Any idea whats up with it?
Discussion
Started having a few problems with the bike, a Cagiva 125, 2 stroke.
Twice in the last 3 days when I've been at full power the revs just die and it cuts out, I coast to halt, luckily both times it's happened it's been on a straight road with a convienient layby to pull into
If you then try and restart it, it has none of it, leave it about 5 minutes, (which seems like 1/2 an hour when your sat on the curb) and it fires up and gets me where I was going fine
The tickover seems a little low, even though we've had a fiddle with that and got it spot on, it doesn't seem to be able to stay in tune for more than 40 miles
As my knowledge of bikes is somewhat limited please speak slowly and clearly
Twice in the last 3 days when I've been at full power the revs just die and it cuts out, I coast to halt, luckily both times it's happened it's been on a straight road with a convienient layby to pull into
If you then try and restart it, it has none of it, leave it about 5 minutes, (which seems like 1/2 an hour when your sat on the curb) and it fires up and gets me where I was going fine
The tickover seems a little low, even though we've had a fiddle with that and got it spot on, it doesn't seem to be able to stay in tune for more than 40 miles
As my knowledge of bikes is somewhat limited please speak slowly and clearly
I had a 125 Cagiva 2 stroke once and the same happened to me. Engine just died on me and wouldn't restart. My problem turned out to be the piston rings gone causing lack of compression.
Was told that this can happen to small 2 strokes that carry bigger people at sustained high revs. If you can restart yours then this probably doesn't help but it may be along the same sort of lines.
Was told that this can happen to small 2 strokes that carry bigger people at sustained high revs. If you can restart yours then this probably doesn't help but it may be along the same sort of lines.
Mon Ami Mate said:
Sounds like a partial seizure to me. How many miles has it done? Have you ever run it low on oil?
It was a little low on oil when I bought it, but did an oil change soon after, but it does seem to loose quite a bit so I'll check that and top it up if needed, it's done about 10k on a 99 'V'
I presumed he meant gearbox oil, 
one thing that might be relevant is I overfilled the 2 stroke oil tank a few days before all this started, but I've done 80 miles since then so it's used a bit, and all the excess just poured all over the back tyre anyway, meaning I had to wash the fopping thing
one thing that might be relevant is I overfilled the 2 stroke oil tank a few days before all this started, but I've done 80 miles since then so it's used a bit, and all the excess just poured all over the back tyre anyway, meaning I had to wash the fopping thing 
Any high performance two stroke will need a regular top end rebuild and 10,000 miles is what I used to reckon on my old RG500. It is common for two strokes to "nip up" when the top end starts to wear, especially if it hasn't been run on good quality oil.
A top end rebuild isn't expensive (unless the barrel is scored) and you should look at it as a servicing requirement. I learnt to replace my own pistons and rings and it saved me a lot of money.
Has the bike been running hot? How many miles did it have when you bought it?
A top end rebuild isn't expensive (unless the barrel is scored) and you should look at it as a servicing requirement. I learnt to replace my own pistons and rings and it saved me a lot of money.
Has the bike been running hot? How many miles did it have when you bought it?
Mon Ami Mate said:
Has the bike been running hot? How many miles did it have when you bought it?
It runs at about 90, is this hot?
I bought it at about 8k
Just gone out to have a look at the bloody thing and the gearbox oil is fine, but theres a definate leak from around one of the bottom cylinder head bolts, so it looks like a rebuild/service is on the cards, it's not something I fancy doing my self but is it a maindealer job, or will any bike garage be able to do it, as Cagiva dealers are rarer than rocking horse poop
raceboy said:
Has the bike been running hot? How many miles did it have when you bought it?
It runs at about 90, is this hot?
I bought it at about 8k
Just gone out to have a look at the bloody thing and the gearbox oil is fine, but theres a definate leak from around one of the bottom cylinder head bolts, so it looks like a rebuild/service is on the cards, it's not something I fancy doing my self but is it a maindealer job, or will any bike garage be able to do it, as Cagiva dealers are rarer than rocking horse poop
Any half decent bike shop will do the job with the minimum of bother.
Right before you go to all the expense of the rebuilds and such that are being sugested try the following. Check that fuel is getting to the carb freely, start checking at the fuel tap, filter and float bowl of carb. Also check fuel tank and carb breathers. Replace the spark plug/s, check the small nipple shaped screw on top of each spark plug is tight(if it uses then, some don't) check plug leads for arcing out(start it up in the dark and see if there are any sparks coming from the leads) also check that leads are not frayed. Check for a good spark at the plug, if you don't get a spark at all then check kill switch wiring and all electrical connections to coil and cdi's etc. The majority of problems on two strokes are either ignition/electrical or fuel related. If you can get a manual for the bike it will help you no end.
Well this morning it finally died 
after taking an age to start it got me about 3 miles then died, and was making strange noises if you tried to restart it 
so after a long hard walk/push/scoot/roll back home to fetch the car, I'll have to call in a man that knows about these things to fix it
after taking an age to start it got me about 3 miles then died, and was making strange noises if you tried to restart it so after a long hard walk/push/scoot/roll back home to fetch the car, I'll have to call in a man that knows about these things to fix it wolf1 said:
Right before you go to all the expense of the rebuilds and such that are being sugested try the following. Check that fuel is getting to the carb freely, start checking at the fuel tap, filter and float bowl of carb. Also check fuel tank and carb breathers. Replace the spark plug/s, check the small nipple shaped screw on top of each spark plug is tight(if it uses then, some don't) check plug leads for arcing out(start it up in the dark and see if there are any sparks coming from the leads) also check that leads are not frayed. Check for a good spark at the plug, if you don't get a spark at all then check kill switch wiring and all electrical connections to coil and cdi's etc. The majority of problems on two strokes are either ignition/electrical or fuel related. If you can get a manual for the bike it will help you no end.
Well after phoning around the local bike places and being told in their best teeth sucking voice, 'Cagiva, can't get the bits mate'
I phoned a main dealer who unfortunatly was miles away but he basically said the same as the above so the last 2 nights it's been in bits, the carb was cleaned although it didn't actually look that dirty, the spark plug changed, now that had seen better days, and the result, nothing, zip, exactly the same as before, the spark plug is sparking, petrol is flowing, why isn't it exploding raceboy said:
Right before you go to all the expense of the rebuilds and such that are being sugested try the following. Check that fuel is getting to the carb freely, start checking at the fuel tap, filter and float bowl of carb. Also check fuel tank and carb breathers. Replace the spark plug/s, check the small nipple shaped screw on top of each spark plug is tight(if it uses then, some don't) check plug leads for arcing out(start it up in the dark and see if there are any sparks coming from the leads) also check that leads are not frayed. Check for a good spark at the plug, if you don't get a spark at all then check kill switch wiring and all electrical connections to coil and cdi's etc. The majority of problems on two strokes are either ignition/electrical or fuel related. If you can get a manual for the bike it will help you no end.
Well after phoning around the local bike places and being told in their best teeth sucking voice, 'Cagiva, can't get the bits mate'
Really sounds like a total loss of compression to me, which would be consistent with top end damage from a seizure.
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