Please help!! I'm having a electrical nightmare

[Celticdan]

Please help my zxr l1 electrics are causing me real problems.
I fitted 2 new 60/35w headlight bulbs that cost me a small fortune
Started the bike up to let it have a run up and turned the bike off
By the ignition key not the kill switch by accident which to my supprise the bike kept
Running but the headlight got rather bright then blew!! I was not amused. I thought I'd
Investigate, I tried to check to see if it was over charging which I didn't get to do as it started
To run badly then cut out. Made some checks and found only one coil to be working. I swaped the coil
Wiring from the good 1 to the bad 1 and the coil works. So after that long winded description of my problems
My 1st question is.... Should my engine still run after turning the ignition key off?
2nd question is as 1 coil is firing does that eliminate the coil pickup and leave me with
A faulty cdi unit?
And finally.... Does anyone have a full power uk spec cdi unit for sale if that
Is at fault?
Any help would be very welcomed.
Cheers dan a very stressed zxr owner.

[extonyg]

the engine should turn off when the ignition is turned off....i personally dont use the killswitch dont no wether thats right or wrong but i dont have any problems.so this is a problem in itself wether this is also the cause of the bulbs blowing etc is a different matter.
you need to be checking your charging voltage with the engine running only needs to run for 30 seconds or so just for you to check the voltage so as long as the bike will run that long thats fine.
i wouldnt go straight for changing the cdi although this is possibly damaged if it blew the bulbs but hopefully the bulbs took the voltage spike.
you need to check all the relays as possibly one is 'stuck' causing the ignition to stay on, theres the starter one with the fuse on it check that one is all ok.
its just a matter of going over it all and seeing what you can find.

[gavinfdavies]

I've had diesels do that to me, but never a petrol engine! The cause could either be a fault in the ignition switch itself, or a relay some where. I always use the ignition not the kill switch, i was told that kill switches are not as strong and over time can weaken. Regards the lights, the fuse should have blown before the bulbs, so check that first. Regards the one coil not working, you've tried the 'bad' coil on the 'good' one's connectors, and it worked? Have you tried the 'good' coil on the bad one's connectors? If it doesn't work the the fault is in the connector or the cdi. Try using a multimeter to check the resistance of the wires between the bad boil and the cdi, they should be very low. If they're very high then something's burned out. If that checks not one trick is to drop a known good cdi into the bike, but if there's a short somewhere you risk damaging the new one too. Get hold of a wiring diagram and check all the wires that are involved in the ignition and the ignition switch, i think that is the key. When you turn the key off, it breaks a connection in the ignition circuit. For the engine to keep running this must not have happened, not unless your plugs were running so hot they were acting like glow plugs! I think they'd melt first though, but you could always check just to rule that out! Good luck!

[Mori Man]

I guess we all do things different - I use the kill switch to cut the engine then switch off the ignition to cut the electrics, never had a problem doing that.

A short inside the ignition barrel might be the cause , or the loom around that area as you disturbed something while putting the bulbs in - look for chaffed or kinked cables.

So I think the main power has been left on and your rectifier/regulator has been powered off and the system got the full force of the generator and pop went you lights ! Possibly a coil has been burnt out too so do the swap thing to eliminate. Also check the rest of the loom for melted wires - I wouldn't be putting another CDI onto the system until you establish what the route problem was or your going to potentially make a collection of door stoppers !

Good hunting ! Electrics are a bloody nightmare

[Celticdan]

Hello again. I'd just thought I'd let you no that it was the cdi unit
At fault. I've decided that I will just use the kill switch to turn the engine off
And then turn the ignition off to turn the electrics off. I've possibly got a faulty
Ignition switch! But as long as I use the kill switch I should have no problems.
Also I'm on the look out for some h4r headlight bulbs does anyone no where I can get a pair
Fairly cheap?