BannedCR500Riders.com

Ok so my 1985 CR500 engine had a bad / no spark. I put a new coil / cap and plug in last night. The spark was great, started up just fine, idled, re-started etc. I went in the house and went back out tonight to assembly the bike and tried for spark and nothing. There is absolutely no spark tonight and this is not the first time this has happened. I am thinking it is the CDI and / or stator. Has anyone ever went through this? I am ready to burn the bike.

Typical of a bad CDI, or stator.

Cold = Works

Hot - No work.

AlisoBob wrote:Typical of a bad CDI, or stator.

Cold = Works

Hot - No work.

The bike was cold tonight when I tried it - still no spark. I'd say the only peace I will have is replace the stator and the CDI - especially since I often ride deep in the woods. I am trying to decide now to replace with newer CR500 ignition or CR250.

just went thru something similar with a customer, changed the coil and it ran like a top for an hour, quit. coil checked bad, another coil and it was good. Quit, no spark, coil checked good, changed the stator and its stil going.

i hope the killswitch was disconnected, loose wire maybe?
i dont even run one anymore, it was pissing me off hitting it while riding more wires, my bike is a rats nest with the fan battery trailtech.... grip heaters in the winter

I had a similar issue with my 91 and it was a bad CDI. Everything tested fine independently off the bike every time but the spark would come and go when assembled as a unit. I took everything off of my 00 and swapped parts back and forth. It was a real bitch to find since it always tested fine with the multi-meter and would work intermittently when installed on either frame. I would get it started one time and figure the CDI was good and then swap the coil, stator, kill switch and shit and it would randomly stop firing with a certian part, I would replace it and same shit. Basically I just fucked with it forever til one day the CDI actually failed on both bikes.

Had that happen on a 185s 3 wheeler. Put a new plug in and it died at the exact same spot down the street everytime. Finally took it to Honda, yeah bud the stators bad. Ok then can you take the nut off the flywheel before I take it home,... Sure no prob. Run great there after.

iggys-amsoil wrote:Had that happen on a 185s 3 wheeler. Put a new plug in and it died at the exact same spot down the street everytime. Finally took it to Honda, yeah bud the stators bad. Ok then can you take the nut off the flywheel before I take it home,... Sure no prob. Run great there after.

It is a brand new kill button and yes I tried it disconnected. I think I will replace both the CDI and stator and be done with it. I ride in the woods and cannot have an unreliable bike. I bought a new two connection coil but I can run with one connection (like the newer CR500) by connecting the coil ground to the frame so I did not waste my money on that. I have tried three coils so far (found another I had lying around). The results were the same on all three. Thanks guys.

I have a complete ignition from my 99 available that I know works. I bought a 250 set-up from Roosty. Need to keep the kill switch though. No idea if the years interchange but let me know if you need it. It's sitting in a box on the bench. Doing nothing.

Not trying to hijack the thread or nothing but, what would be the best course of action if the CDI were bad?
New/used, PVL or CR250?
I know better than to put a Yamaha CDI on my vintage Yamahas.
Straight to PVL because so many of the OEM's go bad.

The stock Honda OEM stuff is pretty darn reliable.

What you should NEVER do is check for spark by holding the plug way away from something metal and kick away.

When the magnetic field colapses in the coil, the induced spark has nowhere to go and wrecks the coil or CDI.

AlisoBob wrote:The stock Honda OEM stuff is pretty darn reliable.

What you should NEVER do is check for spark by holding the plug way away from something metal and kick away.

When the magnetic field colapses in the coil, the induced spark has nowhere to go and wrecks the coil or CDI.

Sure didn't realize that.
Thanks.

A known good sparkplug and a ground clamp could have made a home-made tester that saved alot of ignitions...

Or buy one...



Either way, its a cheap tool

had the exact same thing happen on the '86 was a bad stator coil. Got replacement from ricky stator, soldered it on and never had another issue with the ignition on that bike.

The 85 ignition has aluminum connectors- I gave up trying to get it to work and upgraded to a 250 ignition

how do you like the 250 ignition on your 85?

Did you get a digital ignition or analog?

dannygraves wrote:had the exact same thing happen on the '86 was a bad stator coil. Got replacement from ricky stator, soldered it on oth and never had another issue with the ignition on that bike.

I thought of getting a stator coil and / or pickup coil and replacing that. I can get both from RM stator for $99.00. The problem is if it is the CDI the 1985 is rare on eBay and I may end up buying a $300.00 new OEM item. I can get a complete 250 ignition for $200.00. So I may get away with $99.00 but may end up with $400.00 when I could go 250 for $200.00. I am pondering the best way to go.

I'd upgrade.

AlisoBob wrote:I'd upgrade.

I think this is the best decision too - I am going to start looking now.

I have a 93 ignition and it works really well- not as abrupt as the 85 setup

nmdesertrider wrote:I have a 93 ignition and it works really well- not as abrupt as the 85 setup

I have a 1993 CR250 stator / flywheel and CDI bought - now I have to wait for it to come.

CR500PHIL wrote:

nmdesertrider wrote:I have a 93 ignition and it works really well- not as abrupt as the 85 setup

I have a 1993 CR250 stator / flywheel and CDI bought - now I have to wait for it to come.

I got the CR250 ignition on but have not got it finished yet - ran out of time and wire ties. I could not get the pulser coil / flywheel air gap anywhere near the 0.7 mm that is was on the CR500 ignition by moving the stator plate. The most I could get it was about 0.35 mm with the 250 ignition. The bike has great spark now but is this air gap sufficient? What gap do other guys running the 93-96 250 ignition have? Do the two screws holding the pulser coil on allow for additional gap adjustment as well?