Well, just when you think there is nothing about a bike that you have owned/built/used for a decade that you can't fix.....John the plumber who i sold number 3 (srx6) to 2 years ago bought the bike round to mine this weekend with a non starting problem.
Since i sold it to him, he has had the engine rebuilt by Denver Motorcycles, with a pair of mikuni 34mm carbs and various other nice mods, and it has been an excellent bike, John adding over 20k trouble free miles since he bought it.
November 2008 saw the bike starting to have problems starting, though once running, was fine.
this got worse, until 3 weeks ago the thing just refused to start.
On saturday I removed and drained the tank, buying a gallon of fresh petrol, i checked the spark, and it was a bit weak, on testing the wiring the cable from the CDi unit to the coil was a touch intermittent so bypassed that, bypassed the side stand switch and the kill switch, with a new plug the spark seemed healthier, i checked and adjusted the valve clearances, and the exhaust valve lifter free play. Once this was all done, the engine still refused to fire, although there was an occasional bluddy great backfire!
So, thinking it seemed like spark timing I fitted a known working CDi unit.....still the same
and it was also the same with a different coil.
I checked the stator winding resistances and they are within tolerance...
As i had a spare good carb setup, i replaced those, still no signs of life...
That is where I am today....and now i must start to look elsewhere...
possibilities, as far as i can see are...
stator has moved or is damaged
cam timing chain has slipped
sticking valve (though compression seems fine)
rotor has slipped (unlikely, as it is keyed)
burnt valve
any other ideas will be most welcome.....
cheers