Sorry guys, it has been quite awhile since I have posted on the blog. You know how it is, life has been pretty hectic, and I have not had a lot of time. But I'm back now, and hopefully posting most every day.
So, I have been working on my friend's SX200 over the holidays. I had previously done quite a bit on it in order to revive it from its decades long slumber. I had gotten it running ok, but it had one residual issue. It would run with the key in the "ignition on" position, but as soon as I put on the lights, the ignition would die. I first thought that the problem lie in the key switch. After talking to some folks about the issue, it seemed that I should look in another direction. Bad grounds can cause ignition problems with a old/weak ignition system. This scoot still is on the all-original points system. I checked the spark, and it is consistent, but not the biggest fattest spark I've seen.
With all that in mind, I set to work on the electrical system. I basically went through it from back to front. I took all of the connections apart, and cleaned all of them. Certainly tedious work, but with electrical stuff, you really have to be methodical. The photo above is of the rear light, and the wiring connections. I cleaned all the wires, the connector, the bulb, and the bulb connector tangs. I did the same with the junction box, the headlight connectors, etc.
Here is the high/low switch. It is really in rough shape. When I took off the cover, the switch fell apart in my hand. It is still operable, so I cleaned it all out, and put it back together. The action on it is not super-positive, but it does work. Best to keep it, since it is the original switch. At some point when it totally craps out, then it will be replacement time.
After cleaning every connector, I started the scooter, and it worked! Yay! It really was just bad connections in the wiring. I feel like I generally have a good understanding of electrics, but this one was, and still is a bit of a stumper. I thought that the ignition and the lighting circuits were separate, running from separate coils on the stator plate. I have no idea why poor grounding on the lighting circuit would have any effect on the ignition. In any case, the results speak for themselves. This scoot is back on the road!