Stumped!!

[made2care]

86 gl1200 interstate. Just purchased… non running. I am testing the wires to the coils since I have no spark. Test light on black/ white wires are good. Yellow/ blue wires do not flash when cranking .
I have brand new pulse generators installed. I’ve tried two different icu from running bikes. Fuel pump relay is good. New starter and new battery.
Starter switch is good. Clutch switch is good.
This model does not have a kickstand safety switch. Solenoid is new.
Update!! Short somewhere. Removed wiring harness and about to install an extra one I have

[aj1500]

maybe a dumb question here but have you checked and made sure the run button is in the run position and that it is working properly

[made2care]

That’s the first thing I checked. Not a dumb question at all. I’ve installed the other wiring harness. Have a few things to finish up then we will see.

[Bike...and Dennis]

Aftermarket starter solenoid?

[made2care]

Installed a different wiring harness. Using oem solenoid and still no spark!
Very frustrating… ready to move on!

[Shadowjack]

I just happened to run across a Youtube video where the guy was chasing a no-spark situation on the front pair of cylinders on a 1200. His symptom was that, with the switch on but coils disconnected, he was seeing about 10v DC on the "good" black/white wire (to the firing coil), and nothing on the other black/white wire. He worked his way through to checking the pulser output with a voltmeter, which he said should be about 1-2 volts AC as the engine cranks, and they both were good. He eventually realized the ignition box should be showing the 10 volts (or so) at both black/white wires, and when he replaced it, it was fixed.

[made2care]

I’ve tried 2 different icu boxes from running bikes and still nothing. Thanks for the responses though. Might give it one more day

[Shadowjack]

Forgot to mention, the guy used a little magnet to test the pulse generators when they were dismounted. Just waved it past and watched the meter jump.
Oh, and I've been wondering about this little fact: 84 pulsers and ignition boxes are electrically different from 85-87. My OEM manual says that pulsers should show about 1200 ohms resistance, but it only shows an 84. Somewhere I've seen that the newer ones should be around 330 +/- 10%, and I recall testing a new set I put into an 85 at that figure. Anybody corroborate those numbers, and has anybody ever mixed the two on a running bike to see if they work together? I assume you have 85-87 boxes available, since they're so much more common than the 84s, so that should not actually contribute to this problem.

[made2care]

The new pig’s are for 85-87. I actually do have another wing I finished building a few months back that’s an 86 engine in a 84 frame, using an 84 icu and the bike runs amazing!
Watch my dilemma be a bad icu but… I have placed 3 diff ones on the bike , 2 of them off of running bikes and still no spark.
Here’s the 84 Heinz 57 I just finished.

[Shadowjack]

You need to post more about that beauty. What induction did you put on it?
If nothing you do makes a difference, then you need to go back to the beginning. Got power into the system? No pesky killswitches? The yellow/blue output to the coils also runs the tach, and the blue/yellow triggers the fuel pump relay. Got anything there?

[made2care]

Presto!! She’s up and running and I have no idea what I did !!! I guess all along I was testing the blue/ yellow wire to the coil and was testing it incorrectly I guess. Went over to the red bike I just posted and it tested the same….. went back over to current bike , hooked up all wires to coils and she fired right up!! Had her hooked up exactly the same way prior and there was no spark. The only thing I changed was the aftermarket solenoid to an oem.
Thank u to everyone for their insight. I still need to check that I have 4 sparks . Will keep u posted!

[Shadowjack]

Finally started holding your mouth right, then.

[Bike...and Dennis]

That's why I asked about the aftermarket solenoid. Many of them are wired differently from the OEM units.

[made2care]

I was becoming a little discouraged overall. Especially since I spent $130 on new pulse generators.
Anyway…. I just checked and I have relatively good spark on all 4.
I build one each yr. This will be my 7th or 8th. Going with a unique steampunk theme.
Chow 4 now.