Look for an MP08 Honda coil on Ebay.... they're cheap.
One more question for the refurb saga. Today I decided to see what kind of spark plug caps were on the bike. I assumed they were stock (you know what they say about assuming) and I read 1.1 K ohm and thought it might be bad then I checked the other and got the same reading. Hum.. then I noticed they were actually labeled 1K ohm. I thought these things were supposed to be 5 K ohm? Then I got to wondering if the absence of resistance in the plug wire could have caused the steady decline in spark since I bought the bike? I'm really not sure if it's significant or not.
OK, thanks for the infoI think it's more about RFI but hey many "big" problems are just lots of little things that all add up to poor function.
In the engineers defense the battery box is the least vibrating part of the XS650. IF the overflow tube is kept in place, the acid isn't a problem.You have to wonder why in the world any engineer or even design specialist would put the heart and soul of an ignition system or really any electrical major component under and side by side with the battery box. Today, with our sealed and much better batteries it wouldn't be so bad but back then so many batteries were still lead/acid with overflow tubes. My bike showed definite signs that acid had been spilled right down the frame, battery box, chain guard, and everything else in it's way toward mother earth. Amazingly it didn't look like any had entered the TCI inside. That's amazing in itself. Also from what I can see, the bike has been over on it's right side, probably from a tip-over because I can see minor damage to the right engine case, footpeg, and brake lever. Nothing major but it's there if you look for it.
Finally I've made real progress, in fact, I'm sitting on top of the world right now . . . Anyway, be aware, oxidized connectors can cause some weird problems and from how bad my experience was (absolutely intermittent spark to no spark, back and forth a couple times), I figured it was something much different that suspicious connectors.