I'm new here, so be gentle. I'm NO mechanic, but have a general understanding. I picked up a 74 ironhead. Wasn't running. Got it cheap. It was sitting a couple years, so i changed all the fluids. Literally all of them. Let me say beforehand that it's kick only. Electronic ignition.
Ok, so changed all the fluids. Put a battery in it. Rebuilt the carb. New coil. New regulator. New plugs and wires. New generator. Checked and rechecked all the wires. Started right up. All is good. Left it sitting for a couple of months due to winter weather. (Garaged). Now im not getting spark. Checked and rechecked the wires. Checked the battery and grounds. 12.5 volts across the coil with the key "on". Still no spark. Wtf am I missing?

 

Which electronic ignition does it have - Ultima? Hi-4? Dyna? other?

I have experience with the Ultima and the Hi-4.

The Dyna and a few others retain the use of mechanical advance assembly [parts used by points ignition]. These parts wear and may need to be inspected, cleaned, refurbished or replaced. I have no experience with these types and may even be using incorrect terminology here.

 

As IronMick said also , loosen a screw on the ign under the points cover plate and tighten back up then use a jumper wire from that screw to ground on BATTERY
what happens over the years and seating is the bike a lot of times loses GROUND and between ALUM , paper, paint, chrome ( the worst ) and every connection and breakers

 

Does that cool looking antique have a on/off switch on the bars? Mine does and I never use it and ever time my son uses my bike he does. Always take me a pause to check.

 

I'm not familiar with electronic ignition. I tried posting a picture, but im not succeeding. Under the ignition plate is a bolt thats probably holding it in place. The handlebars have no switches whatsoever. The only switch is one that I added when I added rear signal lights. This is a perfect example of a bar hopper bike. Headlight and taillight. Thats it. Not even a horn or button for it. He even took the starter out and made it a kick only bike. (I do have the starter and will be converting it back). My regular ride is an 87 flhtc. Full dresser. The sporty is just a toy I picked up to bounce around on. .but im not at all familiar with electronic ignitions.

 

I took a picture of the ignition, IronMick. I tried to post it here, but failed. However, I managed to get it into my " albums". Please let me know what i have, since I'm clueless.

 

Click Go Advanced, then under Additional Options find manage attachments ...
Then you can upload a photo direct from your computer.

If that does not work upload to any free file sharing service such as TinyPic.com, PhotoBucket.com, PostImage.org, etc, then Copy/Paste the IMG code from that site to your message here.

I do not recommend PhotoBucket to people who are not extremely good at computer stuff as it is complicated, slow, and is getting stupider with every update.

 

It's here, but the moderator has to approve it. .but if you click my name, then view my profile, on the right will be "my albums" and the picture of the ignition is in there

 

Scott, once you are on for a few more day and views, a moderator will OK your count and pictures will start working. Keeps the spammers from jumping in and out.

 

I recognise it as I have seen it before. I think a buddy had the same one. I do not recall the name which is hidden in the blue, black, red parts. The yellow part says "High Performance for Harley Davidson Motorcycles". In any case it is a good after market product although it may no longer be available new, and these things do fail from time to time.

On the few occasions that I have seen electronic ignitions fail they have not failed completely, just caused rough running. So we should look elsewhere for this problem for now.

Battery appears to be good. A battery must pass 3 tests - it must be capable of taking a charge, of holding that charge over time, and of holding charge under load.

You can do a simple load test using a voltmeter [multimeter]. Fully charge the battery, attach the leads from the meter, observe the reading while cranking [no more than 10 or 15 seconds]. If the reading goes below 10 volts there is not enough power to run the electronic ignition and the battery fails the load test and must be replaced.

Wires have been checked.

Ignition coil - best test is to replace with a known good unit. This is not a bad idea. Even if the coil is good it is useful to have a known good unit on hand for testing. Likewise for the starter solenoid, generator and regulator. These parts all fail eventually and replacing with a known good part is the quickest, easiest test. Good spare parts are a good tool to have on hand.

Let's see if anyone else has some ideas.