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SP1000 Barely starts and barely ticks over - Fixed

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smellybeard View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote smellybeard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Oct 2022 at 18:03

8å$terdin' thing is back at it.
Horse parts.
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smellybeard View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote smellybeard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Oct 2022 at 18:05
I wonder if, after two weeks of abuse, my battery is banjaxed.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote ranton_rambler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Oct 2022 at 18:13
Is it starting at all now? I have a RITA ignition and in my experience they need a good voltage to wake up properly. If my other bike with normal points ignition cranks over slowly with a tired battery, it will normally fire and go, but not the one with the RITA.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote smellybeard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Oct 2022 at 18:27
Back on charge for now.
I'll put a spare battery in the sidecar when I get it going. I could probably fit a fairly large car battery in the boot and wire it in. Useful ballast without a passenger.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote AdrianW Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2022 at 08:53
I have a Rita on my Velo Venom, that does odd things if the battery is not pretty fully charged,, Think I read somewhere that anything below 11.5v is not going to work very well..

Good luck,
Adrian
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Ken-Guzzibear Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2022 at 13:05
An SP 1000 had a car battery as standard it needs a hefty battery to power RITA and I found the white connector block needed cleaning Rita needs 6v coils and does kill the coils. Some adore the Rita system I hated it. I put the points back in my V1000 after Rita left us stranded on the M5. 

What I noticed is the V1000 on points accelerated better and had better top speed, used less fuel on a run from Leics to Minehead 2 up with luggage and felt smoother at M way speed with a bit more pick up from 70-80 .... 
The Older i Get, The Better I Was
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote smellybeard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2022 at 13:50
I have an Oddesy battery in the Velocitractor. I've found them to be very good value i the past with significantly better lifespan than anything else. For historical reasons, I use a common racing car size the same as the old Varley. The Oddesy has no problem buzzing a hot 1600cc BDD when needed.

Interestingly, the BDDs (and DFVs) use Lucas Opus ignition and it often was the source if issues in the day. They're pretty hard on juice and intolerant of undervolts too, both a pain in an alternator-less Seventies single seater. Fortunately F2s and Atlantics have provisions for points and I've seen these on more than one occasion. Plugs come out a little dirtier but being only a four cylinder, they run well.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Simond Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Oct 2022 at 07:59
I’m confused.

Is the conclusion that the bike was running badly exclusively due to a discharged battery, but yet it started, and had 5mm sparks, per the first post?

Is it the the battery had perhaps one duff cell, but the other five were sufficient to turn it over?
(So low voltage but plenty of capacity?)

But even then, 5mm sparks?

Don’t understand!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote smellybeard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Oct 2022 at 13:22
The conclusion is that I just had gick in the carb or carbs, to start with. Certainly it improved significantly when I gave the left-hand carb and clean and poke-out (concentrating on the slow running passages).

A week of abuse hit the aging battery quite hard and by the time I had the carbs clean, it was flagging a bit, leading to the sparks dying as the alternator began to suck juice for the field coils. The RITA, it seems, needs plenty of volts and either works or doesn't. My battery at no stage had difficulty turning the engine over but was probably pulling the voltage down below Rita's minimum sometimes leading to some of the erratic starting. When I tried to rev the engine, it started charging but the field coils obviously draw a lot and they can kill the engine by starving Rita (Princess of Darkness).

I'm tempted to go expensive permanent magnet by all this. I have VAPE systems on my MZ and NSU. They cost a few bob but I have great lights. With the sidecar I've struggled to provide enough lighting anyway.

In retrospect, I think this is part of why the tickover was set very high when I bought it. It used to constantly overheat in traffic. Dangerously high too: it would happily drive along in second with the throttle closed.



Edited by smellybeard - 22 Oct 2022 at 13:28
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote smellybeard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Oct 2022 at 14:56
I'm happy to report that after sitting for three days, my expensive but aging Oddesy is still fully charged.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Simond Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Oct 2022 at 23:08
Thanks for the follow-up.  

My Rita is a well behaved young lady, and the bike gets a trickle charge every so often in the off season (I don’t ride the Guzzi if the weather’s not nice, I’ve a BMW for those days) so I’ve never experienced an issue such as you describe.  

It’s certainly possible to sink into an incident pit where one problem somehow gets overtaken by another and another til you don’t know whether you’re coming or going.  

Glad it’s sorted
Simon
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote smellybeard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Oct 2022 at 00:25
My dad always said that the best cure for bad carburation is a better spark. He also warned against getting fixated on assumptions. This was a great reminder of both of those points.

I had it out today and I'm happy to report that at 4000 revs in third gear and the sidecar wheel skipping over the bumps, it sounds great. Volts stayed exactly where they should and it started first time every time.

Great way to do the shopping.
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