850 commando ignition/fuel issues?

Stuart SS said:

Nathan

I had dramas with the multiple wiring block under the fuel tank ..
Replace it.. a bloody birds nest of dodgy connections..

Never had a problem with that after replacing with a 'modern' block ..

Click to expand...

Totally agree replaced the old black blob with a few new multi connectors within a month of buying my Mk2A and now feel much safer. Half of my old block looked like it had been melting and was in a very poor shape altogether. I have been told that this has been known to cause bikes to catch fire - but how true this is I cant say.

hello commrades,
thankyou Ron L, cash, Spub, you wre spot on with the key switch. i removed the switch mechanisim from the housing and the copper contacts were covered in green scale. cleaned them up with a wire brush and some contact cleaner and took her out for a ride. she runs perfect!!
mike916sp and stuart ss, i agree with you on the connector block, i cleaned mine with contact cleaner but replacement is on the cards.
thanks again, everyones help in this forum has been invaluable, and i will hope to help you one day.
p.s. you would like the wether here in the north west of australia, fine and 25-30deg c. it is like this for 9 months of the year and stinking hot the other 3!!
nathan

A few other points

Hello,
A few other points ( :roll: ) if I may.
All good suggestions from everyone.
One of the handiest things are spares. If you put on new better coils save the old one(s) if they still work - you can then swap out all parts one after the other. Same for plugs, plug wires, etc. Save a set that you know work.

This came in handy when my car would start running like crap after driving for 25 min. This drove me nuts as I was regularly driving only ~20 min. Then I swapped out the plug wires one after another. I found one would open circuit after 20-25 minutes.
No more testing all those sensors...

Also, check out - you can rebuild the ignition switches to better than new (oxymoron) as per article http://www.nocnsw.org.au/igntn.html.