death star

Hi folks, trying to help a friend out here. He has a 98 Royal Star that was running fine before winter storage. Now it will only click when engaging the starter but will not turn over. He also says he has no lights ( I assume he means no lights at all, headlamp, tail and warning lites. I neglected to ask.) He says battery is fully charged and has check his grounds and wiring. Since the bike is 100 miles from me I have not yet been able to scope it out myself. I told him it still sounds like a ground issue if he is positive the battery is ok. Are there any relays or solenoids in the system that could go tits up or does it sound like I'm on the right track? Anyone with knowledge of this electrical system please speak up and I will be eternally grateful. Thanx for any responses, Death Star

Ok, have spark now, in my ultimate wisdom had a wire hooked up wrong in loom for the CDI ground, sparks like a mother now. Still would'nt start tho so I went back and checked valve clearances again, they were ok and decided to check the decompression adjustment, it was way out so adjusted it and lo and behold the beast started on 7th kick ( still have to get the feel of the compression stroke) I saw a previous post somewhere about the importance of the decompression adjustment and I sure do believe it now. Next thing I noticed that when you crank the throttle I had what sounded like an exhaust leak. Noticed a puff of smoke coming from the head gasket, Does anyone know of a higher performance head gasket available for this thing? I put in a Wiseco 10.5:1 piston set when I did the top end and it apprears like the OEM gasket can't handle it. Oh well, it seems I'm intimately familiar with this engine now, should'nt take too long to replace this. Thank you for your input and as usual the most perplexing problems are a result of something stupidly simple. Live and learn man. Thanks again, Neil

No battery on this model, all initial power provided by my foot.

Hi everyone, need help please. Have a 83 TT600K that wants to run only when it has a mind to. Have been having trouble getting consistant spark at the plug. Right now I have no spark at all. Have replaced the pickup coils at the flywheel, previous owner had cobbled the mounting in the case half, had no clue where the gap was set and timing, could see where the flywheel had been hitting the magnetic tits so replaced with a ebay part that does test good as far as manual specs. Have also replaced CDI box with another ebay part, bike has not run yet with the replacement box since no spark. Do have approx 3-4 volts coming out of the orange lead to the coil when kicking over, but admittedly not a full kick since trying to keep an eye on the voltmeter at the same time. Checked coil and it did have out of spec resistance on the primary side. Replaced that with a brand new oem coil, just got that mounted today and still no spark. Have tested the plug cap and it's resistance is within spec, and yes the plug is good. Have tried to check spark with the kill switch disconnected and still no go. This is turning me suicidal...not really, but. The only thing I have not replaced is the flywheel itself but I do have a spare that I am considering trying, is it possible that over age it will lose it magnetism and I am not getting a consistent signal to the pickup coils? All wiring has continuity and connections appear clean and tight. This bike runs like a striped ass ape when it wants to run. Have way too much $ put into it already but now this is a matter of principle to me. Will do whatever it takes to make this right. Does anyone out there have any advise? Have read the service manual frontwards and back and nothing now is slapping me in the face. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, Thanx Neil

It lives!! Fired up on 3rd kick tonight and seems to run like a dream. Thanks to all who gave input on this issue. It seems the problem was a leaking oil supply oring in the side cover allowing oil to migrate into the stator/rotor area and shorting out the signal. Replaced the oring and cleaned out with carb cleaner and let air dry overnite. Of all the unexpected stuff to find. I hope this issue is permanetly fixed, however I still don't understand how the LH side crank bearing is sitting there exposed with no seal to keep oil out of the side cover. Have found no reference to a seal in the parts breakdown or in the factory service manual. Don't know a whole lot about these dry sump systems yet. If anyone has knowledge on this I would appreciate the education. But hey, at least I know now what to do if I don't have fire again. Thanks again everyone.

Okay, thanks guys will double check all of the above and make sure. Also will play around with the technique, have been using full choke and also no choke trying to find the sweet spot. Will play around with 1/2 choke and see what happens. I remember my old DT400 (still wish I had her) took some TLC to start.

Hi guys, I think I may have posted my original question on the wrong portion of the forum so forgive me is mistaken. Just got a 1983 TT600 with a seized piston. Rebuilt the top end with new piston, rings and liner and got ready to fire it up. No spark. Bruce in this group was nice enough to suggest trimming back the HT lead and reconnecting since they were prone to corrosion there. It worked, got bike started after umpteen kicks. Now bike is still hard as heck to start when cold. I know the valve timing is good since I triple checked it before buttoning back up. Have taken the primary carb apart and adjusted the float level ( it was off by a ways) and cleaned all jets and orifaces. low speed needle 1.5 turns out per manual and have tried an additional 1/2 turn to no effect. The plug that came with the bike looks practically brand new but do not have another one yet to switch out and try. After what seems like a million kicks I pull the plug and it is dry, just a hint of fuel smell to it and even then not very strong. I know the carb has fuel since it drains out the drain plug. Any suggestions? Still a weak electrical system? I know the previous owner said it was a bugger for him to start too. Thanks for any advice, Neil

OK, thanks Bruce, tried your idea and lo and behold I got the beast started. Sure is hard to start tho. I can't count the number of kicks it took. Now it is still hard as heck to start cold. Have adjusted the valves and I know the valve timing is spot on. Have taken primary carb apart and adjusted float level and cleaned all jets and orifaces. Low speed needle is 1.5 turns out per manual and have tried another 1/2 turn out with no effect. Have pulled the plug and it is not wet at all after repeated kick tries. Any thoughts?

Thanx Bruce, will give that a try. Reinstalled the spark box tonite and reconnected all wiring, kicked her over and I swear I did see a weak spark at the grounded plug. When tried to start with plug in tho, no go. Your suggestion could very well explain this development, will try and advise, thanx again

Hi everybody, I am a newbie to this forum. Need some helpful advise please. Just bought a 83 TT600 that had a seized piston. Got everthing back together and now have no spark. Have gone through all wiring and tests that I can do and everything seems to test ok. Is there a way of testing the CDI box so I can know for sure if that is the issue. I find it hard to swallow that the spark box went tits up since the piston seizure. The previous owner did not mention any ignition issues, just the top end. Any help with your past experiences would be greatly appreciated. It's been over 30 years since I have had a kickstart dirtbike and trying to spin the motor over and check voltages is a pain in the rear, I'm used to bikes with starters! Thanks again for any help.