Electrical question

acadia81 · Post by **acadia81** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:16 pm

I just took my '82 out of storage, charged the battery and tried to start
it. No Luck.
I pulled the #1 plug to check spark, and when I held the plug to the fins
with the ignition on but NOT touching the starter button,
I noticed an arc to the plug, when I held the plug to the fin the plug
produced a constant low spark.
I tried 2 different battery chargers, then removed the battery and put
the charger leads directly on the battery cables.
Same result.
I stopped right there for fear of doing damage, if I haven't already.

Any ideas? Thanks

EMS · Post by **EMS** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:41 pm

I am no electrical expert, but I don't think there is an explanation for this phenomenon, is there

acadia81 · Post by **acadia81** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:22 pm

Do you mean they all do that?
It's normal?
I never noticed it before, but I've never checked it.

cbx4evr · Post by **cbx4evr** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:31 pm

I'm guessing an open circuit in the ignition switch but I'm no electrical expert either.

alimey4u2 · Post by **alimey4u2** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:37 am

The spark has to be circuit leakage, if it jumps a gap larger than ( or the same as) the plug gap, there is a problem for sure... My Dyna S system often fires a plug as soon as I switch the ignition on (without the starter) but I'm sure that's not related.

acadia81 · Post by **acadia81** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:24 pm

Thanks for the help.
Just thought I let you know what I found.

I bought a new battery for the bike at Ed's Batteries in Westbrook, Maine,
and mentioned the problem. One of the guys said although he wasn't
familiar with CBXs', he thought it was a normal condition in electronic ignitions.

His reasoning was that when you turn on the key and energize the ignition
system, there is current flowing. He thought that because I was just touching the plug to the head, there was not a sufficient ground for the
current to dissipate. Like Alimey4u2 said, the plug should spark once when it's threaded in the head.
His suggestion was to ground the plug with a heavy jumper wire,
when I did the arcing stopped.

I reinstalled the plugs, installed the new battery and the old girl fired up
and ran like a charm. I think the old battery had a dead cell or two and kept the bike from turning over fast enough to start the bike after sitting for several months, even on a battery charger.

Now I just have to wait for the snow up here to melt.
We're due for another 8-10 inches tomorrow, so I'll just keep
polishing and dreaming while I wait for Spring.

alimey4u2 · Post by **alimey4u2** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:09 am

Gnus acadia81, Thanks for the feedback & safe & enjoyable riding....