OK guys, I'm scratching my head on this one

[RIDE-RED 250r]

Trike: '85 250r

Issue: Last july while riding it all of the sudden acted like it loaded up a plug really bad. Swapped out plug and not even a little improvement, not even for a second. The slightest amount of throttle above off-idle and she would just die out.

So, back to camp on the end of a rope.

Nest morning, I pulled the stator cover and checked for corrosion on the pulse generator and corresponding magnet on the flywheel.. All clean and in good order.

Next thing I check is the carb. Clean as a whistle and all jets and fuel circuits clean and clear.

So after that, I decided I would check reeds once I got home from the trip and parked it.

Fast forward to today. I haven't touched it since then. I was cleaning out the garage to make room for my boat and rolled the trikes out. For some reason I decided to kick the 250r over just for the heck of it. She fired on the 4th kick and ran like a watch! I tore the ever loving poo out of my yard for about 15 minutes and she never skipped a beat! What??!!! Apparently, my Honda is so good it fixed itself over the winter??!! LMAO!!

But seriously, my first suspect is to swap out the coil. I have heard of coils on other machines that can quit after some run time when the coil begins to break down.

This really puzzles me, but one thing I am fairly certain of is that the issue is not mechanical or fuel related. Ignition/electrical is the only thing I have experienced such intermittent symptoms that come and go like this. Obviously, I don't feel like I can trust this trike for a long ride on Tug Hill right now. SOMETHING went wrong last July.

I'm just wondering what you guys would replace first. I'm thinking coil. In my experience, CDI's work or they don't. I am thinking the same is true for the ignition side of the stator as well.

Electrical is not my strongest suit. Anybody have any suggestions or past experiences you would like to share?

I just don't want to start blindly throwing parts at this, especially considering it's running great right now, I can't really be sure if I am addressing the problem.

Thanks guys!

[atc007]

CDI, coil, stator in that order. Maybe she just likes this weather ...Stator being the only one you can really "test" easily. Swapping the cdi after she acts up again,,,easy ..

[nd4speed]

How different was the July day with heat and humidity compared to today?

When electrical stuff gets hot, then the problems will really show up.
When my stator coil went bad it would bog and die but fire right up and run for a couple minutes then repeat. But that did not fix itself over a winter. My guess is your electrical is fine though. Just a guess though.


Jetting and air leak. Leak down test? Hot and Lean?

I had a carb that ran when sun was high and hot but at sunset cool off the quad would start bogging dying and running real bad. It had a clogged jet passage I could never unclog so I bought a new one and the problem never happened again.

[RIDE-RED 250r]

I did a leak down on this engine when I put it together in 2013, I don't remember now the exact details, but they were satisfactory. I have had no changes in how it runs to any degree beyond what would be considered normal for changes due to weather conditions. No indications of an air leak.

It was a warm day, about 80 deg. Today it was low 70's. The problem came on like you flipped a switch. Spark plug came out very wet. As I was trying to nurse it back to camp, it got progressively worse and wouldn't even idle. My thoughts were that I had an ignition problem and the pipe was getting loaded up with unburned fuel compounding the problem.

I think I will crack open my service manual and see if there are any OHM specs for the coil and start poking around with a meter. It's supposed to be in the low 80's here tomorrow, maybe Ill rip it around the yard for awhile and see if I can get it to act up again and swap some parts.

[Mosh]

Lesson one......fix it while its broke.....you have a much better success rate of catching the problem, instead of what you have going on now.

IMO...after experiencing very same scenarios on multiple 250r bikes over the years , I say the coil crapped on you. Typically stators just die forever.... or bust up under hard load but run decent at idle or light loads. Cdi's just die or you can smack on em with a screwdriver handle and the bike will quit. Get it running and spray a saltwater mix with a window bottle on the coil and wire and see what happens. Do it cold and hot.

[atc300r]

I would change the coil first. I had similar problem with my 85 250r a few years ago.Mine would start and run ,idle all day long but if you got over 1/4-1/2 throttle it acted like the choke was on.The symtoms started when I was drag racing I went for one run it ran great next run I took off and about half way down the track it sputted and ran like crap till I changed the coil.I rebuilt carb, changed plugs ,new crank bearings and seals and new airfilter. Then one day I happen to think COIL I never had changed the coil on it since I bought it in 85. I put another coil on and it fired and would rev to the moon lol.

[poolieZerUK]

For what it's worth,
experience tells me that faulty coils tend to breakdown when hot.

Not sure of the exact circumstances you have experienced,
but that's where I would be looking first as it's an easy fix to start with.

[hatc200x1]

I have been having starting issues, and just poor running issues on my 84r. Would sound like it was on choke when on the throttle. But some days it would run perfect, I re-jetted it, ran PERFECT, brought it to a friends house, and it ran like crap. It was to the point that if I gassed the throttle it would just die out. I checked the spark on it and it was very poor, swapped ignition coil with good working one, swapped CDI, did everything. I finally changed out the stator and it fired up first kick and revved to the moon. What I originally thought was a jetting issue was just that 30 year old stator. Now I need to re-jet it because I was compensating for poor spark with jetting.

I would definitely carry spare parts because guaranteed it will act up again, At the worst possible moment...

[RIDE-RED 250r]

Thanks for sharing all of the advice and experiences guys. Yes, it would have been better to go after it ASAP, but for various reasons I just didn't get around to it.

I think I have a spare '85 CDI kicking around. I always carry a spare CDI with me when riding the hill. But I don't think I have a spare coil.

I know the '85 and '86-on CDI's are different. I am pretty sure the coils are the same. Can anyone verify that?

Guess I better post a WTB for a coil and do some cold and hot OHM checks on the stator. Gotta take my boy to baseball practice here shortly, so I probably won't get to it today.

Thanks again guys.

[82 250r]

The 85-86 coil is the same and available.

COIL, IGNITION Honda part 30510-MK4-405

[RIDE-RED 250r]

Bringing this thread back up for an update...

I had since rode the trike and found that after 15 or so minutes of riding the problem came back. When it would act up, I would shut it down then it would refire and run perfect for another few minutes and the cycle would repeat.

That very day I tried swapping the coil and the problem persisted.

Fast forward: today I swapped in a known functional stator and pulse generator. Trike starts up and all lights work as normal. It's a crappy day out here weather-wise so I'll have to take it out and work it another day to see if the stator and pulse generator replacement fixed it.

To be continued.....

[82 250r]

I had a similar problem where the trike would start and idle normal for about 5 min then die and not start. After an hour and it would start normal and die after 5 min again.
Turned out to be a short in the stator after it warmed up.

[RIDE-RED 250r]

That's what I was thinking was the problem with mine. I'm planning to take it out for a ride this week to see how it does.

If the problem persists I'll swap out the CDI. I did the stator because given the symptom, I felt it the most likely candidate after eliminating the coil as a suspect, and I already had an extra on hand.

[oscarmayer]

Mine was with the flywheel loosening up. Once we figured out it had sheared the off but the keyway was fine. (This was track side) we used an Allen key, grounded it to fit the key way and. Reinstalled everything. No more issues. Not saying your issue. It check out the electrical side to confirm everything is solid.


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[RIDE-RED 250r]

You bet Oscar. My brother had a flywheel that was failing. The rivets that fasten the flywheel to it's hub can work loose with age. Luckily, he caught it before it did any damage to anything other than the stator. I did check my flywheel yesterday for looseness and everything seems good to go.