Welcome, Dan! Nice to see another Indy pinsider--and another Cyclone! I've got one too.

If the walls at the entrance of the ramp are broken, Mantis protectors may fix you up. They also fix and prevent damage at the ramp exit. That's definitely the best purchase I've made for my Cyclone. Won't fix the floor of the ramp though.

http://www.mantisamusements.com/cyclone.protkit.htm

You unfortunately just missed a Comet ramp on ebay a couple days ago. Comet and subway sold for around $350, IIRC.

You might want to chime in on this thread:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/calling-all-cyclone-owners-new-ramps

Dan,

Welcome to the forum. I'd also like to find a nice Cyclone for my game room some time, that is a really fun game!

Hopefully, someone will reproduce that ramp as seems to have a lot of people waiting for it.

Jesse

Welcome Dan and congrats on a great first pin! Damage to the ramp entrance is common. I definitely recommend the Mantis protector - if nothing else to hopefully prevent further damage.

I have seen this problem sometimes on mine, especially after rebuilding the flippers.

One thing that helped on mine was to adjust the two screws on the ramp flap - when they were too tight they were pulling the ramp down to a slightly steeper angle. Loosening them a little seemed to help, but I'm not sure if this even applies to yours or if that metal flap with the screws is broken off?

Also make sure your EOS switches are properly gapped at 1/8 inch - see Vid's guide (thanks Vid!):
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-upgradingrebuilding-flippers

If the gap was too small I found I got more airballs off the ramp.

Finally you might check if your inserts are raised - I know on mine the arrow right in front of the ramp is raised up a bit, and I can see where that may contribute to this problem too.

Good luck and please let us know how it turns out.

I'm not sure how it will hold up in the long run, but I used fiberglass cloth and epoxy to rebuild the front lip of my Comet ramp. For whatever reason, my ramp interfered with the pop right below it so I used a razor saw to trim the plastic top of the pop bumper as well. The ramp protector covers the repair so it's not noticeable and should help keep the ramp down.

Shout out to Jesse B, who I think sold me a PinBot some time ago, if so, nice guy.

Ramps are the most easily broken and least obtainable parts for Cyclone. Word is we may see a new Comet reproduction from Pinball Inc soon.

I know who got the eBay ramps the other day and those went cheap. Someone would have had to of bid a lot higher to have taken it from the winning bidder.

viperrwk

I'm glad I didn't bid then. My ramps are fine, but I thought about bidding just to have a spare. Figured I'd leave them for somebody who really needed them though. Sounds like I would have ended up just driving the price up.

Yes, you would have!

If you want to know what Cyclone ramps typically go for:

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fs-cyclone-in-bloomington-mn-not-mine#post-446812

If you can't get the Pinball Inc repro you should probably double the price for a NOS or repro Comet ramp in the used market.

viperrwk

Wow I sold my Cyclone with an addition set of ramps for $900. Yikes!

Sorry to say you left money on the table.

Perhaps those were your ramps in the recent auction. Seller was from FL.

viperrwk

Welcome to pinside.

It's nice seeing another pinside from Indy here.

Good luck w/ the Cyclone restore.

Restoring machines is sometimes more fun than playing.

I'm in Los Angeles. I know there's hardly anyone from L.A. on here. I'm really glad everyone's Cyclone machine is working! Mine? Oh, fuhgattaboutit! I bought it last month, Mar 2 and a month later, nuthin' but problems. Oh, it worked fine for about a week. Cleaned it up, put new rubbers and posts. Then, the lights got real bright and I turned off the machine in fear. Now, the coils to Spookhouse, the outhole, the left kicker and all 3 jet bumpers don't fire. I did all the diagnostics and some repair from Pinballrepair.com, but nothing gets them solenoids working. The machine plays fine and scores properly, but cannot launch the ball. I'm giving up on this machine. Will hopefully sell it on e-bay for $1000.00, 500 less than I paid for it. Darn it!

Thanks, EasyDZ for your words. I swear, if it ain't one thing, it's another. Now, the POS blinks, rather, ticks! It's a problem with my brand new EPROM. It doesn't startup anymore. The lights come on, but it doesn't have that familiar, "You sir and you madam! Hurry, hurry, step right up" anymore. I think I got that one in a million that just doesn't want to work right---a lemon if you will. Rather than selling it, I think I'll just dig a big hole and bury it in the back yard. Then, 150 years from now, someone will want to put a swimming pool and eventually find this lemon of a pinball machine and wonder, "What was this guy thinking when he got this machine?" Too bad, though; except for the playfield, everything is really nice looking.

Welcome to the Cyclone never ending story. Its a great machine, but it can be a real PIA.

On my machine, I have fixed the main board, replaced the displays, put all LEDS in, replaced the play filed, new plastics, new pop bumpers, new flippers with full rebuild kit, new switches, oh and the mantis protectors.

I had to completely rebuild my spook house ramp with fiberglass and epoxy.

You would think i have this thing 100%, but last night its now telling me i have stuck switch...
I wonder whats next....

The Mantis protectors, are problematic. Because of the way they mount (on the front posts), they keep getting hit; and eventually break loose. Anyone else have this problem?

Cliffy should comment on this - he installed the Mantis protector on his Cyclone and he would know best how to mount it effectively. If he doesn't chime in here you should send him a PM.

viperrwk

I used a Dremel to grind down the edges of the protector on the Comet ramp exit to make the ball travel smoother and avoid scratching the ball. I need to do the same thing on the ramp entrance to widen the entrance a bit. I only installed the right side of the entrance protector because only my right side was broken and installing on the intact left side would require me cutting a portion of the stock ramp (counterproductive, that).

E-6000 and mylar will hold it until you find a replacement.

Let me know. About 2 weeks ago, i pulled the left protector, and started adjusting the mount angle, and gridding a bit off the start of the protector.