Zap!

[mortation]

OK I pulled the cable off plug 1 and held the rubber cable, not the end in my hand and started the bike. Got a nasty chock. Did it with No 2 as well. I am guessing this means I need new cables/coils since the cable as part of the coils?

Could this be the reason cylinder three isnt firing right?

[justmount1]

yes u need new wires they are arcing
they say if u take a water bottle and mist it over wires u can see them arc if they are bad

[chef1366]

yes u need new wires they are arcing
they say if u take a water bottle and mist it over wires u can see them arc if they are bad

Good one. I've done on Chevys and bikes.

[tconroy]

Good one. I've done on Chevys and bikes.

New wires or new plug caps? These wires are usually alright .It is the plug caps that go bad.I get a slight feeling on the fourth plug but there is no problem with the wire or boot and the bike idles and runs fine.

[justmount1]

see i do have some smarts about mechanics lol :-P

[BlackStar]

yes u need new wires they are arcing
they say if u take a water bottle and mist it over wires u can see them arc if they are bad

Especially if you do it night or in the dark.

The other thing to remember is that by removing the plug wire you have open circuited the coil secondary which will result in voltages not normally seen in normal operation. This open circuit voltage wants to get back to the other side of the coil real bad, whether it be through you, or from jumping some extraordinary gap to the chassis. I've seen old Chevy coils jump from the secondary terminal to the primarys when cranked with the secondary coil lead pulled off which is about 1.5 inches.

Iv'e had bad caps cause miss fires due to both the wire termination and from the resistor pellet inside.

I like to use a grounded screw driver to check for arcing lug wires. just run it along the wires and watch for an arc and listen for a miss fire.