Motorcycle Repair: ignition, spark plug wires, johnny eaton

Question
  glad i found you hope you can help

 I have a suzuki gs1150 1984 that i just picked up i have no spark [1 now and then]
it had been sitting for two years so put new carbs on and had the tank recondition
just [fyi] dont think it matters

thanks for your help

p.s never worked on suzukis before


johnny eaton
indianapolis  

Answer
Hi Johnny.
 You know the difference between a Suzuki engine and every other engine on the market?  Design and configuration.  Outside of that every engine works the same.  Electric still flows positive to negetive and carbs still do the same thing that they do on any other motor.  That is the most important lesson you can learn.

You are getting an intermittent partial spark.  That could be bad coils, bad plugs (if they are the ones that came with the bike), an electrical short in the ignition system, or a short in the spark plug wires.

In case you haven't gotten one, get the repair manual for the bike.  Then check the entire ignition system, from power to coils, for shorts.  Use a multimeter as well as visually checking the wires for arcing or grounding.

After that, check the coils as per the specs and bench test proceedures in the manual.

My guess is bad coils, but check before replacing anything.

Good luck.
FALCON