Afternoon all,
I was looking to pick the experts brains on here as i am a novice and still very much learning.
I was enjoying riding my C15 the other day when without warning it suddenly died.
Its kicking over and trying to start but doesn't seem to be firing.
Would this be the ignition coil?
Thanks for viewing.
Oh dear, to help diagnose from a distance, there are a million variables, all of which this community will need to have to enable us to help you.
Eg. Fuel, battery status , fuses if any , what happened , when any prior hiccups, gi e us as much as possible please
check for a spark it could be points closed up, the condenser no good spark plug a bit of carbon across the contacts
it is normally petrol or ignition so start at the plug and work back to the points
Thanks for the replies, really appreciate it.
I've use E5 fuel super shell, battery good, always kicked over within about 3-4 kicks, ran a bit fast on idle though.
The last time i used it i somehow lost the tappet inspection cap and had to carry on riding home, but have replaced that now.
But that same last ride, all was going well. had been out for around 3-4 hours.
Stopped at a couple of destinations and it was faultless firing up.
Riding the last bit of my journey at around 55mph on A road and it just died.
Pulled to the side of the road and tried to kick it but nothing.
I've been into the garage and looked at the spark plug and it is sparking.
So, you have a spark , but the bikes not going.
Is there fuel getting out of the tank to the carb and from the carb to the engine.
Is the plug wet or dry
If it has a monobloc carb crack the nut at the bottom of the carb and see if petrol comes out if not you know where to look.
Thanks for the replies.
When I tickle the carb it does have fuel coming out.
Is that what you mean?
The plug was dark but dry
Ok, so you've established a spark and fuel from the tickler.
Is the spark a good crisp healthy blue spark , or a weaker strength spark.
You need 3 things
Spark
Fuel
Compression
You seemingly have 2 of these
I'll pop to halfords and get a new plug, that will be a cheap step to eliminate if that's the issue.
Just unscrew the plug cap and wedge the lead end between 2 cylinder head fins.
Kick it over , should be a nice blue crack from the end of the ht lead to the fin.
New sparkplug is in.
It is an effort to get it to fire up which I never had before, it was always starting within a few kicks.
It takes about 10 kicks then fires but then stops straight away.
so , it sems if you have a spark - momentarily
there are a few other items in the delivery of a spark.
start at the battery - fuse - ammeter - ignition switch - ht coil - down to the points and finally condenser across the points.
what is the gap like at the points? - how clean are they ? - what is the condenser like? - simpler to just change it frankly - dismantle points and look at them - are the grubby/charred/ or clean and shiny and bright and finally you need a gap of .015" between the points when the cam is on its peak.
try that lot
All good advice
The fact that it fires and then stops suggests to me you might have a blocked jet in your carburettor.
Ideally you should strip and clean the carburettor with carburettor cleaning spray and compressed air (not poking wires through the brass keys if you can avoid it., check the fuel filter on your petrol tap and if it's dirty with bits of rust give the tank a couple of wrinses out and make sure the filter on the carb inlet banjo is clean too.
By the time you do this you will be an expert.
Don't forget to take photos of each step of carb dismantling and note how many turns the pilot adjuster is from being screwed home.