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Followup To
Question -
I have a '84 honda shadow 500, given to me as a first bike..It ran well but rich..then it started to loose power over a few months..now when I try and get down on the throttle it bogs down...it's ok as long as I run the throttle only have way..I like to do my own repairs, so I ran a carb cleaner through it and 93 octane gas..changed plugs and wires..it runs and sounds good at idle..it has after market pipes and I've noticed that the back pipe puts out more thrust than the front..I took a voltage reading on the coils and found the back coil was 7-8 volts and the front coil was 3-4 volts..
I know this is a lot of info but I like the bike and I'm fixing it up. Riding season is coming up soon again.
Thanks for your help.
Answer -
Hi Tony,
From the limited information given, I suspect there may be a fuel related problem. If the MC was stored for a period of time, investigate varnishing (gumming) of the fuel in the float bowls.
There should be 12 VDC at the ignition coil primary terminals. (I MEASURED 2.9VDC ACROSS ONE COIL AND 2.3 ON THE OTHER...) How did you check coils? (RED LEAD ON ONE TERMINAL AND BLACK ON THE OTHER TERMINAL OF ONE COIL THEN I DID THE OTHER COIL...) What brand and type of VOM (meter) was used? (RADIO SHACK AC, DC, OHM...) What was the VOM's settings? (I HAVE IT SET ON 20 VDC...) What was approximate air temperature at the time of testing? (40 DEGREES INSIDE GARAGE..) Was engine hot or cold when coils were tested? (JUST STARTED IT. I GAVE IT GAS AND IT CUTS OUT BUT THE COIL VOLTAGE NEVER CHANGES...IT RAN GREAT THE FIRST TWO MONTHS I HAD IT..I HAD TO CHANGE SPARK PLUGS OR CLEAN THEM WHERE IT RAN RICH...THEN AFTER A FEW MONTHS IT STARTED THIS PROBLEM I'VE DESCRIBED...)
THANKS, TONY
AnswerTony,
Thanks for providing the requested intel. The meter brand is ok, meter settings ok, temp not a problem, but voltage to ignition coils is low.
Send me an email. I'll return a Troubleshooting Chart and other tech files to assit you with diagnosis and repairs.
My email address is: mshively1@woh.rr.com
Respectfully,
Mark Shviely
