No spark

I put a new stator in my 1985 1200 late last fall. Got it running and took it for a short ride (about 10 mins. or less). Parked it. Started it another day, it ran sitting still for a minute or two and stopped. I checked and had no spark. I couldn't figure it out, so I left it for this spring to work on.

Took the bike out of storage checked for spark first thing. It had spark. Started the bike up after a lot of cranking (I took care to not burn the starter) and it ran ... for about 2 minutes. Now, I have no spark. The cylinder heads were warm but I could leave my hand on them, so it didn't get very warm.

Any thoughts?

Just checked it after sitting 30 minutes. Now I have spark on both front and back cylinders.

Sounds like the pulse generator.

What do you mean by no spark on the b/y wires? How did you test and were all the spark plugs installed and connected when you tested?

I have been reading and watching to learn about this issue for the past 3 hours. Here's some other links with info about no spark and checking the pulse generator. GL1200 pulse generators going out or stator problem

Pulse Generator • GL1200 Information & Questions • goldwingdocs.com

Youtube video, plus the guy has a couple others working on this problem:

RambozoClown said:

What do you mean by no spark on the b/y wires? How did you test and were all the spark plugs installed and connected when you tested?

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BTW, my bike has poorboy alternator conversion.

Rednaxs60 said:

Poorboy mod has no affect on this issue. You should have approximately 10 VDC on the black/white wires to the coils. The other two wires, y/b and b/y go to the ignition control unit. The pulse generators (PGs) connect to the ignition control unit to give it the timing aspect. The ignition control unit grounds the coils for the appropriate charge/dwell time, then removes the ground allowing the coil to discharge through the plug. Only one way to test ignition control module as described in the attachment(s). If the ground test does not work, it would appear that a new ignition control module is in order.

Electrical Troubleshooting Manual pages:
View attachment 332153 View attachment 332154

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I followed every step outlined here (steps 1 to 7) with my old parts and new parts. They all tested good. Still no pulse! Initially, the w/g wire had no continuity. But I found the break in the wire and it's OK now.

Mel jimenez said:

I followed every step outlined here (steps 1 to 7) with my old parts and new parts. They all tested good. Still no pulse! Initially, the w/g wire had no continuity. But I found the break in the wire and it's OK now.

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Could it be that the pulse generator (PG) is defective even though it's resistance is according to specifications? I'm asking this because the parts relative to producing pulse/spark on my bike are all new EXCEPT for the PG which has 334 and 335 ohms resistance.

Mel jimenez said:

Could it be that the pulse generator (PG) is defective even though it's resistance is according to specifications? I'm asking this because the parts relative to producing pulse/spark on my bike are all new EXCEPT for the PG which has 334 and 335 ohms resistance.

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A resistance test is just a preliminary test, can not be relied on. It's a good bet that's where the problem is.

This thread is getting confusing. Seems it was hijacked early on and we moderators missed it.

Bike...and Dennis said:

This thread is getting confusing. Seems it was hijacked early on and we moderators missed it.

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I'm not seeing it.

DaveO430 said:

I'm not seeing it.

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I have another PG. It's the one my bike had before I replaced it with the one which is now attached on my bike now. I replaced it because I had no spark. I also replaced the ICU with a used one I bought on ebay. The bike ran for sometime. When I tested the old PG, it has 337 and 334 ohms resistance. I am now in doubt whether the brand new ICU or the PG is defective. The brand new ICU is not the original one. It has no breather. It is the expensive allegedly "improved orange colored" ICU which cost over $300. The new PG cost $150 plus shipping. The seller doesn't accept returns. So, I'm seeking more ideas from this forum to make sure that there is no more other reasons that would prevent a spark from occurring except this PG albeit, I'll be spending again for nothing.

Check you main fuse block for the fuse Bl/Lg which is black/ light green. It feeds the the bl/w that feeds the coils thru your kill switch on handle bars. Colors are correct if my eyes didn't fail me and those itty bitty lines. Somebody check me it's been a long time since I looked at a schematic.

Mel jimenez said:

I'm asking this because the parts relative to producing pulse/spark on my bike are all new EXCEPT for the PG which has 334 and 335 ohms resistance.

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I mistook this to say you hadn't replaced them. If you have a soldering gun plug the PGs you already had into the harness then use a soldering gun, not an iron, plug it in, turn the ignition on, hold the PG next to the body of the soldering gun & pull the trigger and it should make it spark like crazy.

Dodge said:

Check you main fuse block for the fuse Bl/Lg which is black/ light green. It feeds the the bl/w that feeds the coils thru your kill switch on handle bars. Colors are correct if my eyes didn't fail me and those itty bitty lines. Somebody check me it's been a long time since I looked at a schematic.

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There is no fuse to the ignition.

Dodge said:

Check you main fuse block for the fuse Bl/Lg which is black/ light green. It feeds the the bl/w that feeds the coils thru your kill switch on handle bars. Colors are correct if my eyes didn't fail me and those itty bitty lines. Somebody check me it's been a long time since I looked at a schematic.

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I have voltage on the blk/w wire leading to the connector to the ignition coil.

When you try to start the bike, do you see the tachometer displaying a changing RPM?

julimike54 said:

When you try to start the bike, do you see the tachometer displaying a changing RPM?

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The display on the instrument panel is analog. It will not show movement on the rpm unless the engine runs on higher rpm (or I am wrong). Can you please enlighten me on this rpm movement. It could be the reason why my bike is not making spark.