I’m new so take it easy on me… I inherited a 78FXE from my father when he passed. It ran in October of 2019 then sat in Florida until may of this year when I brought it to CT. I have rebuilt the SS carb, changed plugs/wires and tested for spark (it’s getting spark). He had upgraded to electronic points with a Crane Cams HI-4 so I adjusted the timing to the best of my ability having the TDC mark just coming into the window and adjusting the HI4. Gets gas(fresh) spark and air. Chased down wires and nothing is disconnected/broken. Also, when trying to start it, it just cranks, no sputter or anything like it is trying to start. Any ideas?

 

I’m new so take it easy on me… I inherited a 78FXE from my father when he passed. It ran in October of 2019 then sat in Florida until may of this year when I brought it to CT. I have rebuilt the SS carb, changed plugs/wires and tested for spark (it’s getting spark). He had upgraded to electronic points with a Crane Cams HI-4 so I adjusted the timing to the best of my ability having the TDC mark just coming into the window and adjusting the HI4. Gets gas(fresh) spark and air. Chased down wires and nothing is disconnected/broken. Also, when trying to start it, it just cranks, no sputter or anything like it is trying to start. Any ideas?

 

Spark at the right time comes to mind, you seem to have other parameters covered. But I would suspect fuel, since you had carb off. The only other thing not mentioned that is needed is compression. You have some?

 

dumb questions that need answers.
is the battery fully charged and load tested?
is the fuel valve turned on?
i'm assuming the run stop switch is on cause your cranking and getting spark.
if those things are correct, maybe timing, have you done a compresion test?
m

 

one more thing i forgot,,,,,if you ae running single fire igntion, make sure that your plug wires ae not crossed. front to front and rear to rear. you can confirm this is you have the wiring diagram for the ignition and coil set up, make sure the trigger wire for the coil and the plug wire are assigned to the correct cylinder,,,,,should be in the installation instructions.
m

 

I will need to get a guage to check compression, carb is getting gas as I pulled the bowl plug to verify, as far as the wiring, I have changed none of it other than the plug wires, all other wiring is the same my father had it from when he was riding it. I feel like compression may be it since I have a thought the rings are bad, I will try to attach a photo of the old plugs I pulled giving me that conclusion.

 

Battery is also new and a full charge, when it gets low from attempting to start I trickle charge it back to full

 

if you are trying to get it started with THOSE plugs, that might be your issue, as they look like crap. did you try it with a new set, properly gapped?
m

 

when you replaced the plug wires, did you do them one at a time so that the new one went in the same location as the old one?
m

 

Wires were replaced one at a time, so they are in the correct location, and I purchased E3 spark plugs so no gapping is needed