Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech need help in MO, Bonne loses spark in the rain

Hey there,
VTladybiker here stuck in Missouri with a bike that will not start after being in the rain. NO SPARK

Husband says that there is power at the coils with the key on and does not have his tester, just a multi metter so he does not know if it has a pulse or not. ...Husband typing now..Slower huh? I suspect the ignitor but can find any cracks/ damage. I Brought ignitor inside over night and siliconed all seams figuring it is a start since we finished the trip in rental and am going back to the bikes first thing in the morning. Right now they are in a u-haul truck 4 hours away so any info we can get we have to try there with no pc. What I have done so far. Unplugged/inspected all connectors under seat/ tank. Look great and have grease in them. The exception is the 3 yellow alt. wires were bare of their coating from plug about 1/2". Cleaned insulated they get quite warm when running. After our first break down it fired right up the next day and went fine for 1000 miles until we got caugt in the rain. Pulled to rest area and wont start back up. Anybody been here? Should I go in the headlight hunting? I expect it to start when we get there but cant afford anymore u-hauls/rentals/extra motels. Thanks in advance we are ready to go back to VT

Before I forget, but my husband already did. I know that I usually read the Lounge first and not go directly to the tech stuff. Which is why I posted this here. I am very ready to go home to VT! but am stuck in MO, with a bike in Il.
Thanks, vtladybiker (formerly known as sweet_pea)

I had similar trouble a year or so back, went out for a bike meet parked the bike up cleaned it the next morning would not start. A day or two later it started then ended up on one cylinder then packed in all together. This was the CDI and had it replaced. Might be worth finding out if anyone close to you would be willing to swop CDI's to eliminate it..

Other than that, dielectric grease and keep fingers crossed, good luck

Where in MO are you?

Our daughter graduated today from Fort Leonardwood, Missouri today . I am so proud that she will be serving our country! We are currently in St. Roberts, MO. Our bikes are in a UHaul in Effingham, Illiois. We will be back there tomorrow morning. would it be effective if I post his cell phone number? This has been a problem which has plaged me off and on since I bought the bike. While replacing the part may work, I still have to get it home. sigh,
(Stuck in Mo, wishing I was in VT)

Our daughter graduated today from Fort Leonardwood, Missouri today . I am so proud that she will be serving our country! We are currently in St. Roberts, MO. Our bikes are in a UHaul in Effingham, Illiois. We will be back there tomorrow morning. would it be effective if I post his cell phone number? This has been a problem which has plaged me off and on since I bought the bike. While replacing the part may work, I still have to get it home. sigh,
(Stuck in Mo, wishing I was in VT)
Cindy aka, vtladybiker

Also, as my husband stated, it will run fine during nice weather, but when it rains (or I washed it.) it would not start.
Cindy

what part do you need?

I guess we can take the one off my bike im in effingham.
jims72vega@yahoo.com

Have you checked the side stand switch connector? If it gets really wet it's going to shut the bike down and not let it start.

Check the connector at the lower left side of the front motor cradle.

(weird how the server split my post into two sections...)

Try unscrewing the gas cap a bit. I don't ride in rain much but during one particularly fun and very wet ride there were two of us that had a vapor lock situation. Bikes would not start till we unscrewed the gas caps...waited a minute then fired right back up.

Since your issue is only when riding in rain its worth a shot.

But from what I read having a CDI to try would be my next option.

Good luck to you!

I'm leaning toward the killswitch on the handlebar. Because, with the CDI, Coils and plugwires under the tank, that is where water is most likely to accumulate when the bike is washed or in a heavy rain.

Also, the kickstand interlock switch might be suspect. I think it is tied to both the starter circuit and the ignition circuit. Someone with a wiring diagram will have to confirm that.

I've had issues with switches that have a rubber boot on them. Water will collect in the rubber boot and not drain out causing the tabs to short or loose connection with the wiring harness. That happened on my oil pressure sender and my rear brake switch.

Hope you guys get er goin real soon.

Thank you for all the help!
vtladybiker

I had a problem with my bike not starting after I washed it.....sometimes it had to sit for hours....removed the kickstand switch and sealed it real well with silicone and haven't had the problem since.....I don't ride in the rain!

Let us know what works for you. Hope all turns out well.

if you get spark it is not the CDI, no spark and it most likely is the CDI.
Just pull a plug and turn it over to see if there is spark.

Weel, Thanks to Jim Deere who loaned us the use of his garage as base to get the rental car and Uhaul back to their respective places.
My husband took off the CDI and silaconed around all of the seams. We had to lay over in Colombus Ohio, but we got to go to the AMA Motorcycle musium. and Left Columbus in the pouring rain. We did not chance it, but we left it runing the entire time. The weather was cool and rained the entire way to Corning NY. We arrived safely home on Tuesday of this week. Unfortunately, we have not done any more testing with it yet. I will post more information about it when we figure it out.

I generally don't like to ride in the rain, but when we needed to go to Fort Leonardwood, MO for our daughters graduation from basic training. I reminded my husband that we could fly. (However, he would need to personally meet all of the mechanics who worked on the plane.) We could drive, but I felt I would need a new car. (Giggle) and we could have an adventure and ride motorcycles. So, we rode through 10 on the way out and 7 on the return trip.

I met some incredible people on the way!
Thanks again for all of the help!
Cindy

We are so glad You got home safely.We enjoyed having You guys stop by.Let Me know what You find out what was wrong.Take care.

JIM&ULA

My bike started to dribble oil from the crank case so she is going to on the bench for a while. My husband will figure it out for certain. I will post a update when we find out.

If anyone stranded in VT email triumphsrule@comcast.net and Will MOST DEFINATELY assist. (Laconia bike week is coming up next month!)
Cindy