Popping noise

[shycapnay]

Hi everyone,
Something strange happened today before my ride and I was hoping someone here can clear things out for me. I turned on my 86 rebel and there was a popping noise coming from the engine area. I didn't like how it sounded so I pressed the kill switch and it still kept going. I twisted the key to turn off the motorcycle and it finally stopped, but as soon as i put the key on the "ON" position the popping and the engine started up again w/o me pressing on the start button and with the kill switch on "OFF". I twisted the key to the off position and jiggled the kill switch and the start button a bit and that finally cleared the problem.
My question is do I just have dirty switches or is there something more serious I should worry about. And if its just dirty switches how do i clean them? Thanks in advance everyone.
On a side-note, that was a great ride after I got it going. :D

[GearJammer]

Considering the odd way the various switch options are working, I'd definitely try cleaning the switches in the right-hand handlebar controls first & see if that does the trick. There's 2 screws holding the switch housing together. Just remove those & carefully seperate the 2 halves, then spray some electrical contact cleaner on the contacts, being mindful not to get any of the spray cleaner on any painted areas of your bike. Radio Shack carries the stuff for around $10 per spray can.

The popping sound is a new one on me, as usually popping is associated with an air leak oftentimes times by the exhaust ports. If you check the exhaust pipe flange nuts holding the pipes to the head, PLEASE be careful to not tighten 'em more than "hand-snug". Those exhaust flange studs are EXTREMELY weak & tightening TOO much can cause problems you don't want to incur. Trust me on this, it's one of the main reasons I turned loose of the '85 250 Reb....had probs with 3 of the 4 exhaust flange studs & it sidelined the bike. NO FUN! LMAO!

The popping sound might also be a short of some kind, especially considering the other symptoms you've described. I remember reading that someone had found a way to essentially "hot-wire" the 250 Reb. Memory being faulty on this, I "think" it was by disconnecting the "black-white" wire on the CDI.

IF the switch-cleaning doesn't do the trick, you might have a look at the wiring coming out of the CDI to insure that there's no breaks or missing wire insulation that might be shorting out on bare metal somewhere & causing the popping sound, but again, I'd start with the switch on the handlebars & go from there if need be. For safety's sake, please proceed with caution & take it one step at a time....

If you've got the manual, you could also check ALL grounds to make sure everything's tight in those areas. Other thoughts & ideas are most certainly welcome here, so if anyone has some input, please chime in.....