No spark diagnostics

Does this sound mad - it sounds like the double coil is test sparking strongly, with no plugs on it, almost as if the spark is jumping somewhere else.

Have swapped yellow and green wires and the test clicks remain the same but there is no spark on the starter motor.

Going to run take the coil off the frame just to check no spark is jumping around
 
Grant said:
What about connection of HT leads into the double coil?
HT leads into plug caps?
Try swapping centre spark plug with one of the outers just for shits and giggles.
As stated above, if you swap wires from Ignitech box to the single coil for the same to the double coil does the double coil spark?
Issue with the pick up or wires from it to the black box?
Issues with wires from black box to coils?
Check/confirm connections that you might think are beyond obvious, you never know.
Wiggle wires as the engine is running on one cylinder. If it even attempts to fire the other cylinders then there's your fault.
Click to expand...

The key here is that the coils sound like they are sparking on both coils but only the centre one sparks to the engine with a plug in it.

Time to jiggle some wires...
 
Don't go by what sounds like sparking as proof it IS sparking.
Connect it up and LOOK for sparks when the plug is earthed to the motor.
 
I'm plugging a spark plug into the HT leads and earthing to engine, then cranking starter motor.

Centre sparks
Left and right don't.

Tried to start it a min a go and it caught for an instant and then went back to one.

Both coils.still.spark with the ignitech software test (visibly although centre is stronger)

Edit: the outside coils sometimes don't spark with the ignitech test .(even though they sound like they are - and ye I have LOOKED)
 
So it's now proven to be intermittent as you almost had it catching on 3 cylinders.
Something is loose.
Electronics tend to work or not work, usually not intermittent.
 
If you've got power into the coil (from the kill switch) but no power in the HT lead then you've got a dead coil, or broken wire to the ignition module, or a faulty ignition module, or a faulty wire to the pickup, or a faulty pickup. Since its intermittent it's probably going to be a faulty wire one side or the other of the ignition module. For "wire" read "connection". Some others have proposed this. Why not just test the coil to module leg with a test wire that has a probe on each end. Run your test wire parallel to the existing wire, hold the probes against the connector at each end and start the engine. If you get no improvement, then do the same at the next leg (module to pickup).
 
Blimey, I'm amazed that you have the patience to still be drying to diagnose your problem. Most people would have chucked the towel in and called an auto electrician or a knowledgeable friend by now. You've pretty much established that your ignition unit is OK, your coils are OK, your HT leads and plugs are OK. It's the damn wiring bird's nest that's not OK. And there may be more than one issue, which will muddy the waters even for a professional auto electrician.

It's almost impossible to diagnose your problem(s) remotely, especially given the piecemeal and sometimes conflicting info you are providing. The 16 pages of this thread (and still nowhere near a solution) is testimony to that.

You really need to get help from someone who can come around to your place and investigate in a knowledgeable way. Is there nobody in your area with some competence in auto electrics who could give you a hand?
 
Ive already booked in with Joel Puiglese at Custom Bike Electrics (at about page 10) but cant get in unttil Monday ;) so i jave at keast another 12hrs of troubleshooting. Thanks for the clarity.
 
No had to go to dinner. Tomorrow's job.

Don't actually have to do it with the engine running tbe same thing seems to happen with the igntition box test.

Either way ill have a crack at it fresh on the morning.

I think its worth saying that everyone tbat pointed at the wiring of the kill switch to the ihnition coils - that actualy solved the complete lack of spark..

For all i know the current  priblem is as a result of my messing with things.
 
If you read through it I relocated back to the UK in June, after 15 years in Spain. The website was dual language as I was trying to help the Spanish with their Laverdas as there was only one Laverda shop in the whole of Spain, and it wasn't the best.
 
Grant said:
Have you tried jiggling the wires while cranking it over yet?
Click to expand...

Reminds me about a mate who bought a new Yamaha XS650 from a dodgy dealer. The indicator relay went tits up after a short time (indicators would come on but wouldn't blink) so he took it back to the shop to be fixed under warranty. The bloke in the shop tried bashing the flasher relay with a screwdriver and the indicators worked, but only as long as he kept bashing it. He considered that good enough and declared it fixed. When the owner said that wasn't much help, they told him to just flash the indicators manually with the handlebar switch.
 
Grant said:
If you read through it I relocated back to the UK in June, after 15 years in Spain. The website was dual language as I was trying to help the Spanish with their Laverdas as there was only one Laverda shop in the whole of Spain, and it wasn't the best.
Click to expand...

What you want me to read something...? ;)
 
Cbertozz, you appear to have the tenacity of a rabid Doberman trying to bite the balls off a postman. Even though i know fuck all about electrics and thought a multi meter was just lots of them, I've throughly enjoyed this thread and your other thread also. Please don't take this the wrong way but both threads give me hope for my own inabilities. Carry on the good work. Flip side.

FFFANARCHY
 
padlock said:
Cbertozz, you appear to have the tenacity of a rabid Doberman trying to bite the balls off a postman. Even though i know fuck all about electrics and thought a multi meter was just lots of them, I've throughly enjoyed this thread and your other thread also. Please don't take this the wrong way but both threads give me hope for my own inabilities. Carry on the good work. Flip side.

FFFANARCHY
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, taken in the spirit in which it was made, I know exactly what you mean. It's how I re-wire my brain. Keep going at it until things start to fall into place. It feel more like compunction (obsession) than determination, coupled with romantic optimism ;)

So many new things learned this last week that regardless of the outcome I feel like it's moved my understanding of the basic on leaps and bounds. If I could bear to be off the road for long enough I would re-wire the whole thing myself but maybe next time, next project.

 
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