So I've had this 1971 F8 Bison 250 for probably about 1.5 years now, went through the engine, new rings, new seals and gaskets, did a leak down check and there are zero air leaks on it. The engine has been in the bike for a while and I'm finally getting around to getting it to a riding point before this spring. I previously, about 3-4 months ago had the bike running and idling, albeit not the best, the original carb on the bike (Mikuni VM30 round slide spigot) was kinda junk and had the incorrect float in the carb and it was just going to cost more to fix the carb then to buy a new one. Since that day the bike sat outside undercover for a while until the past week when I pulled it out again after buying a brand new VM30 carburetor and throttle cable/handle. Carb and all fit fine, however, the engine had since lost spark. I cleaned the points to some avail, however it still had a weak spark so I hooked up a brand new 6v 20,000-volt automotive coil to use since the original coil I have not been able to find. Now, it does have a better spark but only if spun over faster with a drill and the spark plug out of the engine. It is a bright blue spark. The wiring coming out of the stator has been repaired, there were some breaks and open spots in the wire. It was repaired properly with soldering, heat shrink for every wire and wrapping the harness. The only wiring hooked up on the entire bike however is the single black wire from the points used to fire the coil. Nothing else is hooked up. Everything has strong, clean connections from the stator to the coil, as well as the ground wire from the coil. Brand new spark plug and points as well. There is no condenser currently hooked up, the original is bad so I have it bypassed. The one thing I am unsure of is if I am setting the timing correct on the points. There is a timing mark on the stator plate, that is lined up with the mark on the engine casing. There is also a timing mark on the outside diameter of the flywheel and it is lined up with the arrow on the crankcase. When lined up at this spot, which seems to be about 15 degrees BTDC I am gapping the points to .014". The manual I have states them to be set at .012"~.016". I can spin the engine over with a drill and some ether and it will not even try to fire. The engine does have good compression with the new rings, my automotive compression tester read 130 psi after 6 kicks of the pedal. I've heard the auto testers read lower typically so I'm guessing actual numbers are probably around 150 psi. I'm not sure where to go at this point aside from testing the primary coil's resistance or possibly resetting the timing again.
Any other theories are welcome. I'd just like to get it running. Thanks in advance for all the help!
Any other theories are welcome. I'd just like to get it running. Thanks in advance for all the help!
