| Author | Message | ||
     Maxbuell |
What are some tips for checking the timing and spark? Been sitting a while was cutting in and out. Not sure if electrical or carb related. Have shop manual. 2002 M2 stock | ||
| Gusm2 |
Check the L/T wires on the coil, they are prone to break near the terminals | ||
| Lynrd |
It’s electrical. It’s almost always electrical. Carbs don’t cause intermittent symptoms... once set up, they just work (until they start to leak, the floats get waterlogged, or a piece of crap gets into the float bowl from the tank). Checking spark - the olde fashioned way is to pull a plug and ground it to the engine, so you can see the electrode tip. Crank the engine and watch for the spark. Alternately you can pull a spark plug wire and insert a screwdriver into the boot, then hold it close but not touching bare metal on the engine (a lot of people don’t know that is what those exposed head bolts are for). Finally, you can trick a buddy into holding a spark plug firmly while you crank the bike. You can measure spark by how far their eyes bug out when you crank the bike, If the bike is running, you check timing with a timing light connected to one of the plug wires, shining the light through the inspection window between the cylinders on the right side of the bike. Your service manual will have pictures of the various flywheel marks. However, intermittent cutting in and out doesn’t sound like carb OR timing. Low tension leads as mentioned above would cause the symptom you describe,, as would a cracked coil or anything else that would either interrupt the flow of juice to the ignition system. Kickstand switch is a common complaint. |
