Strange electrical problem

[GMP]

Your absolutely right on it being more complicated, it would primarily be a learning exercise. What made me think of it is I ran across a stepper/actuator at work about he size of the governer assy.

$365 is criminal, but not as criminal as a $1600 list for a Ducati ECU.

What is your thought on resistor plugs? There is a resistor cap anyway. I have gone both ways with this, and on the '07 have just ran the resistor plugs. I have had no issues with CDIs in the past on Kokusan equipped KTMs and GGs but I did have my ICO lock up once on a KTM300 with a non-resistor plug, never before or after. The wiring route on the GasGas is better and easy to route along the frame (gnd) away from the coil HV wire, and the throttle cable is no where near the coil, unlike my KTMs where it ran across both coil and CDI.

[TNT Cycle]

I know KTM's with the same Kukasan(sp) stators always have trouble with light moisture in the cover that once heated evaporates and shorts the system. Had a 2001 KTM 250 EXC that would run great one day, then the next start hard, go about a mile then shut off. Push home dry out stator and would run fine. It took a complete donor bike to figure this out and as long as stator was dry never had a problem for 3 or 4 more years. It is very comon in KTM's.

My not be problem but it will give mixed results and sometimes would do just like yours and clear up.

Cheers,

Rick

[GMP]

I seal the drain in the bottom of the cover, and loctite a short M6 bolt in the bottom of the case. With two gaskets stacked and bonded to the case, the cover seals very well. I remove the cover after washing and leave it off until I prep the bike for the next ride. The ignition is always dry.

[blitz11]

I always run a resistor cap and resistor plugs in all of my bikes (old BMWs to the "new" (2002) GG). (Resistor wires when i can, too.)

I don't do it for the ignition (you won't toast an SCR at these current levels), but I do it to damp out any "ringing" associated with the impedance mismatches between plug, cap, and coil.

I learned in the old days (late 1970s) when I would install Vetter Windjammer fairings with radios on customer bikes. W/O resistor plugs and caps, the radios sounded horrible. You'd generate a lot of RFI on a Z-1 kawasaki. The resistor plugs and caps really quieted things down. You can generate quite a field with your ignition. Your experience with the ICO is consistent with what i saw with the radios. Resistor wires were tougher as stock coils had the HT wire molded in.

[GMP]

Well I beleive I found and solved the problem, but can't explain why it appeared to be related to the lighting ckt. I started the bike to warm it and change the oil, reached down by the coil and got a hell of a shock. Upon examination the rubber sheath that covers the HV wire was full of water. This is supposed to fit over the HV post on the coil and the wire itself thread into the post, but the bond was broken. Easy to miss as it looked fine. The HV wire was also loose and connection wet. I cleaned and dryed everything out, cut back the HV wire and threaded it back into the coil with some RTV on the outside to seal it. I then slid the sheath over the coil post and bonded it with grip glue. Did the same on the plug cap and taped up the other end of the sheath. Big fat spark, one kick start, bike runs like an animal off the bottom. Throttle response seems better. The stator was fine, clean and dry, no bad solder joints, and measured to spec. Perhaps the lights were a coincedence, and it took some time for the loose/wet connection to dry out from its previous bath.

Just thought I'd pass this on as a followup, so check that HV wire connection, even on a new bike. Grab and twist it a little, if it moves you will have a problem eventually.