Electrical/ignition hassle

[Anonymous]

I own 1981 550T and it is a dream to dirve. But recently the following is happening and I have an idea but I would love to have others tell me what they think.

On hot days after a drive(any distance) the bike will not start---if it is real hot it will barely turn over---then eventually turn over fine but not start---when it has cooled down some it will start right up with no problem. It did not do this on cooler or cold days. It is very weird---so when I go somewhere I make sure I stay awhile before I start it and presto it goes.

Any ideas?????

[focus frenzy]

your starter could be getting week, try removing, cleaning and reasemling all the wiring going to the starter and see if that helps any.
also have your battery tested.

[SqDancerLynn1]

the starter would be the first suspect, if that doesn't work you could also check the starter solnoid. If the battery is morn than 2 years old you might want to think about replacing it to avoid problems in the future

[argonsagas]

This may seem like a weird response, but I had a similar problem on a car a long time ago, and for some bit of twisted reasoning that I never understood, it was caused by cross-firing, most of it between the wires.

Probably the only thing necessary was the thicker plug wires, but I changed everything, plugs, wires, distributor cap, condensor and rotor.

You could try just putting 3/8 inch plastic loom (coiled plastic tubing with a lengthwise split) over your plug wires. That will give them an extra separation, which is the same as having heavier wires/more insulation, and should cost only about a dollar.

[Anonymous]

If it's a NO CRANK, then you probably have a starter issue, on a car I'd say most likely solenoid. If It's a CRANKS, NO FIRE than you can have an arching wire issue.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Crossed wires?? must have been a ford