This is the second time now I've taken the Transalp out for a ride and it won't start (mid-ride, of course).

The specs:
2009 Honda Transalp
18,000km
stock everything

The situation:
Bike starts right up in the garage (two out of the last two times at least)
Ride for a while, stopping the engine with the kill switch (as I've done for every bike I've owned)
Do whatever (fill up, take a photo) and try to start the bike - no go.

The battery is strong and the bike turns over and over, but won't catch. After a while (10, 20 minutes?) and a few repeated tries, the bike will eventually kick right over like nothing was ever wrong.

- The bike would not bump start (coasted down a mountain road for a mile before I ran out of mountain)
- The battery is strong
- Played with the side stand, clutch, neutral, kill switch, knowing that they could be weak points.

Odd note on the first time this happened: I had 3 (out of 6) bars of fuel when I stopped. When I tried to start the bike again it showed only one. After the bike eventually started it was back up to three. I had to stop again before getting home that day for fuel and after filling up, the bike kicked right over on the first try.


The only thing this bike is "known" for is a weak CDI, but apparently the newer bikes (ie, mine) don't have this problem. So we're thinking spark... but what triggers the spark?


Any suggestions are appreciated, as my weekend ride is now squashed due to this failure. Please note that we have limited tools and no "official" space to work on the bike, so any tinkering has to be fairly small-scale. Otherwise it's going to the shop 

My first thought is a bad ignition coil or coils. There was some discussion of this on .net here (albeit for an earlier version of the Transalp):
 
http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php?topic=74331.0

It is not unheard of for bad coils to cause a failure to start when hot, then function after cooling off.

Yes, but if the coils won't start the bike when hot, how would they keep the bike running when hot?

DD, you said the fuel gauge was only showing one bar when it wouldn't start, is it possible the bike is positioned so that you'd need to be in reserve? That would explain the low fuel, then after repositioning, it's back to 3 bars.

Is this bike fuel injected or carbed? On carbed vehicles, no start hot can be related to vapor lock.

Not sure how relevant this is, but my GL1800 would do that on occasion - just crank and crank while out during a ride but refuse to start, until it had sat for awhile - and the problem turned out to be the 'ignition pulse generator'.

Not sure how relevant this is, but my GL1800 would do that on occasion - just crank and crank while out during a ride but refuse to start, until it had sat for awhile - and the problem turned out to be the 'ignition pulse generator'.

I had thae same problem-but it turned out to be the coils.

Quote from: Scratch on March 29, 2014, 12:35:13 PM

Not sure how relevant this is, but my GL1800 would do that on occasion - just crank and crank while out during a ride but refuse to start, until it had sat for awhile - and the problem turned out to be the 'ignition pulse generator'.

 

  Too

Go for the easy (cheap) first. Check all grounds. Check the fuel filter if easily accessible.

Unless it's a plugged up fuel filter, which I doubt, a fuel problem would be an expensive problem in a Transalp. It's a fuel injected bike. That would be a problem with a relay, electronics unit or a fuel pump.

I would look at the coils or other electronics as the cause of the problem.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

We took our weekend trip anyway, using the train instead of the bikes 

I have the service manual on pdf so I'll have to see if I can find out where the battery, spark plugs and coil are  (this is no KLR, that's for sure!). We'll go for the easy fixes, of course - we just what sure what they would be. I'll check in again a couple of days after we get a chance to check things out 

I'm with scratch. Pulse or cdi.

Quote from: Scratch on March 29, 2014, 12:35:13 PM

Not sure how relevant this is, but my GL1800 would do that on occasion - just crank and crank while out during a ride but refuse to start, until it had sat for awhile - and the problem turned out to be the 'ignition pulse generator'.

 

DAHHHK.  It was my bike that died with this failure.  Twice.  I carry a spare now.

I like this answer.  When you are running, the coils stay cooler due to air flow.  If the coils are located on top of the engine, you stop, heat rises straight up into them causing failure until they cool off again.   

I would like this answer too, if it hadn't been for the time when I stopped only long enough to fill the tank and yet the bike started right up again (this was the on the trip when it happened for the first time). In addition, I would expect that coasting down a cold spring mountain road in an attempt to bump start it would have cooled it down considerably compared to just having it sit in one spot.

I'm just trying to give some more details as you guys give suggestions. Like I said, we won't be able to poke at the bike until tonight or Wednesday, so nothing will happen right away on this side. Unless, of course, one of you wants to come over and check it out 

Quote from: CLAY on March 30, 2014, 09:27:19 PM

I like this answer.  When you are running, the coils stay cooler due to air flow.  If the coils are located on top of the engine, you stop, heat rises straight up into them causing failure until they cool off again.   

I would like this answer too, if it hadn't been for the time when I stopped only long enough to fill the tank and yet the bike started right up again (this was the on the trip when it happened for the first time). In addition, I would expect that coasting down a cold spring mountain road in an attempt to bump start it would have cooled it down considerably compared to just having it sit in one spot.

I'm just trying to give some more details as you guys give suggestions. Like I said, we won't be able to poke at the bike until tonight or Wednesday, so nothing will happen right away on this side. Unless, of course, one of you wants to come over and check it out 

The spark idea - either coil or cdi/pulse unit - is still a good one. It takes WAY more power to spark while cranking than to just spark while riding down the road.

I would add the suggestion of you not use the kill switch for a while (I know, habits are hard to break) as that's the easiest possible source of failure you can eliminate.

Kill switches have been known to fail but the engine wouldn't turn over. I understand from Mrs D's first post that it does. Or does it?

Alright!  Our very own, in-house version of "Stump the Chumps".
We'll be waiting breathlessly for the solution to the mystery. 
What does one win for a correct guess?

A trip to Switzerland.  (at your own expense)

Have you tried turning off and back on again?

Sent from the Moto X. A wicked awesome phone.

Quote from: HipGnosis on March 31, 2014, 07:36:05 AM

I would add the suggestion of you not use the kill switch for a while (I know, habits are hard to break) as that's the easiest possible source of failure you can eliminate.

Kill switches have been known to fail but the engine wouldn't turn over. I understand from Mrs D's first post that it does. Or does it?

I've had bikes that would turn over when the kill switch is in 'kill'. Sprint for sure, other's I can't recall which.  I don't consider it a good design.

I would add the suggestion of you not use the kill switch for a while (I know, habits are hard to break) as that's the easiest possible source of failure you can eliminate.

This -- if nothing else, it will remove the switch from the list of potential causes.

Is it plugged in?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

It's a Honda not a Zero.

If it were a Honda, it WOULDN'T be broken!   

I pulled the seat and side plastics off today to check the battery and connections. We didn't find anything suspect. Not really having the ambition nor the space to do much more, we walked over to the dealership where I bought the bike and I gave the guy some shit about my "reliable Honda" having trouble  (he's the one who encouraged me NOT to get a BMW because they "break down all of the time" - I should have listened to my gut and bought a BMW anyway).

ANYWAY... the point is that I'm going to drop the bike off, but not until after Easter. So the mystery will remain a mystery for a while longer 

Mystery (theoretically) solved!

I let the shop do all of the electrical sniffing and snooping and after checking it all over, it came down to a dirty kill switch.


Frustrating because if I'd had my old garage this is probably something that we could have easily fixed. Oh well - its done and it is time to go riding 

Glad it's fixed!  Did anyone call that? 

Velosolex. 

There might be a book, but it won't be about the Honda