Motorcycle Repair: 1978 Yamaha XS 400, yamaha xs 400, knowledgable friend

Question
Yo Chris,
I just bought the bike described above.  It's my first bike, and I'm not afraid to admit I know almost nothing about repair/restoration.  When I bought it, the bike was running.  I brought along a slightly more knowledgable friend to make sure I wasn't getting ripped, and the bike was running at the time.  The guy I bought it from told me that it was in good running condition, but needed the timing set and possibly a coil replaced.  This meant nothing to me, but my friend told it was that big of a deal, and I was buying the bike for much less then what I had planned on spending anyway.  

Sorry this is so long on to the question - basically, the bike isn't running as of now.  

I found air in the gas line, and flushed that out, but when we try the electric start, it clicks and makes a very weak rumble, the kick start rumbles, but doesn't catch.  Right now I'm charging the battery just for the hell of it and tomorrow I'm throwing new spark plugs in with the charged battery.  Any idea what might be the problem here?  (I realize I haven't given you that much information), also do you know of any good beginners repair resources?
thanks a TON!

Answer
Hi Jeremy.
 The perfect source for you, if you have even a small amount of mechanical skill, is two books.  One is the repair manual for the bike, the other is the Yamaha common service manual for that model.  It covers all years for that model.

What you want to check is the coils.  Test proceedures are in the repair manual as well as wiring diagrams, which you will need to chase down any possible shorts in the affected systems (starter, ignition, main power).  The kickstarter could be a problem with one of the engagement springs or something like that in that mechanism.

Start with those and let me know what you find.
Good luck.
FALCON