Yamaha won't start!

[tigger]

Yesterday I pulled my '73 Yamaha out of the garage to put around on. It ran just fine when I parked it 4 months ago, and now it seems like it's not getting any spark. It's got fuel (put in fresh gas yesterday), it's definitely got air (no air filter on it at the moment) and it's got 2 shiny new spark plugs. I can kick all day long and get nothing, I even tried roll starting it, to no avail. The plugs showed no signs of firing. Could the coil or magneto go bad just sitting for a few months? If any of you guys have any advice I'd appreciate it, I know about jack shit when it comes to two-strokes.

I want to tear into it tomorrow, but the Ford needs a starter too.

 

[burnsy]

http://www.bikez.com/msgboard/msg.php?str_id=54019&type=bike&id=9570
that was the first thing i found pertaining to the information you gave. but did you also check to make sure that fuel is definitely getting to the carb, checked the petcock and fuel cutoff? i remember leaving school on my honda, and forgot to turn back on the fuel cutoff, kinda embarassing ( i turned it off if someone tries to steal it, obviously worked ).

 

[KaJuN]

Your carbs might be dirty too. That happens to mine all the time and when they're clogged up the bike won't start at all.

 

[tigger]

Man, it's got no spark. I just went out and pulled a plug, hooked it up and kicked ... no spark. Time to take the damn thing back apart . The carb is a little leaky but it still works fine.

I've got it down to the ignition coil, (which of course costs $75 for a NOS replacement ). Heh, there are used ones on ebay for 7 bucks. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[danzooo]

i have a 1972 yamaha rt-1 360. it's doing the same thing. there is no spark. there is fuel and compression, but i checked for spark, changed the plug, regapped the points, pulled the flywheel and magneto mount. cleaned everything up and looked for broken or shorted wires. no problems found. even used some ether which will usually wake the dead, but nothing. does anyone know how to check the resistance of the ignition coil and condenser to see if they are at fault? the last time i ran the bike was a couple of years ago, but it ran fine then. now.....silence.

 

[BlaRo]

Coils don't usually go bad, especially in that short of a time period. The wires would be more likely to go bad, maybe if a mouse chewed through them (wiring harness to coils, because I don't know what sort of animals you'd have that could chew through spark plug wires). It's probably not this, but you could also check your points and condensers.

Fucking magnetos, how do they work?

 

[Spectre]

Check the wiring for continuity (which is what caught BlaRo out last time) and then don't just regap the points but replace them and the condenser.