General questions not related to any bike specifically.
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Hey brothers, so I’m working on my new buy… 98’ vs800 that’s been sitting for untold years. I’ve done allot of the time up stuff and it fired up a couple times and seemed in good running condition. I recently haven’t been able to keep it fired up though, hard to start & ive been cranking until the battery dies now i originally thought that the keys got plugged up again because they were very gunked up, so i tore it down and re cleaned both again! And i has to give full throttle to start it and hold….. after it does again i realized that ONLY ONE EXAUST WAS HOT, the other was ice cold…. Does that mean only one ignition coil is getting ? Any input is appreciated. Also when i changed the plugs off the coils just popped outta the boot, the other one is solid though.
“If you want to be happy for a day, drink.
If you want to be happy for a year, marry.
If you want to be happy for a lifetime, ride a motorcycle!!”
I am sure one of the VS800 experts will be in soon but until then lets try some easy stuff.
Fill the carbs with Seafoam and let them sit over night. Add 4 ounces of seafoam to the tank and drain the float bowls before you try to start it. You may just have a little unseen crap in the carbs, the seafoam may fix that.
Intruders run on the battery so if that isn't good you may be chasing gremlins forever. Best to have it load tested just to be sure, even new batteries are sometimes bad.
First thing to try would be to cut 1/2" off the lead of the cold cylinder and screw it back into the cap. Remove the plug from the cylinder and stick it into the plug cap, touch the body of the plug to any frame earthing point and crank the motor, check for spark. New coils are not expensive and are not bike exclusive, stock HT leads are also cheap, be sure to get copper cored leads.
Next, get back to us for more suggestions if needed.
Ok i did but a lil off the top… do i need to expose some of the wires before screwing the boot on? Because i did that and did a t test but got no spark at all
“If you want to be happy for a day, drink.
If you want to be happy for a year, marry.
If you want to be happy for a lifetime, ride a motorcycle!!”
Do you have a multi-meter? Turn on the ignition and check for 12v on both wires on the coil. If you have 12v then remove the trigger wire (the orange wire is the hot wire and is common to both coils). Unscrew the cap and cut the lead back to expose a little of the core wire, with a screwdriver short the trigger spade on the coil to ground whilst holding the HT lead to a grounding point, you should get a spark every time you short down(do not do this with the trigger wire still attached to the coil). Still no spark? replace the trigger wire and check for voltage on both sides of the plastic connector at the CDI box. If you have voltage trace the other wires from the CDI to the alternator, check for continuity through the plastic connector, remove the chrome cover for the clutch slave, the one with the gear numbers, closely inspect the wires coming out of the alternator cover, they have a habit of getting hardened and splitting at this point.(not easy to do this).
So am update…i retested the coil with spark plug against the motor and got maybe it’s the battery, after trickle charge is at 12.8 but i have tried testing with a load
“If you want to be happy for a day, drink.
If you want to be happy for a year, marry.
If you want to be happy for a lifetime, ride a motorcycle!!”
Take the battery off the bike, give it a good overnight charge then take it to a store that can give it a load test. When replacing give all the contacting surfaces a good clean up. Check the earth cable for swelling/stiffness at the battery side, this is indicative of a point of high resistance and will cause problems.
Any auto parts store can load test the battery. It's a free test and the only way to know you are starting with a good battery. 12.8v after a full charge is a little low it should be closer to 13.2v.
If you have any type of electrical issue, have your battery load tested before you do anything else. Any auto parts store will test it for free.
Thanks guys i tried the test again and it does have spark i wasn’t holding the starter buttons long enough I guess… i ordered a new battery though just incase, should arrive tomorrow
“If you want to be happy for a day, drink.
If you want to be happy for a year, marry.
If you want to be happy for a lifetime, ride a motorcycle!!”
We’lli got the new battery in and got her started, after a warm tried to ride out and when i put her in gear she would not ride! In first hear it was like it was on neutral🥲
I had this problem during the first test drive got about two or three miles and it started slipping, then i bleed the old clutch fluid and refilled and it rode home no problems now though i got no engagements at all, the reservoir was very gunked up when i changed the fluid .. think it could be clogged again?
“If you want to be happy for a day, drink.
If you want to be happy for a year, marry.
If you want to be happy for a lifetime, ride a motorcycle!!”
In the bottom of the reservoir is a tiny hole that allows fluid to return from the slave; especially important as the slave warms and the fluid inside it expands. I use a single strand of wire from a brass cleaning brush to poke into that hole; never steel, as it can enlarge the hole.
In the bottom of the reservoir is a tiny hole that allows fluid to return from the slave; especially important as the slave warms and the fluid inside it expands. I use a single strand of wire from a brass cleaning brush to poke into that hole; never steel, as it can enlarge the hole.
Always kinda wondered why the return hole is so small on the MC. I seen people drill them out with apparently no adverse effects.
End of the day though - if there's crud blocking this then a full clean of the system is in order. Poking the hole clear is just a bandaid fix.
now i originally thought that the keys got plugged up again because they were very gunked up, so i tore it down and re cleaned both again! And i has to give full throttle to start it and hold….. after it does again i realized that ONLY ONE EXAUST WAS HOT, the other was ice cold…. Does that mean only one ignition coil is getting 
? Any input is appreciated. Also when i changed the plugs 
off the coils just popped outta the boot, the other one is solid though.
tried to ride out and when i put her in gear she would not ride! In first hear it was like it was on neutral🥲 
