[rob845]

12v is low on the battery.

What about at the coils when the switch is on?

Krey

True, maybe the coils are going bad. IMO I would start on page 4-1 of the repair manual go go step by step.

[Kreylyn]

True, maybe the coils are going bad. IMO I would start on page 4-1 of the repair manual go go step by step.

Not nessasarily bad coils, but if the coils are not getting enough power you will have a weak spark issue.

Starting with 11.XX volts as soon as you put the key on, headlight comes on and drops another 1 -1.5 v that gets to the coils... so that puts you really close to the minimal of 10.5 volts at the coils.

If you add in the starter, that can drop the V even further to the coils. next thing you know is you have 9v at the coils so they are not giving enough of a spark while the engine is turning over with the starter.

It would turn and turn, but not hit... or only hit on cylinder once in a great while but still not start.

Krey

[htedro]

I've got the battery on the trickle I'll post when I try it again

[Kreylyn]

I've got the battery on the trickle I'll post when I try it again

You could still have the low voltage to the coil issue even with a fully charged battery.

Really... should check the voltage there.

Krey

[htedro]

oh yea I figured, but I didn't want to mistake low voltage at the coil for a problem after beating the crap out of the battery with the starter...

well I did get her running... friend came over and ran the starter for a long time, like 20-30 seconds, and she finally coughed to life... i was keeping it under 20 seconds. which leads me to my next problem haha, please see the link, I'll edit it in once I make the new thread

http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?p=2071623#post2071623

thanks for the help on getting it going, all- much appreciated