Wing died on me again--imput needed

[yiterp]

for the second time my wing died on me--this happened today--stuck on the side of the road till it cooled down --got it started and drove it 25 miles to a friends--no problems at all--really has me stumped--when this happens it is like a loss of power--no noise--bike will be a normal temp about 4 or 5 bars--try to restart and it trys but will not run--let cool down to a bar or less and starts a little hard then smooths out and runs as good as it always does--will restart with no problem--charging system is fine--new battery--idles at 13 volts or so and cruises at 14 or so--anyone have any imput as to what might cause this--bad coil maybe??

[Guest]

Hey YIT!
Thought you had that dying concern all figured out! Darn, never that easy is it?
When your bike dies, find out if you're lossing spark on all cylinders or just two. If it's all four, the problem isn't with the coils. Most likely the CDI unit. If you only lose it on two cylinders, then it's time to start checking for a bad coil or pickup. Seems to be heat related, generally a sign of electronic component failure.

[yiterp]

yea i'm sure it is heat related--but why after i get it going again everything seems fine?--will ride it for days or weeks--no problem--i would think when it warms back up it would do the same thing --do you have any imput as how to determine were the problenm is?

[SIR tricky]

Possible pulse generators.
These give this problem when heated up. You can test them by heating them with a hair drier or heat gun and measuring the Ohm readings.
Resistance at 20" C (68" F), '84: 1200 + or - 100 Ohms
After '84: 330+ or - 33 Ohms

[yiterp]

tricky,
is this while the bike is running?

[SIR tricky]

You could do the test when the bike is cold, then run it till it's at operating temperature. It can be erratic at time's working one minute then working the next. After exhausting other avenues that could cause the problem, replacing the PG's is the eventual test. If it clears up the problem your happy if it doesnt then you do have a spare set

[Guest]

Most likely the CDI unit. If you only lose it on two cylinders, then it's time to start checking for a bad coil or pickup.

Okay guys, it's come to my attention that some thought it was insensitive of me to tell Wyatt to get a pickup. That's not what I meant.
A "pickup" is a term we use to classify a sensor more commonly called a "pickup coil". Also referred to as a crankshaft or camshaft "position sensor" or "revolution sensor", which Honda chooses to call a "pulse generator". I wasn't being flip.

Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I understand it, there are two pulse generators. They "pickup" (there's that word again) the signal from the crankshaft . One pulse generator provides the signal for one coil, while the other drives the second coil. The wires go into a magic box called the CDI which ultimately provides the coil ground for proper spark timing.
Tricky, or Vic, jump in here. Do we know if just one faulty pulse generator would actually cause the engine to die, or just cause the coil to not fire? :?

[yiterp]

i am going to check this out further and try and determine if it is only trying to fire on one side or both--seems like when it is trying to start it is trying on both sides--like i said when it cools down will restart and you can drive it no problem and also restart with no problem--and when it warms back up no problems at all--this problem might not happen again for days or even more

[yiterp]

forgot to say before when this problem happens the bike has only been running for 10 minutes or so never happens after i am riding it around

[Guest]

Electronic problems that occur due to heat can be irratic. Fine cold, open warm, fine hot and so on. The hair dryer trick that Rick mentioned is about the best "test" you can do for these types of intermittent concerns. You should be able to check the CDI in the same way.
One coil fires #1 and 2 spark plug, the other #3 and 4