76 honda 360 no spark

zimmy · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:56 pm Post subject: 76 honda 360 no spark

Helping a friend who bought a 76 360. Checked for spark and could not see one. Kick start only model, so I just removed the plugs and held plug tip against the head fin and had him kick it over. No spark, but the front blinkers did light up. Bike's been sitting in a storage unit since about 1990, but was run briefly in 2000. Battery was still installed, but I'm sure it's been toast since early in the Clinton administration. Here's my question......can I expect to see a spark if the battery is dead dead dead? Clearly, the charging system is doing its thing to light the blinkers, but I'm wondering if a kick start is enough to arc the gap of a plug without a battery assist??? I've got the old battery on a tender.........on the off chance it will hold enough charge to give me the hope of a spark.

Also, no spark on either cylinder. Are there two coils on every twin?? Could it just be one coil that is feeds both plugs and that coil is toast?

Any thoughts much appreciated.

THANKS

mixer · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 10:02 pm Post subject:

there are two coils on the 360, a left and a right. battery isnt needed but a hell of a lot easier to start with. check the points, they may not be opening closing properly, they may be stuck or DRASTICALLY out of adjustment. could also be a huge amount of rust buildup around the coil ground.
you got it to light the lights with the kicker, so you got the ignition working somewhat, ive found old and abused ignitions sometimes can cause hell but not usually if it lights the lights.
id put the battery back in with the charger installed on it. make sure the kill switch is in the RUN position (yes it makes a difference) and give it a kick with both plugs out and touching metal... wanna know if you are getting spark but cant see it? touch the electrode to your skin while it kicks over YIKES!
Ok actually what i do is take a paper cup and put the plug through it, wind some wire around the threads of the plug and wrap it to the neg terminal... the shade of the cup will help you see the spark better. if you NEED a pic to understand this, i suppose i can rig one up really quick tomorrow.

zimmy · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 7:33 pm Post subject: cj360T no spark

Mixer,

Thanks for the insights. I think I'll try the battery in with the charger on it and kick it and see if I can see spark with the garage lights off at night....should be pretty clear if I've got some spark. If this doesn't work, I'll have a look at the points and finally the coils. I'm guessing it is not the coils, since neither side sparks....can't believe they'd both be bad at the same time.

Any way....thanks for the thoughts. What a blast to attempt to breath new life into one of these wonderful old machines!

Thanks!

mixer · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:39 pm Post subject:

Zimmy if you have a bad buildup of rust on the bike, the coils might not be getting a good ground. in that case they wont spark (or as some have learned powder coat and paint have the SAME issue) check that too.