[LWB250]

I had someone give me a 1994 EX-500 that was in running condition when they parked it a few years ago. At the time they said they were having "ignition and battery charging" problems. At this point that's about all I have to go on.

I haven't picked the bike up yet - I'll be doing this over the weekend.

I am a former NIASE certified mechanic, so I'm not concerned about my ability to fix things. I was more curious to know if there are any issues with the ignition/charging system on this model year that I might want to be aware of. I know that the ignition is solid-state on this model, according to my research, so I guess the one thing I really want to know is if the parts are expensive.

I expect to go completely throught the bike when I get it. No doubt if it's been sitting for a long time the fuel system is cruddy as will be the cooling and brake system, too.

If anyone wants to toss out anything else to watch out for on this particular model year, I would really appreciate it. I'm going to be spending some time sifting through the forums to see what information I can pick up as well.

Thanks in advance to all,

LWB

 

[MrSciTrek]

The mechanics will chime in shortly.
I don't recall reading any chronic problems with mechanicals/electricals for this bike.
The bike has been made for 20+ years with minimal changes, so there are used parts available via e-Bay, etc.

Other...
Lube the speedo cable & then locktite it.
Get a fuel filter for it.
Uses WalMart Supertech ST7317 filter (There are other good filters too, this one is $3).
Consider the FOG airbox mod, & pilot screw mod. (Go to homepage, then use search)

Welcome!

 

[LWB250]

Thanks a bunch! I really appreciate it!

I am looking forward to getting my hands on this bike. I need a good summer project.

The only other thing I am concerned about is carb rebuilding, or if it will be necessary. I've rebuilt hundreds of carbs in my day, so I don't expect it to be an issue - I suspect that if this bike has sat for two years the carbs will be varnished up good.

LWB

 

[MrSciTrek]

LWB,

I've rebuilt 6 carburetores for cars over the years... but not a bike... the slide throttle & no butterfly choke sure threw me for an unexpected loop. Fortunately the folks here helped me out w/o too much grief for that.

Again, only from what I've read... some/all of the 500s come with a vacuum valve (?) to allow gas to flow to the carbs. So if the valve was working well maybe there wouldn't be much varnish in the carbs. Might want to check the tank & hoses for rusty fuel though because it can play havoc on the small passages in the carbs according to what folks have written.

 

[jlmay]

make sure your pilot jets are clean, people will hunt you down if you don't.

 

[wolf66]

My carbs sat for a long time, was going to clean them up but found a pair on Ebay off a '06 wrecked bike that were like new for $23 (nobody else bid), hard to do much work for that....

 

[Nick D]

I had someone give me a 1994 EX-500 that was in running condition when they parked it a few years ago. At the time they said they were having "ignition and battery charging" problems. At this point that's about all I have to go on.

Just throwing in my $0.02 here. The person you got the bike from, did they know anything about bikes? If they didn't know much about them and just wrote off the bike at the first sign of trouble, I'm going to go with "failing battery" for $100, Alex. 9 times out of 10 that I've seen someone say something about starting and charging problems, it's because it won't hold a charge - "I have to jump start it, but it runs" - and then there is "It just clicks when I try to start it." I think I've only come across one person who actually had to do any work to the charging system, but this could be the second I guess. The rest of the time it's just the battery.

Great find, it'll be a great little bike when you get it lined out. You even scored one with the upgrades (2nd gen, bigger forks,wheels,etc.), I had to pay for my 1st gen .

 

[Outrace]

There is no historical precedent for any systemic failure of the EX electronics package.

HOWEVER, there is a tendency for their fuel tanks to rust internally quite prematurely. Outside storage is the primary cause of this problem.

So, my guess is, clean the tank, use Kreme, and unclog the petcock and carbs. She'll run fine.