Post by johnnymac01 on Jun 11, 2012 8:14:19 GMT -5
Wouldn't fricken believe it.
Got my new exhaust, high output coil, and race CDI in the mail today. Bloody postie always seems to know when I have craploads of work to do...
So, got my days work done and thought I'd tinker in the shed and throw it together on my scoot.
Now, I'm new to scoots, but I have changed over the CDI before, so no sweat with that. Gave it a kick to check that it would run after. Blip - rumble - sorted.
Now where in the dogs name is the coil? So I fondle around gently underneath her - follow back from the horizontal spark plug. Bugger me - it goes up under the running board. Start undoing screws like a machine - but don't really know what's what so end up up taking off pretty much every screw from the seat forward. No probs, I learnt some stuff (there's the battery!). I had to pull the front cowling (incl lights, etc) off to pull the plastic underneath off anyway.
Wading through a considerable pile of small, black screws I finally get the bottom plastic off and the whole front of my bike is nude as early Madonna. Whip the old coil off. Bit of thinking, bit of looking, bit of filing, get the new coil on. Time to test: blip - rumble - sorted.
Buttoning her up took some time. So many screws and bolts, working out which bit to put on first, second, third, etc. Undo a few screws, rejig, do em back up. Finally get her all tight and tidy. Put my tools away (I'm a tidy dude).
It's been a good evening in the garage (except no beer). One more check on the starter before I retire undefeated. Blip -rrarrrarrarrrarrarrrarrrar. Not firing. Blip - rrarrrarrarrrarrrarrrarrrar.
WTF?
Tools out - I start stripping her again. Maybe I've knocked a wire loose in the assembly process?
Get to the coil - all looks good there.
Fuse? Get to battery - fuse looks OK. Test it. Good.
Did I blow the coil somehow? Swap coil with the old one. Doesn't start.
Did I blow the CDI? Replace the old one. Doesn't start.
Check all the wiring in case I knocked something loose. Doesn't start.
Pull the plug, clean it. Doesn't start. Plenty of fuel, the plug is coated with the stuff.
At this point, my scoot has all the old parts back on, is still nude, and still won't start!
WTF?
So, I decide to install the new exhaust. Bit of grinding, bit of cleaning, bit of bolting. Looks great. Wonder what it sounds like? Buggered if I could hear it cos the fricken bike still won't start!
Figured that I must've blown the plug. It looks OK, but maybe with all that extra voltage through the coil?
Pull the plug, bring it inside and leave it on the counter to remind me to get a new one tomorrow. Bit pissed off that after all those new parts she won't even start and I'm still not sure what it is.
Curiosity gets the better of me, and I can't help but googling reasons why scooters won't start. CDI, Coil, Plug, Fuse, blah blah blah. Website after website. Bugger this, methinks. It must be the plug.
Then.
The one thing I had forgotten came up on the last webpage I was gonna bother with. At the bottom of it's long list of things to check it said:
KILL SWITCH
My fricken scooter has a switch that you use to kill the engine. I NEVER use this switch cos the first time I did it took me HOURS before I could start it again cos I forgot that I had used it.
In the garage I had seen it on the dash and used it to shut the engine off. It isn't a temporary switch and so just STAYS off - disabling the spark!
:swear: :beatup: :doh: :banghead:
Tested it with the kill switch OFF. Blip - rumble - FFS....
Swapped all the new bits back on again. Buttoned her up all over again. Put away all my tools again.
Started her again to make sure. Noice.
Awesome sound that new exhaust makes. Can't wait to get her on the street.
How many times have others done this exact same thing? And turned a 45 minute job into 2 hours of head scratching?
Please don't say I'm the only one!
:cheers:
JM
Got my new exhaust, high output coil, and race CDI in the mail today. Bloody postie always seems to know when I have craploads of work to do...
So, got my days work done and thought I'd tinker in the shed and throw it together on my scoot.
Now, I'm new to scoots, but I have changed over the CDI before, so no sweat with that. Gave it a kick to check that it would run after. Blip - rumble - sorted.
Now where in the dogs name is the coil? So I fondle around gently underneath her - follow back from the horizontal spark plug. Bugger me - it goes up under the running board. Start undoing screws like a machine - but don't really know what's what so end up up taking off pretty much every screw from the seat forward. No probs, I learnt some stuff (there's the battery!). I had to pull the front cowling (incl lights, etc) off to pull the plastic underneath off anyway.
Wading through a considerable pile of small, black screws I finally get the bottom plastic off and the whole front of my bike is nude as early Madonna. Whip the old coil off. Bit of thinking, bit of looking, bit of filing, get the new coil on. Time to test: blip - rumble - sorted.
Buttoning her up took some time. So many screws and bolts, working out which bit to put on first, second, third, etc. Undo a few screws, rejig, do em back up. Finally get her all tight and tidy. Put my tools away (I'm a tidy dude).
It's been a good evening in the garage (except no beer). One more check on the starter before I retire undefeated. Blip -rrarrrarrarrrarrarrrarrrar. Not firing. Blip - rrarrrarrarrrarrrarrrarrrar.
WTF?
Tools out - I start stripping her again. Maybe I've knocked a wire loose in the assembly process?
Get to the coil - all looks good there.
Fuse? Get to battery - fuse looks OK. Test it. Good.
Did I blow the coil somehow? Swap coil with the old one. Doesn't start.
Did I blow the CDI? Replace the old one. Doesn't start.
Check all the wiring in case I knocked something loose. Doesn't start.
Pull the plug, clean it. Doesn't start. Plenty of fuel, the plug is coated with the stuff.
At this point, my scoot has all the old parts back on, is still nude, and still won't start!
WTF?
So, I decide to install the new exhaust. Bit of grinding, bit of cleaning, bit of bolting. Looks great. Wonder what it sounds like? Buggered if I could hear it cos the fricken bike still won't start!
Figured that I must've blown the plug. It looks OK, but maybe with all that extra voltage through the coil?
Pull the plug, bring it inside and leave it on the counter to remind me to get a new one tomorrow. Bit pissed off that after all those new parts she won't even start and I'm still not sure what it is.
Curiosity gets the better of me, and I can't help but googling reasons why scooters won't start. CDI, Coil, Plug, Fuse, blah blah blah. Website after website. Bugger this, methinks. It must be the plug.
Then.
The one thing I had forgotten came up on the last webpage I was gonna bother with. At the bottom of it's long list of things to check it said:
KILL SWITCH
My fricken scooter has a switch that you use to kill the engine. I NEVER use this switch cos the first time I did it took me HOURS before I could start it again cos I forgot that I had used it.
In the garage I had seen it on the dash and used it to shut the engine off. It isn't a temporary switch and so just STAYS off - disabling the spark!
:swear: :beatup: :doh: :banghead:
Tested it with the kill switch OFF. Blip - rumble - FFS....
Swapped all the new bits back on again. Buttoned her up all over again. Put away all my tools again.
Started her again to make sure. Noice.
Awesome sound that new exhaust makes. Can't wait to get her on the street.
How many times have others done this exact same thing? And turned a 45 minute job into 2 hours of head scratching?
Please don't say I'm the only one!
:cheers:
JM
