Motorcycle Repair: ignition, honda goldwing gl1000, plug caps

Question
1977 Honda Goldwing GL1000 will not fire on cylinders 3 and 4. There is sometimes a weak spark on 4 and possibly 3. This bike had the points replaced by electronic pickup. There is NO electronic box involved. I have had both condensers checked and they are okay and grounded. The coils have both been checked (as well as you can) and appear to be okay. Is there a way to see how the electronic pickup (DYNA S) is fuctioning correctly? Any other ideas would be helpfull. I was told (but am not conviced) that #3 needs to be connected when #4 is trying to fire and vice-versa becase 3 provides a ground for 4 and 4 provides a ground for 3. I don't think so ?

Answer
For troubleshooting, go to:

http://www.dynaonline.com/english/index.htm

I don't think you still need condensers with E-ignition. Disconnect them and see if it affects the problem.

You DO need to ground both plugs when testing for spark. This is a double ended coil and the spark energy goes from coil to one spark plug electrode and the other plug actuall gets a reverse polarity spark at the same time. When one plug is ungrounded the circuit is opened.

You can swap coils in the ignition harness and verify if the problem is Dyna related or coil function issue.

Check your spark plug caps for excessive resistance. Should be around 5k ohms each.

More info: http://www.classicwingclub.org/

Bill Silver