Wilsons Sandbox

Paul, C.D.I. units generally work correctly or not at all. There are no mechanical parts (like a physical ignition advance unit) that can fail. Sometimes an electronic unit will work okie dokie when cold but fail when they are warmed up. It's possible that the electronic ignition advance circuitry is not working properly. This can be easily checked with a strobe-type timing light and observing if the ignition timing is advancing properly. It's hard to diagnose via long distance, but I would suspect a fuel/air problem rather than the ignition system. Is your bike stock? Any work done on your KLR recently? How's the gas milage? How does your bike run at all other engine/road speeds? How's the engine power? How's the spark plug color? How many miles ago was it fully tuned up? Are the motor mounts tight? Other lister's have reported that "flaky" tachometer operation is a sign that a C.D.I. unit is failing. Bottom line, I think your friends theory is wrong. Professor A9 Federal Way, WA. [USA] ps: For all listers with operational problems, it's much easier for the list's "experts" to diagnose a problem when you fully describe your KLR (year, mileage, recent work done, modifications, etc.). Otherwise it's kinda like "Hey doc, I've got a headache, what's wrong?" ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ --- "Paul T" wrote:

> Hi, > > The other day a friend of mine checked out my bike and he > told me that my CDI unit is probably broken. > > The symptoms, in his opinion: > > -when i open the throttle suddenly and i let it go right > away, the engine seems to "knock" for a fraction of a second > > -the engine seems to start operating noticaebly smoother > exactly at the moment i pass 3200-3500 rpm. > > I'd appreciate if somebody that already had a broken CDI > could tell me if these might be the right symptoms of a > broken CDI, and how much a CDI unit sells for. No need to > explain how to test or change it. I just want to see if > others agree that these might be the symptoms of a broken > CDI. Thanks in advance, > > Paul Tarnowski > A5 > Montreal, CANADA

In a message dated 2/26/03 4:34:55 AM Central Standard Time, achesley@... writes:

> My '56 Harley 165

My first motorcycle, the neat thing about it was although it was a small motor the bike was full size. I lived out in the woods in Northern Minnesota many miles from the nearest paved road and that little two stroke was perfect, nobody told me it wasn't a trail bike so I didn't know any better. Kurt G. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]