Problem with my friends 85 R...??

[kimmer250r]

My friend just put a new cdi in his trike because it had no spark and now it runs....but, it has a quarter of the power it used to in first through third gear and has full power in the rest. Anyone have any ideas??

[Bill X_R]

That's an good one???? Does it sputter or fall on it's nose @ all?

[200x Basket]

well CDI's hardly ever go bad. i would swap back just to ensure that was the problem. first change the plug and set the gap, next i would check all of the grounds. make sure it is grounded good and all connection in the harness are tight. next check for corrosion between the stator and motor around the bolt holes. (had that problem on a 83r) if all that fails get 1 can of lighter fluid and a match. poor the fluid on the trike and put a match to it. i hate electrical demons and that will exorcise it :evil:

[kimmer250r]

Bill, he said it won't even pull the tire off the ground in the 1st 3 gears, but will pull it up in 4th. It wouldn't start with the old cdi, but runs with the new one...just not running right.

[Mike Fort Laud]

Check the plug cap boot. I had to replace mine because it would not make a complete contact with the plug. It would run then it would not then it would sputter etc.

[TopEnd250]

Tell him to check the stater. My cdi went out and I was told to check the cdi and the stater.But the stater is like 700.00 or so im told.

[200x Basket]

the stater is about $25 on ebay and there are several aftermarket companies that sell them. could he have a fuel /loading up problem? air leak? what does the plug look like?

[atc86r]

something dragging? like brakes or axle.

[86250RZ]

Tell him to make sure he doesnt have a wire grounding out somewhere on the frame, I had a problem simular to his but it would stutter in all gears untill I got my RPM's up then it would run fine. Come to find out I had a pinched wire grounded on the frame. Good Luck!

[Dirtcrasher]

My CDI plug connector had a broken wire but you couldn't tell untill you tugged on it. Wouldn't run at all till I was motoring along in high RPM's.

[kimmer250r]

Well he got it running good, but now it dies when he rides it. He says it has the power back but dies out while riding and the plug is wet. It doesn't die out when its just idling. Any ideas?

[86250RZ]

If the plug is wet, that sounds like jetting to me, (ask him what color his plug is) when you say riding do you mean putting around like woods riding or balls out running, the reason I ask is that I have mine jetted to run better from half throttle to full but if i putt around in the woods at like 1/4 throttle for extended amount of time it will foul plug every time. I dont think Rs make good woods bike anyway.

[kimmer250r]

Ok, more problems. The bike was running good, but would die as soon as he started to ride through his yard. Now, the bike is starting to backfire when he tries to give it gas to keep it from stalling and won't even idle now. He's trying to get it ready for haspin, but its not looking good.

[Dirtcrasher]

Can you rule out the ignition -ohm out the individual components and inspecting the stator and flywheel??


Gotta be either fuel or gas, can the plug be read??

Plug wet, backfiring?? Ign?? Too rich?