I have power to the coils but no spark????

[pnedac]

So I have just finished rewiring my bobber (finally) and I have run into some trouble. The coils and plugs are all new and appear to be getting power, but no spark. The wires are original but do not "appear" to be damaged or burnt or anything out of the ordinary. Any suggestions? I am baffled. I am certainly not an electrician either, but this is beyond me. I am using a curcuit tester and getting the light to light up all over the place so I am pretty sure I have have power as I should. This is the very final step to this 4 month rebuild and I am beside my self. It is a 77 XS 650 with the 2 coil setup. Could it be a bad wire and how do I know??

All help is appreciated.

Pat in Sacramento, CA

 

[pnedac]

So after some digging around I see that it was in fact the wires. I ordered new ones, but in the meantime I cut the ends of the existing ones and BAM there is spark. Now it still wont start and I know that I have air, fuel and spark. Turns over, good compression, nothing. Hmmm. Any advice?

 

[retiredgentleman]

What is the condition of the carbs? Are you confident that they are clean inside...........float bowl level, choke circuit, pilot circuit??

 

[pnedac]

I have taken the carbs apart and done a full cleaning and inspection. I have no real reason to believe that they would be the issue. Anything is possible though and I will not give up. I ordered new wires and caps because upon inspection of them I see that there is green corrosion and I am getting spark, but weak spark. Do you think it might just be that I need a good solid spark to fire up? Would it start with a weak spark? any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[XSLeo]

Often on a points rewire the wires from the coils to the points get reversed. The top set of points should hook to the right side coil.
One easy test of this is to swap the plug wires left to right. If it runs then you might want to swap the points wires.
You might want to run through the basic tune up, just to be sure the engine and ignition are right.
Do the steps in this order,
Set cam chain tension.
Adjust valves.
Set the gap and timing on the upper points.
Set the gap and timing on the lower points.
This will get the engine and ignition ready.
Leo