
17
0
0
Las Vegas
Hokay, things I've done now:

Electrical - Checked connections from the stater to the CDI. Not sure how to check if the CDI is working itself. New cable, new spark-plug head, verified the cable to the head is 5ohms. Removed the killswitch from the mix.

Carb - Pulled it apart, looks clean. Like barely run clean.

Piston - Barely any carbon on it, but cleaned off as much as I could.

Air filter - Pulled off, looks clean.

Fuel line - Replaced the fule line, tossed in a fuel filter. Oh, getting gas from the muffler when pedaling so guessing the gas is moving.

Haven't been able to see any spark thus far however which is where I think the issue is, but all the wiring checks out.
 

jowens

New Member
Jul 25, 2011
128
0
0
Webster Fl
Hokay, things I've done now:

Electrical - Checked connections from the stater to the CDI. Not sure how to check if the CDI is working itself. New cable, new spark-plug head, verified the cable to the head is 5ohms. Removed the killswitch from the mix.

Carb - Pulled it apart, looks clean. Like barely run clean.

Piston - Barely any carbon on it, but cleaned off as much as I could.

Air filter - Pulled off, looks clean.

Fuel line - Replaced the fule line, tossed in a fuel filter. Oh, getting gas from the muffler when pedaling so guessing the gas is moving.

Haven't been able to see any spark thus far however which is where I think the issue is, but all the wiring checks out.
Ive recently had an issue with my new motor not getting spark also.......it has been corrected by replacing the magneto....10 to 15 dollar part from the vendors here.....history on this forum dictates that CDI's are nearly bullet proof and of the two parts to go out in the ignition its almost always the magneto.....was for my issue anyway....hope this helps
 

kermit007

New Member
Oct 7, 2011
17
0
0
Las Vegas
Damn, well that sucks. Wish I even know where in Vegas would sell a new magneto. I'm tooootaly not impatient ;-)

Btw, anyone know what the voltage the stater puts out? Was thinking of hooking up a battery to the CDI, or would that possibly cause an issue?
 
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kermit007

New Member
Oct 7, 2011
17
0
0
Las Vegas
Sooooo these results confuse me, and yes I disconnected everything when I tested everything.


Magneto Coil

1) Black & White wire - 0
2) Blue & White wire - 0

CDI
+Blue & -Black wire - 0
+Black & -Blue wire - 1.101
+Spark Plug wire & -Black wire - 1.115

Spark Plug wire & Black lead - 6.88k

Oh, and a picture of the stater. Seems cleaner than I expected it to be.

Stater
 

jowens

New Member
Jul 25, 2011
128
0
0
Webster Fl
Sooooo these results confuse me, and yes I disconnected everything when I tested everything.


Magneto Coil

1) Black & White wire - 0
2) Blue & White wire - 0

CDI
+Blue & -Black wire - 0
+Black & -Blue wire - 1.101
+Spark Plug wire & -Black wire - 1.115

Spark Plug wire & Black lead - 6.88k

Oh, and a picture of the stater. Seems cleaner than I expected it to be.

Stater

My magneto looked exactly like your does too.....but still when I replaced it all of a sudden the engine comes to life again......from what your readings are showing for your magneto Ive been told that sometimes the ground small wire shown in post #2 of testing your magneto thread has a poorly soldered connection or insulating blocking the connection.....reheating and re-soldering that wire after cleaning it could solve your problem.....Im gonna check the 2 magnetos I have for this that way I have spares if nothing else seeing as I already have a new one in the engine now......


heres my thread with my problem you can read on..... http://motorbicycling.com/f34/engine-burning-33781.html