QuestionI have a problem with not getting enough spark to my spark plug. It isn't the ingition coil and I've traced it back to where the wires go into engine. I don't know if a motorcycles have a magneto but I talk to a Honda dealership repair man but he wouldn't answer any questions for me unless I brought the bike into them. And with them not giving me any ideal of the repair cost I was wondering if you might know what it might be and if it would be worth it. Another important fact is that the bike was caught on fire due to a faulty float in one of the carbes causing some electrical shorting. All part on the exterior of the engine have been tested and replaced if they were bad.
Thank you for any information that you could provide.
Sincerely,
Matt
AnswerHi Matthew.
Well, for starters, only the smaller bikes and real antiques have a magneto. Modern bikes have what is called a staor coil. It is more efficient.
The way to determine if it is the stator or something else is to start the bike and test the charge at the battery terminals.
If you are getting 13-15 VDC, then the stator is good.
If the problem is a wire going to the stator, then you may just need to repair the wire, depending on how far down the short is. If it is too far down (inside the sealed portion of the crankcase), then there isn't much to do about it except replace the stator.
You could also have a bad battery. Check that with a hygrometer for motorcycle batteries. A standard automotive one will have too large a tube to use on the bike battery.
Leaky carbs do not cause electrical shorts. The two systems are completely unrelated. Now a leak could have caused the fire and the wiring got burned, but leaky carbs do not cause electrical shorts or fires.
Check those out and see what you find.
Good luck.
FALCON
