2smoke

Plug looks ok Ive had in the post today, a 3rd CDI, and a rewound stator. Still the same. Airbox is off. Tried another coil too.. Christ this thing is testing my patience!

You know, thats one thing I havent done. Should have done that first really but.. New CDI arrived today.... Still the same! But while starting/running it, it began running as it should: Turned it off, restarted, and... Back to being *****. Kinda gone away from the idea of timing being out, mainly due to the cdi swap making naff-all difference. Weak spark maybe, but intermittent. So hooked the fluke up to the connector to the cdi, between the blue and dark blue wires from the source coil, had a good fiddle with the wiring & wires on the stator, no real change in resistance. 22 Ohm seems a bit low to me though, has anyone any resistance readings for these Kokusan stators? The spark does look a little orange. Ive been through all the connectors and stuff, everything checks out okay.

Hi, if your flywheel isnt spinning with the engine then that would suggest a sheared woodruff key.

Yeah pretty much spot on. If the LHS seal has gone the bike will run lean (due to the fuel/air mix going to pot with all the air being sucked in past the seal). Symptoms usually include hard starting, high idle, overheating & eventually melting piston(s). RHS seal failing means it will just smoke like buggery, run like crap but will rev out & usually clears itself. I had an RD350LC (still got it funnily enough..) with knackered seals, tootle through a village at 30mph, get to the NSL sign, give it some beans and it was like a forest fire behind!

This is my thinking, although retarded timing so the flame is still travelling down the pipe rather than giving the piston some downwards force. Happy to be corrected, but we seem to be thinking the same. The smoke smells like carbon 2t smoke.. CDI is on its way.. Checked that bit already This will start fine, just runs pants straight away!

It isnt though, it refuses to rev, lots of popping & banging. Start it up again and its running fine. I initially suspected crank seals, but its too random to be that I think. Plus it doesnt explain the heat of the exhaust within a few minutes of running. The excess smoke seems and smells like the carbon in the pipe burning up (like when you used to do a de-coke on older two strokes) Hence why Im thinking timing is over-retarded. Just a theory mind Ive had bikes with knackered crank seals in the past & they will at least rev out. Plus the plug isnt coming out oiled up, or overly dark.. Its a jonah!

Update, have got another cdi on the way to try..

Hi, RCM down in Redruth. Cracking bunch to deal with.

At the moment Im suspecting there are quality issues with the rest of the electrics on gassers Glad youve got it sorted, happy trials!

Someone has hardwired it for a reason I guess. Not sure what temp the fan is meant to come on at, but they do get hot very quickly so the fan is running a lot of the time. Replacement thermostats are cheap enough anyway, or just keep it hard-wired (mine is anyway)

I swear this bloody bike is cursed! So, previously.. The ducati ignition had been causing me some hassle, eventually leading to me buying a complete Kokusan setup off a 2002 TXT. Now after a few issues with parcelforce, I finally got the new setup so like an excited child at christmas set to fitting it. It ran fine for about 20 minutes then started struggling at higher revs, so came back and fiddled. Now its weird.. Itll be hard to start, then refuse to run properly. Popping & banging, smoking and just wont rev. Also getting very hot very quickly! To me, its like ignition timing when it fails to advance/retard. But then start it up afterwards and itll run fine, turn it off and its back to running like *****. With the amount of smoke its chucking out I first thought crank seal & its burning gearbox oil. But that doesnt explain the backfiring and reluctance to rev, neither the fact that itll run right one minute. Feels to me like the cdi is playing silly buggers. Anyone had this before? Ive tried the basics, kill switch, plug, cap, coil. Fresh Super Unleaded, 70ml oil to 5L fuel.

Further update, have given in & bought a complete kokusan setup. Expensive but worth it hopefully..

Tried a different lead on the cdi. plug & cap are off so just lead to earth.

Had a good play with it earlier, turning over on a drill. Plenty of output from the stator. Pickup seems to be working ok. Bypassed the reg/rec. Still nothing. Its going on fire next.

Well it all came back today, so rather excitedly I put it together, kicked over & still no spark. On either CDI. W@nk! Only had half a lunchbreak to look at it, hopefully I've missed something obvious. Otherwise not sure where to go next..

Just spoken to the rewind company, the stator itself was good but pickup was tested as knackered. Have purchased another off them & will report back once its arrived & fitted. Fingers crossed!

So, someone kindly send me a known-working cdi & still no spark. Bah. I did read somewhere that the pickup should send about .7vac to the cdi. Mine is doing .3 at best. Ill have to try that next, or send the stator away.

Ive tried supplying 12v to the cdi as a last ditch attempt today, still nothing. Was a guess that the output from the reg/rec to the cdi was 12v..

Thanks, Ive just been through that. Im getting similar readings on all wires apart from the red/white seems to be dead (nothing between that wire & any of the rest). Got a feeling thats just the wire for the kill switch?

My 2003 txt300 died a while back, well more like a year or so ago. Lost its spark, checked the basics & sulked with it. Now winter is here so Id like to get it up and going again, although patience is running thin already!! Its got the "oh-so-reliable" Ducati ignition setup (joys). Stator is giving about 1ohm, spinning the motor over on the drill gives around 16-20v. Pickup is 242 ohm, so seems ok? Cannot really measure the output without an oscilloscope but the resistance checks out ok. Tried two reg/recs. It had a new one for the last issue which was a slow cooling fan. Wiring checks out Earths are all good. Looking like possibly the coil/cdi unit then? I did try one off an rs50 but no joy, more of a shot in the dark as it was £10 rather than £280 for a new GG one. Any other suggestions? kill switch is removed. If Im going down the route of a new coil/cdi then Id rather switch to a kokusan setup and be happy that it will last longer than the ducati stuff. Would anyone in the uk have some leads on where to get a complete setup? Otherwise Ill have to sell the thing as-is, or break it for spares.. Cheers Paul

Well changed the reg/rec and she's all good! Got an hours ride this eve with the fan running properly & no overheating. Happy bunny!

Hi, I'm starting to suspect the Reg/rec over the stator. I disconnected the reg rec earlier and pushed the bike around in gear with the meter connected & it got up to 22v with more to come. I'll bite the bullet & order one this eve, if it's not that then I'll see about getting the stator rewound. I did email electrex world about a replacement reg/rec as they list a single phase item, but as of yet they've not got back to me. Seems a shame to have to ditch the whole system just because of the reg/rec being the achilles heel! Will report back once I've got the new one fitted, hopefully on a bike I can ride for more than 20 minutes at a time! Cheers

Hi, Thanks for the reply, I ran the fan on a 12v battery for a while earlier, was performing as expected!

Oh, it has the Ducati electrics, so a combined reg/rec!

Hello, Apologies for my first post being a tech questions but it's doing my nut in now! I've just bought a 2004 300txt. It started overheating on one of the first rides, so went through a few basics (coolant etc) then I noticed the fan wasn't really doing much, was more like a breeze coming out of it, rather than the gale I've seen on other trails bikes. I bridged the connectors that would usually go to the thermo switch, no different. Although when it first starts up, it's fairly good, then the speed decreases the longer it runs. I've checked the voltages at the fan with it running, and get a steady 6v decreasing to around 3v DC. With the fan disconnected I'm getting 13v at the fan connector. The altenator output (large yellow wire) is only putting out 14v AC. Seems a bit low to me, although I've not worked much on single phase m/c electrics. The bike is also fairly hard to start, whether this has anything to do with the above issue, I don't know. I'm getting .2ohm between the yellow altenator wire & earth. Is this a bit low? I'm thinking the stator is going bad, but am happy to hear any suggestions otherwise! Thanks Paul