79josh81
XS650 Addict
Hey everyone I'm new here so bare with me...
So, I got this crazy idea a couple months ago that I wanted to build a bobber out of a xs650 even though I had no prior experience working on motorcycles but plenty with working on cars and I consider myself an easy learner when it comes to mechanical things. This "idea" of a bobber build was cool, but everything after that has been a pain in my ass. So I purchased a 1979 xs650 a few days ago. I spoke with the old guy who was selling it and he was a bike enthusiast and told me that it ran when he put it away 5 years ago. He drained the gas tank and, in his words, "stored the bike the right way". Being how old he was, he wasn't interested in getting the bike running for me because there was no battery in it and no fuel. Cosmetically, the bike is in really good shape. Long story short, I trusted him (mostly because he was so old) that the bike ran when he put it away (and it may have) and I bought the bike.
I got it home, put a battery in it, poured some gas in....and....the problems started here. The carbs flooded and over filled the float bowls and pissed gas out through the air filters. One of the fuel lines from one of the petcocks was cracked which gas poured out of. And both petcocks leaked around where they seal to the tank.
So i pulled the tank, petcocks, replaced the carb fuel lines, removed the carbs and cleaned them (I think the bowls overflowed because the float pins were gummed up), and put everything back together and poured some gas in for round 2.
The petcocks still leaked at the tank a little (I knew they still would) but the carbs didn't overfill. I tried to start the bike and it would crank but would not fire. At this point I'm ready to kick an old guys ass but I'm trying to live different these days. So I pull a spark plug and figure out that I also have no spark...on either side. FML. Electrical stuff. I hate electrical stuff. Mostly because I'll usually source out electrical problems because again...I hate electrical stuff. The bike DOES have power everywhere else as far as I can tell. Just no spark.
So anyways, I google and try to figure things out and this is what I've tried:
-New spark plugs and set gap
-replaced all fuses
-opened the "points" (which I'm completely new to) and checked conditon and made sure the gap was right, lightly filed and cleaned the points and everything looked good and in spec as far as I could tell
-tried to do all of the multimeter testing for the coils but honestly, I don't understand that stuff. I know the resistance on the primary is supposed to be 3.9 OHM +-10% and my reading was 4.9 on both sides (not sure if it being that high matters). The resistance on the secondary is 7.8 OHM which it's supposed to be 7 to 8. The only thing was that I got that secondary reading when I put the multimeter positive into the plug wire with the plug cap off (straight into the wire like I've read). *******When I put the spark plug connector back on the wire (the 90 degree connector boot that actually connects to the spark plug) and put the multimeter positive into that to test the secondary, the resistance was like 16 to 17 OHM. Shouldn't it still be 7.8 OHM even when using the 90 degree spark plug boot instead of plugging directly into the spark plug wire? ******
Honestly, I need some experience here to help me out. I know I probably don't sound like i know a whole lot as far as diagnosing no spark on an xs650....and that's because I don't. I already feel like an idiot for trusting this guy and buying this bike so I'm only looking for constructive comments and help in figuring this out. From what I've read while browsing here, people know their xs650 s**t on here.
So, I got this crazy idea a couple months ago that I wanted to build a bobber out of a xs650 even though I had no prior experience working on motorcycles but plenty with working on cars and I consider myself an easy learner when it comes to mechanical things. This "idea" of a bobber build was cool, but everything after that has been a pain in my ass. So I purchased a 1979 xs650 a few days ago. I spoke with the old guy who was selling it and he was a bike enthusiast and told me that it ran when he put it away 5 years ago. He drained the gas tank and, in his words, "stored the bike the right way". Being how old he was, he wasn't interested in getting the bike running for me because there was no battery in it and no fuel. Cosmetically, the bike is in really good shape. Long story short, I trusted him (mostly because he was so old) that the bike ran when he put it away (and it may have) and I bought the bike.
I got it home, put a battery in it, poured some gas in....and....the problems started here. The carbs flooded and over filled the float bowls and pissed gas out through the air filters. One of the fuel lines from one of the petcocks was cracked which gas poured out of. And both petcocks leaked around where they seal to the tank.
So i pulled the tank, petcocks, replaced the carb fuel lines, removed the carbs and cleaned them (I think the bowls overflowed because the float pins were gummed up), and put everything back together and poured some gas in for round 2.
The petcocks still leaked at the tank a little (I knew they still would) but the carbs didn't overfill. I tried to start the bike and it would crank but would not fire. At this point I'm ready to kick an old guys ass but I'm trying to live different these days. So I pull a spark plug and figure out that I also have no spark...on either side. FML. Electrical stuff. I hate electrical stuff. Mostly because I'll usually source out electrical problems because again...I hate electrical stuff. The bike DOES have power everywhere else as far as I can tell. Just no spark.
So anyways, I google and try to figure things out and this is what I've tried:
-New spark plugs and set gap
-replaced all fuses
-opened the "points" (which I'm completely new to) and checked conditon and made sure the gap was right, lightly filed and cleaned the points and everything looked good and in spec as far as I could tell
-tried to do all of the multimeter testing for the coils but honestly, I don't understand that stuff. I know the resistance on the primary is supposed to be 3.9 OHM +-10% and my reading was 4.9 on both sides (not sure if it being that high matters). The resistance on the secondary is 7.8 OHM which it's supposed to be 7 to 8. The only thing was that I got that secondary reading when I put the multimeter positive into the plug wire with the plug cap off (straight into the wire like I've read). *******When I put the spark plug connector back on the wire (the 90 degree connector boot that actually connects to the spark plug) and put the multimeter positive into that to test the secondary, the resistance was like 16 to 17 OHM. Shouldn't it still be 7.8 OHM even when using the 90 degree spark plug boot instead of plugging directly into the spark plug wire? ******
Honestly, I need some experience here to help me out. I know I probably don't sound like i know a whole lot as far as diagnosing no spark on an xs650....and that's because I don't. I already feel like an idiot for trusting this guy and buying this bike so I'm only looking for constructive comments and help in figuring this out. From what I've read while browsing here, people know their xs650 s**t on here.