My recon (1997ish) will die when you put it in 1st or reverse.will idle, rev and run great in neutral
I can swap indicator wires around and it'll idle fine when it thinks reverse is neutral and when you hit actual neutral it dies
Ideas?

 

Most older Hondas had a wire from the neutral indicator to the CDI. What it does I can't explain and Honda kept changing their minds on how to work it, (on for neutral, off for neural etc). My guess is that another wire to the CDI has broken and the neutral wire is being used as the feed wire, so cutting out when it is (dis)connected. Or the CDI has an internal fault and only works when the neutral wire is doing it's stuff.

 

Does it dies as soon as you put it in gear or does it die after you try to give it throttle? Is this an "ES" model?

 

Non "es" old solid foot shift
Sometimes it dies instantly others it take a few secounds and you can rev it up and shift and it'll go then die or itll go for a while then die
I'm thinking something is funny in my cdi box or rectifier....gonna swap to an old cdi and hope its good or just run a switched hot wire to the neutral wire

 

Are you sure you don't have some carb issues?

 

I don't see it being a carb issue..it cranks no choke, revs, holds idle great and I can ride it when it decides to go. When I swapped wires for neutral&reverse it'll start and run in reverse just fine...I have come to the conclusion I need to order a cdi and rectifier for it

 

Thanks for the additional info...I doubt you need a CDI and a rectifier...not both. First, ensure the wiring is good...trace the wiring out per your manual/wiring diagram. Here's what I learned and I never thought possible , try applying heat to the CDI via a heat gun, or hair blow dryer. See if the ATV runs differently..longer..I just did this on a Kawaie 300 and it proved the CDI was bad.....

 

It will do this hot or cold, first crank or after trying for 30 mins. Plus I also need extras just in case.

 

Again, I didn't know that it ran fine in reverse.....I thought it died instantly or after a few seconds of placing in gear....forward or reverse. I hope the new CDI resolves the issue for you and maybe u can find an aftermarket one that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Please post your results after you install the new componants....it can help others in the future.

 

Testing the regulator is fairly easy. Connect a voltmeter to pos and neg of the battery and rev up. voltage should be between 13v and 14.5v. If it goes over 14.5V you need a new one, and it could damage the CDI. Just a thought about that neutral light circuit, it contains a diode which can go bad, can't remember what fault it throws up, but Honda make it easy to get at on the 250, it's in the battery box in it's own little black case.