She cranks and cranks and cranks and cranks but refuses to start.  She has good compression, fuel, spark, and air.That leaves timing, but if timing were bad then she wouldn't run at all.  If I push her, she'll start, but that's it.  After she starts she runs great.

Where do I begin looking?  Is there anything that would really cause the bike to only start with a good push?

EDIT

Never mind...

a weak starter is the only thing i can think of if its not a bad battery.

i was thinking weak battery. you know, takes a little juice to spin the starter, a little for the lights, a little for the ignition.....

got me man

starter and battery are both good.  Can jump it or run it off the booster and it still doesn't start.

Sounds like something is grounding/shorting when you hold the starter button.Could be a bad ignition switch or kill switch.Have you tried bypassing them.It's a long shot but all I can come up with this late.

All the electrical problems you having and have had with the CX are almost certainly down to a faulty stator. Its a unique system that uses 3 separate windings, one for charging and one each for high and low speed running. No other bike uses this system and Honda soon dropped it becuase of the problems, they are notorious for failing particularly the earlier ones (pre 81). This link includes a detailed test procedure, think I sent it to you once before. However winding faults tend to be intermittant and a good static test does not mean the stator will function correctly when its in use and becomes hot and subject to vibration.

http://www.elsham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/cx500/stator/

Look at it logically....the battery is ok, the starter-motor is ok. The bike starts and runs so the CDI and wiring must be ok........only thing left is the stator 

I will have a guess why its turning over but not catching and say the starter motor is drawing all the available current/voltage from the system, because the stator is faulty its not generating enough power to trigger the CDI and provide a strong spark. Push starting on the other hand does not cause such a demand on the system and consequently there is adequate power in the system to trigger the CDI, provide adequate sparks and allow the bike to start.

Bite the bullet......replace the stator.

Quote from: sledge on June 05, 2008, 05:07:01 AM
All the electrical problems you having and have had with the CX are almost certainly down to a faulty stator. Its a unique system that uses 3 separate windings, one for charging and one each for high and low speed running. No other bike uses this system and Honda soon dropped it becuase of the problems, they are notorious for failing particularly the earlier ones (pre 81). This link includes a detailed test procedure, think I sent it to you once before. However winding faults tend to be intermittant and a good static test does not mean the stator will function correctly when its in use and becomes hot and subject to vibration.

http://www.elsham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/cx500/stator/

Look at it logically....the battery is ok, the starter-motor is ok. The bike starts and runs so the CDI and wiring must be ok........only thing left is the stator 

I will have a guess why its turning over but not catching and say the starter motor is drawing all the available current/voltage from the system, because the stator is faulty its not generating enough power to trigger the CDI and provide a strong spark. Push starting on the other hand does not cause such a demand on the system and consequently there is adequate power in the system to trigger the CDI, provide adequate sparks and allow the bike to start.

Bite the bullet......replace the stator.

nice logic

stator is new, passes all diagnostics, and the ignition system is battery operated (no battery = bike dies...not all the CX/GL's have the same style charging and ignition systems).  When supplied with 14.4 volts from a booster, it has all the juice it needs.  That problem lies elsewhere.

could be as easy as bad plugs or misgapped or the wrong ones. or can i can be as hard as you have a dead starting system(mechanicaly and electrically)

My initial post was Sticky valves?

  But i thought I diagnosed myself out of it so I deleted it 

how are all of the connections from battery to starter and batter to ground and everything like that?

What color is the spark? Will it start on Ether? 

Since it doesn't have the Hi/lo windings and it runs after you bump start it- I'd say weak spark-like the starter is using too much power or again...back to the battery. Bikes are hard to diagnose from a computer.....

You said you tried from a booster...what about a jump from a non running car/truck?

Clean every connection you can think of and grease them up -- probably already done...just thinking "out loud ".

Maybe look on here if you haven't seen it yet....  http://choppercharles.com/cs/forums/

Electrical problems are fun.

after going back and checking the stator again I only have about 25vac coming out on both sides...I'm putting a new stator in, again, and selling the bike.  I found a GS750 I'd much much rather have.  I can't wait to have a chain drive bike again...already got a Katana front end sourced and I can't wait to start on a single side swingarm...unless I can find 17X3 and 17X5 spokies...though a single side spokie would be pimp...beamers have those, don't they?

My nighthawk S did this same thing today ... still working on it.
My thought is some corrosion still on connections.
Does vaseline conduct electricity ??
Cool.
Buddha.

vaseline is non-conductive

uh oh buddha is getting kinky lol BTW mak, or anyone else, anyone have any idea how had it would be to do an SSSA on a gs?

Quote from: makenzie71 on June 07, 2008, 09:31:28 PM
vaseline is non-conductive

Yea, I got a good bit of it everywhere ...
Cool.
Buddha.

TMI boss

Onto the next episode. 

I agree TMI.