Well my Awesome Running 98 125 Sucks Again.

[dellaquila]

[dellaquila]

[dellaquila]

[dellaquila]

[dellaquila]

So there it is. Now I just have to figure out that leaky master cylinder, get the chain on and adjusted, exhaust, plastic, and gas tank... i think. Hopefully I don't find any extra parts behind my workbench or anything! I'm happy with where it's at for right now, I just hope it starts up again, I'm not sure if the stator is in the exact same spot as it was... so my ignition might be a tad off. Those new reeds are purty, they better not break like the last set!! Hopefully I'll get it all finished up tomorrow since it's finally my weekend.

[A-310]

Wow, very nice work. I like the detailed pictures you took. When you get it back together we need a ride report.

[dellaquila]

Thanks, if/when I get it to start I'll let you know!
Here's the last couple steps that I got done this morning:

Rear Tire/Chain on



Frame Guard on



Exhaust Installed



Almost there! Plastic on, just missing shifter and fuel line



Fuel line on but forgot the shifter.



So that's how it sits. I took it outside to try to start it but it won't start up. I got it to fire twice, once right away and then once again after changing sparkplugs. It's getting spark, I checked that. I was originally thinking the timing is off but I'm not so sure... it's getting good spark and the stator plate is really close, if not exactly, where it was before. I can tell because the screws left impressions, so I just put them back as close as I could, plus that line lines up with the tick mark on there. So now I'm not sure what to do. I can't imagine something's wrong with the carb since it was working fine when I took it off and didn't mess with it at all. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks! Now I have to install the shifter and it's 100% back together... until I tear it apart again to get it to start. haha

[A-310]

Your timing looks good from the picture. I'd look at the carb as the culprit if you say that you have good spark. Make sure your getting fuel, by that I mean lean the bike over until you see fuel comming out the overflow tube. Put the bike upright again and then pull the choke on and kick it over. Should start in a few kicks. If it doesn't investigate the carb. Hope this works. How did the bike run before the reed broke?

[dellaquila]

Thanks 310, I'm in the process of taking the carb off but the garage got too hot to work in. It ran great after I got the jetting leaned out... for like an hour... then the reed broke. I'm hoping it's something obvious like a piece of dirt in there, but I'm worried it's going to be something I can't find or fix.

[ken_atm]

The jets aren't clogged are they?
I did have a pilot jet come loose on me once, guess I didn't snug it up that well...I had a hell of a time starting my yfz (thank god for the button) until I figured out why it would only turn over wide open lol.

I'm no motor man so that's all I can offer and yes that diagram was the one of the washers I was looking at, but I guess you figured that out since your motor is together.

Thanks for all the pics and taking the time to do that. Prolly help me a ton when I get the time to do my bottom end.

[A-310]

Originally Posted by dellaquila

Thanks 310, I'm in the process of taking the carb off but the garage got too hot to work in. It ran great after I got the jetting leaned out... for like an hour... then the reed broke. I'm hoping it's something obvious like a piece of dirt in there, but I'm worried it's going to be something I can't find or fix.

Don't worry, you probably got a little dirt in the carb when you did the rebuild. Has happened to me before as well. There's only three things you need for the engine to run: Fuel, compression, ignition. The fourth thing is air flow.

[dellaquila]

Thanks guys, I took the subframe and shock off to get better access to the carb. I pulled it off but didn't take it apart yet since I want to have enough time to clean it thoroughly before I put it back in so I can rule the carb out if it still doesn't start. Does my stator look ok? I've never had it apart before and when I was pulling the flywheel there was a loud crack and the flywheel came off abruptly, no real loosening or anything. The flywheel looked fine but I'm not sure about those weird patterns on the stator. Since it's getting spark I'm not sure what to think of it. I haven't done a compression test but it feels like it has good compression still, and you saw the pictures of the piston, a little black scuffing but nothing major. That just leaves fuel and air, and it has brand new reeds... so I think fuel is the logical choice. I'm really hoping to find something blaringly wrong with it. It was leaking out of the bottom of the float really slowly I noticed... maybe it has a bad seal on the float bowl? Guess I'll find out tomorrow! Thanks again guys.

[dellaquila]

Well I took the carb apart, removed all the jets, blew air through everything, but it was clean as a whistle in there. So I put it all back together, put everything back on the bike, and same problem. It tried to fire once right away then wouldn't give me anything... i kicked it probably 50 times. so now i'm thinking simpler and hoping it's just bad gas since it's from April 19th, the last time I rode. I drained just about all of the gas through the carb, made a mess, but now I'm ready to try some new stuff.... just have to go buy and mix it. I'm really hoping it's just that the gas was stale and i was too thick to think about it. I also need to pick up a new o-ring for the float bowl drain or whatever it's called, I think that's where my slow leak was coming from.

[Freak]

I know you said you checked the spark, but how good of spark is it? I see a quad in the background of one of your pics. Do they take the same plug? Pull the plug, take it to the quad and see if the quad is putting out a better spark than your bike. My boat would not run awhile back. It was getting spark and gas. I took the coil down to the shop and they said spark was good. I decided to go ahead and buy a new coil. When I checked the spark from the new coil, it was massive. Point is, you can have spark, but if it's weak, it won't do much but sputter and try to run. Just try the quad plug trick. Also, if they do take the same plug. Get the plug good and hot and then throw it in your bike and try to start. Sorry for spelling and grammer, I'm in a hurry!

[dellaquila]

no they don't take the same plug, i wish! well i got the carb all cleaned up and fresh gas and premix in it and it still won't fire for me, so i'm leaning toward weak spark now too. i can't imagine the coil or cdi would be bad since they were fine a few months ago... the only electrical thing i've touched is the stator, and i'm not sure but i might've hurt it when i took it off. i wish i knew someone close that i could swap stators with so i don't have to blow $120 on a new one!

[dellaquila]

i was doing some searching and research on here on stator and coil problems and came across a thread that talked about condensation on the stator not being good, so i went out and pulled my flywheel and stator plate again, cleaned all the dust and everything out and reinstalled it all and tried to start it again. it had my hopes up because it came the closest to firing as it has yet, but still no dice. my next plan of action is buying a new stator for ~$130from alba action online and seeing if that does the trick. if not i'll move onto the coil i suppose. this thing's starting to get ridiculous!

[krzywhiteboy]

In your manual there should be a wiring diagram that will show what resistance should be at the primary and secondary sides of the coil. so you can at least eliminate that. Also check that your kill switch or the wiring to it is not going bad. I would totaly disconnect it. Everything can be tested but the stator so rule out everything but that before you drop 130 bucks.

[Freak]

right on. Yea, many people think just cause they see spark, "it's all good". Not the case. Weak spark, will get you some sputters and backfires and such. I think your on the right track bud.

[dellaquila]

alright well i'll take the tank and stuff back off and test the resistance through the coil and try the kill switch trick

[dellaquila]

alright well i got the tank and seat back off and checked the coil's connections and grounds and everything. it looked alright so i checked the resistance through the coil and that also came out within specs according to the manual. i took the kill switch off as well and will post some pics of it. it looks messed up but there's no wires touching where they shouldn't be or anything. I also took the exhaust off just to check the powervalves since I cleaned them while it was apart, but they are functioning right as well. the only weird thing was that there was a bunch of oil/gas in the pipe when i took it off. is that just because it was flooded or is there another problem here?