No spark,don't know why?

[lhaolpa]

Just started tearing into my '82 xs400 seca,cleaned the carbs,took off the headlight. It was all broken up[one of those fibreglass things,small fairings,windshield]. I cleaned up the carbs,which looked pretty clean other than a bit of old gas in the bowl.I soaked it in simple green and pinesol overnight in a crockpot on low.then I blew all of the little passages out with air and carb cleaner. I put them back on,and although it had spark before,now there's none. I checked all connections,grounds,etc.,and found nothing out of the way,but the starter button doesn't work,and no spark.I'll try tomorrow,but I can't take the heat,and the bike's in the sun outside. Any anecdotal advice is welcome. lha

 

[drewpy]

checked those pesky fuses?

 

[lhaolpa]

Yes,I did and wire brushed,and checked for continuity as well.Now,my thought is that the kickstand switch,clutch switch may be at fault.I'm not used to that many hurdles to jump just to start a bike.You have to have the key on,the kickstand up,The kill switch turned to RUN,and the clutch pulled in.That's a lot for an old codger like me to remember!!! lha

 

[drewpy]

de-codgerize it then

 

[01ps]

My spark went away one time and I eventually traced it to a terminal on the CDI. It had pushed back through when the plug was pushed into the ignitor box so it looked ok but it was just out of reach of the terminal. Took me 8 hours to find that @&*%%^! I was happy when I found it though because I was sure it was the ignitor, which are hard to come by.

 

[hmusket]

Did you take either or both of your controls off? If so, check for solid contact with the handle bars. Did you do a continuity test on the kill switch?

 

[lhaolpa]

Update:went out this morning and played with shifter,kill switch,pulled the clutch a few times,and EUREKA! I have spark,starter button works,just won't start.However,after waiting for a while for the neighbors to wake up for sure[it's Saturday,you know],I'll try again with a short shot of propane,very weak flow.I've not got the air filter installed,so I've put a sock filter in the hole in the airbox,and discovered that it fits well and should be a permanent fix for that.Now,if you're saying to yourself that that doesn't sound right,consider that I have an'82 seca,DOHC,and they're a different animal from the single cam version.I've tried every way I can to remove the airbox from this thing and it must have been stuck together in place.I will take my coffee,my handful of pills which would make a normal person comatose in about 15 minutes,but wakes me up and makes it where I can walk,move around like any other 90 year old could.Will report any success or agony of defeat shortly. Oh yeah,the reason I want to wait is because I have only the headpipes on there at the moment,waiting to figure out what I'll do. lha

 

[lhaolpa]

Maybe I could de-activate all the safety crap,and it would be exciting to ride again.Government bureaucrats have made everything costly and maybe a little safer. Nowadays even idiot-proof vehicles aren't safe enough,just watch those shows showing how stupid people can be amusing while driving,or just watch skippi's video of that "braintrust" working!!!! lha [RANT]

 

[lhaolpa]

de-codgerize it then

My thoughts exactly,after I get her going!! lha

 

[lhaolpa]

UPDATE:Went back to the bike after discovering spark was present.I had put the kickstand up,rechecked for neutral,moved several things,and with a propane tank[very slightly open]it started,but just for a moment.I'm going to have to get a carb kit and reclean the carb again.I was very thorough,or at least I thought.I will go the route of the Berreyman soak.I can't imagine anything else coming out,but I'll see.I blew air and carb cleaner through all orifices that I could see,and it should start and run.I have seen this exact story many times on this and other sites,and the answer is almost always the same:clean,repeat ad nauseum.That is what I'm going to do,or get other carbs[last resort] lha