Planet Minis

Luckystar64

My KLX just died right in the middle of a race a couple weeks ago-- I can't seem to figure out what's wrong with it...

The motor is all stock with a BBR cam, 4th gear shift drum, hydro clutch, and BBR pipe. It was just completely rebuilt with a new crank, head, cylinder, piston and rings. It may have 5 races on it since the rebuild, and I don't practice on it as I have a stocker that I fool around on and practice with....

It isn't getting spark as far as I can tell. I have another showroom stock bike that I took off every single electrical component and tested on the showroom stock bike. That includes the kill switch, CDI, coil, neutral only start switch, spark plug, and stator. Every single electrical part worked on the other bike. The motor has compression... Any ideas? Something to do with the flywheel? Something I'm missing? ---L*64

Twister773

check the grounds...bumpstart kit if it has one could be the culprit...

Luckystar64

The only ground I know of is the one that goes between the coil and the frame, and I tried the on/off switch too. I don't have the bumpstart, but I already considered the neutral switch that sits where the bumpstart would go. I actually pulled that out and tried it on the other bike, and it worked fine on the other one.

Is there anything mechanically inside the engine that could cause a problem like this? Other than the wiring harness-- I tried every electrical component on the bike. The only other thing that I was thinking it could be, would be the flywheel key... Any other suggestions? --L*64

2wheeltyson

theres also a rectifier. it's the silver box by the steering tube. but the next place i would check is the flywheel and pickup. remember to lay the bike on the clutch side or you'll get oil everywhere.

Luckystar64

Yeah... The rectifier is the only thing that I didn't switch out. Does it unplug, or do I have to have the whole damn wiring harness off? Can the flywheel go bad? Or do you mean the woodruff key? I don't really know about the pickups-- I may have to have my mechanic look into that.

One more detail-- when I pulled the side cover off that has the stator in it, one of the screws was out that holds... the pickup maybe?-- the other part of the stator that's attached to the bottom of that side cover with a couple of screws. I simply put the screw back where it belongs, and tried the whole setup on the other bike, and it worked fine. Is the pickup in the LH side cover, or is it under the flywheel someplace? I asked my mechanic about the rectifier, and he said that probably isn't the problem. Anything else I could look for? ---L*64

bonez1093

you could just take the side cover off and check the woodruff key and the neutral sensor did you try the whole assembly in the other bike? you should make sure it is grounded on the bike that doesnt work

2wheeltyson

yes the pick-up is the little piece that is screwed to the ignition cover. and if 1 screw was out it could have been far enough away to not work. if that wasn't it try to spin the flywheel by hand (if the keyway is bad the FW should have a little back and forth play without the motor turning over. make sure the connection for the kill switch is good because if it's unplugged the bike wont run (unlike hondas were you dont need the KS) other than that triple check the ground. and finally switch the stator out (it's the coil winds inside the cover)

Luckystar64

Yeah... That was it. I started to think about it. After I put the pickup screw back in, I tried that stator in the other bike, and it worked. Once I put it back into my race bike-- I never checked for spark. I just kicked it a bunch of times. When it didn't start up, I assumed that wasn't the problem. When I started to think about it, I figured I'd better check for spark now that I put the pickup back on. It had mega spark.

What happened is that I had that tank off last week trying to figure out what was going on with that bike, and I dumped all but just a little gas (I left just enough to get the bike started up in the diagnosis process) into my practice stocker. Hey! Times are tough!

When I went to start the race bike up yesterday, after I put the pickup screw back in-- the gas that was in the tank was over in the RH side of the tank-- away from the petcock. When I put gas in it today-- it started and ran fine. Total cost of this fix: $4 for a new side cover gasket on the stocker. I even had it in stock. Another KLX110 lesson learned-- I just wish that these lessons didn't arise right in the middle of races. Thanks for the help-- I'm sure that it won't be the last time I'll need it. ---L*64

Luckystar64

Haha... Now that I think about it-- I had the bike laying in the grass on its' right side so that when I pulled off the LH stator cover, all the oil wouldn't drain out. That's probably why the little bit of gas that was in there sloshed over to the right side of the tank, and the bike wouldn't start. ---L*64

2wheeltyson

glad to hear nothing was fried.

mototim

Make sure its getting fuel and check the ground. Also try disconnecting the kill switch

Twister773

if you disconnect the kill switch...i can 100% guarantee you it wont run

mototim

Forgot im running an inner rotor kit, so i can disconnect the kill switch

mototim

Glad to here it was okay