Stupid Stupid Stupid Spark

[todreamalife]

Hey am having trouble with the spark on my bike. In other words there is none. I bit the bullet after months of fruitless testing and bought a new solenoid and ignition assembly, (the original ignition assembly was attacked by a rabid mechanic in a misguided attempt at hotwiring) (I thought I was bad as a clueless girl reading a manual but I will never trust one of my husbands friends again until I see him rebuild a carburetor succesfully.)

Anyway I'm rambling. I decided to try all the impossible parts that never break because I cannot find anything else wrong with the damn thing and I think the ignition assembly might be one of those. Brief history:

1) husband buys me the bike (yeah he's a great guy)
2) I move to Canada
3) bike sits for two years tied up in paperwork. covered with a bike cover but in the moist air
4) "mechanic" tries to hotwire the bike, don't ask me why
5) I finally import the bike
6) Mechanic has lost all ignition bolts and the mechanism that holds the two plates inside together. I put two plasic washers against the lock mechanism which is just enough pressure to push the top plate down and voila the lights turn on.
7) Bike doesn't start, husband puts a new ground on the starter, I cleaned the old one but it did no good. (Note: very difficult to get a ground of any kind on the engine casing or starter casing or frame) starter now turns over.
8) Carburator cleaned (husband can do it sucessfully, phew)
9) Bike runs for 1 month just fine then starts having trouble starting, will only idle once warmed up, then dies. The idle switch? is stuck. Bike starts dying when I am riding it. Finally won't start at all. Seems like the cable for the idle switch is stuck permanantly so can only adjust the idle a very little bit. There is spark, I think.
10) Order a new cable. Cable arrives, I put it on the bike and the bike won't start. Check the spark, there is no spark.
11) Spend fruitless couple of months buying ohmeters and muttering over wiring diagrams. Husband puts a stop to it when I talk of lighting the bike on fire.
12) Took a couple of months hiatus. Back at it again. Decided instead of trying to trace mythical short I will try the solenoid and the ignitor and the ignition assembly.

Any hints? Anyone ever heard of this before? Any clues for a clueless girl with a manual?



Drea