Motorcycle Repair: 1970 cb350k2, plug caps, farm auction

Question
bill i bought this old 350 on a farm auction needs some work. has good compression and carbs in good shape. i had spark on only one side so i pulled the points. when i kicked it over the point wires would gloe to a test light. after several times of kicking it over i lost that gloe i then checked to see if i had power coming from the stater none. i pulled the stater out looks ok after cleaning. so how do i know if the stater is bad and does it need to be running in oil to work.  thanks frank.

Answer
Frank, these bikes are battery powered, even though they have a permanent magnet charging system to maintain it.

Clean the points, gap them at .012-.014" then set them to open at the F and LF marks. Be sure that the condenser leads are clean and tight. You should get a good spark with a fresh battery, good plug caps and fresh plugs. IF you get a lot of arcing on one set of points then the condenser is bad. They come in twos, though so you have to buy the assembly when one side dies.

Yes, they run in oil to help cool the windings. Once you get it running you can check the stator output with a 12v light bulb at idle. Two leads will be the same and the pink one should be twice as bright.

Bill Silver