Olds Eddie

I think I'm on to something. It started but didn't stay running. I think the fuel in the tank is just old or something. I get gas in the fall to run my generator on and treat it with Stabil. I mixed some with oil and topped her off right before I parked her to work on wiring. I'll take the carbs off to inspect the bowls and drain the tank and refill with new gas and oil mix this weekend. What is the life expectency of reeds? Will a broken reed cause hard starting and such?

I will try anything at this point. I was brainstorming with a friend who is a motorcycle mechanic and he said it's possible that the stator is putting out so little energy that it may take a few kicks just to energize the CDI box. That would explain why the spark is so erratic.

Thanks for the reply. The Shee was running great before I installed the lightsw and modified the harness. It has new top end with good compression, new plugs and the carbs are freshly rebuilt, and TORS eliminated. I've got spark, compression and fuel, but as I stated the spark only happens maybe once per kick. I would think that it should occur more often. I think I remember multiple sharks taking place before. The fact that I now have a much stronger spark tells me that the coil was a problem as it has always had a weak spark and was hard to start.

Well I installed the new coil and now I can see a spark in daylight but still no joy. Before I could only see a spark in a dark garage. It would appear to me that this is what is referred to as a duel fire ignition that would fire both cylinders at the same time. When I kick her through I get an ocassional spark. I would think that the CDI unit would have to be OK if I get any spark so I'm thinking stator or flywheel. Any ideas?

WhenI first got my shee many years ago I thought the clutch was slipping. I put some new tires on the rear and the clutch slip went away.

I would tend to agree with you but hope your wrong. I totally rebuilt the harness using wire I obtained from a new automotive wiring harness using the proper guage and color coding. I grew up in a new car dealership and learned that wiring harness replaced for any electrical problem are scrapped after the warrnaty claim is paid. They have the most up to date fireproof insulation and a wire of extremely high quality. And they have lots of colors in them. Most dealers parts deptartments will give or sell you one if you ask the Mgr. nicely. I thought I had missed something so I took it all the way back apart to re-check the wiring. I eliminated the TORS circuit and the Ign. key circuit. and uprated the guage of main wires. I may have missed something but after checking the coil and finding it out of spec I feel I must replace it before I look elseware. It is an original '87 coil and I find that the plug wires usually fail first. I'll keep everyone posted when the new coil gets here from Vito's. Thanks

I was thinking stator but with the coil secondary resistance reading infinity it about has to be the culprit. With the light switch off there should not be a load on the stator to take away from the ignition. If I read the wiring diagram correctly, there is a seperate circuit on the stator for lighting. Does a heaver load on the lighting circuit effect the ignition?

I checked the stator source coil resistance and it is within specs. The pick-up coil is also within specs. The ignition coil primary resistance is within specs but the secondary resistance reads open on either plug wire with caps removed. I just can't understand how the coil can go bad overnight. It's not like leaving the ignition on with a battery ignition and burning it up.

I installed headlights and handlebar switch which had been removed by a previous owner and now it won't start. I have a weak spark but there never was a good one. I am an automotive tech with a strong background in electronics so while I was at it I rebuilt the wiring harness. I did away with the TORS wiring and cleaned up the harness. When it wouldn't start I tore it back apart and verified wiring and used solder and heatshrink on all connections and checked the operation of the switch with an ohm meter. I am wondering if the stator is not up to the job. Will this cause a weak spark. Have checked for sheared key in flywheel as well as pulse coil gap. Thanks for any help on this.

I got parking brake assy from him and all parts were in great shape. Arrived quickly to. Would buy from him again.

How much for the Renthal bars shipped to 28730?

If he doesn't bite I may be interested.

Payment Sent. Thanks

Yes but our roads are steep and twisty. I have to slow down for curves as my shee don't turn when front wheels are off the ground, which is pretty much every time it comes on the pipe. I probably have no business with a shee but I ascribe to the Stroker McGurk theory which goes: If some is good and more is better then too much is just about right!

I want the E brake. How much shipped to 28730?

I ride mostly on the mountain I live on at 2800-3400 ft. I have never wound her out in 4th gear as I don't have room. I run out of trail way before I run out of gears. In the posted instructions on doing a plug chop it says to wind her out in top gear. I am guess it would be ok to just go with 4th as opposed to 6th?

Thanks. Thats what I wanted to know. I didn't want to burn a hole in a piston. After reading all the hype about needing a special needle to run without the lid I was a bit concerned but I had read where it wasn't necessary either.

It is a stock engine with Gnarlys. I have heard about the trick of bolting the filter adapter to the airbox. I plan to do a plug chop as soon as I break in the new top end. It has always run great till the waterpump impeller went away and siezed a piston. I just wondered what would be required to pitch the airbox lid as I have heard it makes a difference. I am riding mostly at 3000 ft. and above 50 deg.

I am runnubg 260 mains with 25 pilots and plugs look right. The air box is stock with snorkle removed and K&N filter. What size jets do you think I should try with lid removed?

You wouldn't have the parking brake stuff that most people pitch by any chance. I live on a mountain and a parking brake would come in handy at times.

Mine dosen't actually hit the petcock. It just makes it hard to get to. I can only use the reserve position or off. I have to wait for the pipes to cool to shut ithe fuel off when hot.

It's a modquad Hi-Flo. Actually all i did was buff the edge on the shoulder. it was raser sharp and after ruining a brand new seal I wasn't about to make that mistake twice.

I've got he same deal. It says FMF on the pipes and they were on her when aquired ten years ago. They looked like they were chrome at one point but have been mostly rusty since I get her. A real pain to work the petcock. I'll proibably upgrade them when I get the $'s.

I got all of the parts for my impeller replacement/mod and tackled it today. I found out the expensive way that you need to bevel the edge on the billit impeller shaft where the step is as it will eat the lip of the new seal. Mine was quite sharp from the factory and a little work on the bench grinder took the edge off of it. I found out what happened to the old impeller. For some reason it sticks out too far and rubs the cover. I had to make a thicker gasket so it would clear. I noticed that there were two gaskets on there when I was cleaning the mating surfaces for the new gasket. Has anyone else run into that?

My impeller must have flexed and rubbed against the cover as it is warn away and the cover plate has grooves in it. If anything was in the jugs, my friend the MC mechanic would have removed them. I'll flush the radiator good before I ride her. I'm not certain about the coolant flow on the banshee. Would they most likely be in the top or bottom tank on the radiator? I would want to reverse flush it to remove any remaining pieces.