Jimmy5090, I have an 81 that acts they way you described. The bike has a bad charging rotor. When the battery gets a bit low the ignition won't spark while cranking. It sparks when you turn the switch on and off, a nice fat blue spark, but none while cranking.
What ignition are you using and is the battery charged?
If you notice, people have stuff written below their post. That's their signature. People put the bike info there so people can give you better answers.
Some of those switches have several connections on the back. One is power in, one is ignition , one accessories, one the start.
When you turn the key to the start position it turns off the accessories so all the battery power goes to the ignition and starter.
If you have the ignition wired to the accessories and the acccessories to the ignition that might make it act the way you describe.
One way to check would be to put the switch into the on position and use the kickstart to check for spark. Then try it in the acc position. If it's no spark in the on, and spark in the acc, then it's wired backwards.
Leo