Starting XR250 with dead battery

[Sandfly]

Hi all. I have a 94 XR250L with 6000 miles on it (got it at bargain price as shop was unable to sell it for a number of years). It starts well and runs fine. However, if the battery is TOTALLY dead, it is impossible to start (kickstart only). If the bike is left in storage for a few months, I need to connect the charger to the battery and the bike starts with ease. My brother has the same bike (but with 40,000 miles) and his starts even with a dead battery.
I have been told that XR250 do not need a battery to kickstart. It supposedly has "capacitor" that stores charge as we kickstart. This stored charge allows the bike to be started. If this is true, maybe my bike's capacitor is broken. I can't think of any reason for this abnormally compared to my brother's bike.

Please advise the possible reason for not being able to start with dead battery. If there is a capacitor and it is broken, where is located and how do I replace it? Thanks to all.

 

[woodsy]

Hey Sandy - Your bike is running off the battery instead of running off the stator as it should be. Electricity for the ignition system, under normal conditions, comes from the stator and is distributed from there. It sounds like you have a stator problem (either buy a book or find out from a dealer what the stator resistance specs are and check it with an ohm meter to be sure) and the battery is being used as a power supply.
Yes there is a capacitor in the system (CDI = Capactor Discharge Ignition) but this "cap" only stores enough energy to charge the primary coil for 1 shot at the plug! You would need a capacitor about the size of a 2 stall garage to run your bike for a month (possible but you will need a lot of wire to go any distance LOL).
I have ran bikes for months with bad stators (opporating off the battery) because I could not afford a new stator! I once road a bike back from Idaho to Michigan on Battery only!! The problems associtaed with this practice are obvious!
Fix it and ride!
Woodsy

 

[Sandfly]

Hi Woodsy, thanks for the reply. Appreciated.
Gee, looks like it is more serious than I had thought. I was told that as I kickstart the bike, this cranks the engine and stores charge in a small capacitor. A few cranks will store sufficent charge to start the bike, without the battery. I suppose this is not the case.
I do get lights with the dead battery after bike has started but horn is weak. With a bad stator, I supppose there is no charging of the battery either.
Here in Singapore, the usual dealers are not good. And good dealers likes only BIG bikes. Not much help from them. My brother's bike seems OK. Will compare with his stator resistance.

Thanx.

 

[tepco]

I have a 91 XR250L and plan on removing the battery. The bike does not need the battery to run or start. Here is a web site i found that has a lot of hop up tips for our bikes. One of the tips is removeing the battery to save weight and replace it with a capacitor from radio shack. If your bike sits for a long period of time this might be a good option. It just takes a few more kicks to start.http://www.justxr.com/jh_info/xr250ldoc. If this link doesnt work just do a search for xr250l and look for the "xr250l project" site. Hope this info helps. Good luck.

 

[ochster]

These bikes are very anemic. The "L" model electrical system, suffers from many weak points. Especially when stored outside (moisture), and or rode hard offroad. Alway's check for clean/ tight grounds, there are several on the Harness and battery. Look for chafed through wiring, grounding out on the chassis. There is a saftey switch activated by the kickstand, I have seen this go bad. I have also seen bad regualtor/rectifiers ocasionally. If the bike has every been "jumped", this is probaly toast. Price for one, was near $50, and plugs right in. I have also seen the "engine Run" switch, get crusty and not create contact. In my experience with these machines, the cdi and stators are pretty solid componets (typicall Honda). The ignition system, by design is barely adequate, does not take much to render it in-adequate. Plug caps are threaded into the high tension lead. Many times these are a bad connection. Simply removing, cutting 1/4 inch of the old burnt/corroded wire back and reinstalling with a little dialectric grease,helps. There are about six heavy strands of wire, coming out of the lead. Try to seperate them equally with a pointed object, and screw the cap into the center of them, for best contact. Obviously a fresh plug would be good starters as well. A battery that atleast does not have any "dead" cells, is a Bonus. Another culprit likely could be a partly plugged up carb. Especially being it sat so long. Taking the bowl off and cleaning out the pilot (slow) jet, would be advised.

 

[OnAnySunday]

One other point concerning wiring on these bikes is the taillight/turnsignal harness routing.
Not totally sure about '94's but on mid eighties and earlier models Honda had the brilliant idea of routing the wiring harness across the botom of the rear frame/fender support brace.
So after bottoming out over larger bumps/jumps the tire chews away at the wiring and soon >presto!< no lights, and a mess of wires hanging from the rear fender!
(personal xperience)
Solution: route the wires to the side of the fender/subframe and the turnsignal wires OVER(on top of) the fender support.
This will save you grief later on. :thumb:

 

[WoodsRider]

I also owned a ’94 XR250L for a couple of years. The bike will start and run with a dead battery. As mentioned above, I used a computer-grade capacitor in place of the battery to save weight. I also agree with ochster that the bike was very anemic with less than adequate suspension. The bike is fine for putting around town, cruising around on fire roads and enjoying a leisurely trail ride. It’s not meant for cruising down the highway or racing through the woods. I let my brother-in-law ride it a couple of times because the power was very easy for him to control. Towards the end I raced mine a couple times, but an annoying electrical problem kept stranding me in the woods. The wires going to the taillight and blinkers are routed above the fender. Evidently Honda learned something from the old XL-R models.