Motorcycle Repair: no fire to spark plugs, roland roland, semi conductors

Question
Hi , a few months ago my 1987 Honda shadow stalled on me , I i had no fire going to the plugs, the next day i started again , so i brought it to the dealer  where they checked all wires and grounds everything seemed to look fine , he charged the battery before i took it out the shop thinking it may be weak in amperage yet the bike would turn at a good pace,he said maybe it could be the cdi ignition box, , since then i drove the bike almost 3000km , when this problem happened again ,no fire to plugs ,after 10 minutes it started up fine where i drove it bake home.Would a cdi box act up more periodictly withtin 3000km? or could it have been the battery? or is there anything else we are overlooking? Thank you, Roland

Answer
Roland,

The problem could be caused by the CDI, the battery, or other.

Try and remember what you've done before and during when the problem occurs. Example: Does it happen after washing the MC or after it rains?  

Check battery cables for clean, tight connections. Check all electrical connectors and place dielectric grease in them. Check fuse box and fuse holders for corrosion and tight connections.

Check kill switch and ignition sw. for corrosion. Avoid pressure washing your MC. This causes water shorting. Dielectric grease will help prevent this from happening.

Elctronic components (semi-conductors) are unpredictable and difficult to troubleshoot in the motorcycle shop.

Check the above mentioned items.

Mark