95 Daytona 1200 No Spark...sort Of

Well my title is not entirely true to the story. So....a couple weeks ago I purchased a high mileage Daytona 1200 that had gone through a dubious second owner and a neglectful 3rd owner , who I purchased from. Bike was wrecked in the front and lost its fiberglass, owner #2 repaired and turned into a Speed four of sorts (see picture) it has 60k miles but the condition swayed me. Plus it was diiiirt cheap (now we know why maybe) . Owner #3 who I talked to quite a lot is a 20ish young man who purchased this as his first bike ever (insert joke here) and he rode it just enough to terrify himself. The bike sat in his Grandmothers Garage (I can confirm this because when I picked it up, the Granny was so happy to get her Garage back) while he started it once in a while and never really warmed it up as he is just a Kid and doesn't really know about heat cycles.

Yes Caveat Emptor, I got the old girl home and fresh fuel. fresh battery.......no start. It did however cough a couple times and give the impression of about to start. I figured ethanol and over a year of sitting meant carbs. Took them off (OMG what a terrible job...never to be repeated if possible) and cleaned them, they were actually quite clean and gum / Crud free. I reattached said carb bank and attempted start...nothing...not a sputter. I pulled a plug, it was nasty, pulled another,,identical. Checked for spark and no little blue lighting strikes at all.

Then for some reason I touched a plug while cranking.....ok there is spark that I could feel if not see. I tried the ground and crank again only to see arc from the plug to the frame but no electrode spark at all. I have included a couple pics of the plugs for your viewing pleasure. Can the plugs be so bad that they are out of action or is this a weak spark coil situation? The plugs in it are NGK R DPR8EA 9. With the exception of the electrode they look new, not several years old, but in truth the young man had only put on a documented 230 kilometers in 2 years.

all theories are welcome, of course new plugs are step one but perhaps there is knowledge I am unaware of out there in the collective.

Thanks

 

thanks, Im using an aux fuel source, gravity fed into the carbs, so I know there is fuel. the only thing I unplugged was somthing that attached to the fuel tank. I dont know what it is, low fuel I assume

 

Well I got plenty of advice about connections but nobody mentioned coils. probably because I said the bike coughed like it wanted to start a couple times. The weak looking arcing from the plug to the frame, but not the electrode got me thinking coils. Now the Kid (PO #3) said he destroyed a battery trying t get it to start but wrote that off as not being able to charge it. So......not taking anything for granted, I tested the coils.


First of all I had mixed matched coils 1 was a GIL OEM I assume and the other is PVL, it is also slightly wider and shorter than the GIL.


both coils tested bad. 0.9 and 1.0 on the primary side respectfully and 0.0 on the secondary. That would explain the garage queen status she earned over the last couple years.


Im on this, so as Paul Harvey used to say,...Stand by for news!

 

130 pounds sterling, on the way. PVL units. I read that PVL and Nology are the same, Im sure I was mistaken and I just threw good money after bad. Let you know next week after they arrive.

 

I converted my sprint 900 to stick units and its great, I should have done that this time

 

No Kit, the components are not expensive, I had the part numbers in another thread, the sticks are new or used yamaha units and the connectors and wiring is straight up amazon Ford parts. I figure with the wasted spark you just wire in the coils 1 and 4 together and 2 and 3 so you use the original wiring for power and timing. I got used coils and new bits, did my 900 for like 60 bucks but I found coils for 10 each, that won't happen again. new are about 70 I think.

 

OK kiddies, progress report. new coils and cleaned the plugs, got consistent but weak spark (in my opinion, my honda 90 has a bright yellow almost blue fat spark), Bike started up and ran pretty smooth....but, there was a sound that was similar to a lifter hitting or maybe an exhaust leak pop. Worse with revs but after I got some heat into the engine that hadn't run in over a year the sound quieted down, then stopped altogether as it neared operating temperature. have to put some brain cells on that one.

oil was clean-ish and the right amount. Dont know what weight or age. so first will be a service. she did run pretty damn smooth once the temp gauge got up to 3/4. Fan cycled on and maybe she just needs a redneck tune up,...i.e. run the dogs hit out of it for a few miles and see what shakes loose.

 

Everybody likes good news.

Today I went to the garage and ran her through another full heat cycle. The noise on startup yesterday was gone, and not even a hint of anything wrong. Also there was considerably less soot being blown out the exhaust compared to yesterday. I deduce that the afore mentioned bad coils went out slowly and caused much sooting up and ultra rich running for a while (couple years ago) . I am also guessing that the non running status dried out the top end and it just needed a little pressure to get everything lubed u again,

At any rate I am in the process of putting the tank back on and then I'll change fluids as well as address the leaking front tire so I can go out into Carona World and just give it hell, blow it out and see what's left.

 

Follow Up: So many times a thread just dies with no idea about what happened,....
The Coils were bad (tested bad) , replaced with new...ouch 130 pounds which is like 150 dollars

Battery was non existent so, new Yuasa unit.

The plugs were so fouled that they would not spark the electrode, but would spark off the threads, New Plugs OEM style

The Gas or Petrol, or Benzin, or GoGo Juice, whatever we all call it was so old it was orange (at least 18 months, probably 24) so clean carbs and fresh juice.

The petcock knob (Insert joke here) crumbled when I tried to turn it and the valve itself was leaky and just general crusty. New Aluminium gas knob, no plastic for me, and 1 petcock rebuild kit later, we have free flow GoGo juice.

Today she starts up on the first push of the button within 2 seconds or so, idles smooth, revs sharply and I have run several heat cycles through and the cooling system is AOK.

Waiting for insurance and then a trip to my vehicle reg office and there is one more beast of a Daytona 1200 in the world out there scaring birds and squirrels and the odd Bonneville that didn't know that horrible hairy Mr Hyde is out there opposite their sensible Dr. Jekyl.

All in all, I have spent about $275 and my time sorting out a very respectable Triumph Dinosaur. Thank you all for your help and suggestions.