The Hodaka Club Forum

Hey you guys its been a long time! Im Rylan Coffey now 17 years old still working on my 75 dirt squirt! Ive been dealing with this issue for a while but my bike has 0 spark whats so ever. Ive cleaned the points and even changed spark plug cap. If i hold on to the spark plug cap when i kick it over it will shock the crap out of me , but anyways i have no fire at all and ive considered getting a new coil for the bike... the only problem is that there around 350 bucks and its not in my budget. Any ideas or does anybody have a working coil they would sell me for cheaper? Or is there another possibility that something else could be going on? I just cant understand why it will shock me to where my hair stands up but it has no fire at all. Please let me know what yall think!! Thank you all

If you have tried different spark plugs, make sure the plug is grounded by holding it against the head when you kick it over. I like to turn off the lights, it makes a weak spark easier to see. You say no fire at all. Remember the basics are fuel, spark and compression. You need all 3 to get it to fire.

Yep if it stands the hair up you have spark. Now you need to have compression and fuel. Have you done a compression check? Cheap tool available at Harbor freight. Will pay for itself quick. You want to hold the throttle wide open and kick till the needle stops going up, should hopefully be in the 150 lb range. The lower it is the harder it is to start, anything under around 80 lbs you won't start with the kickstart.

nice to know your still tinkering. question.. have you had the bike running ?

Thanks for the replies! No i have never had the bike running and ive only had it fire on starting fluid just one time ever. The motor sat for a long time so its compression may be no good i will check it

Where are you located Rylan? Likely a more experienced person can give you a hand.
Bob (in Eugene, OR

Timing could be off, which would explain why you get ZAPPED but the motor won’t fire. Manually setting the points can be trying until you get the hang of it. If you want, call me! (505) 913-0558. Victor

Before we dive off into the weeds of timing and compression and fuel, lets work through actually SEEing some spark - which seems to be the original question. I know that for my own purposes of long distance diagnosis, I'd like to hear a report that Rylan SAW spark.

So, as mentioned earlier, a darkened garage makes spark spotting wayeeeee easier. I'd also recommend having a buddy do the kick-starter "kicking", while you pay close attention to holding the spark plug body firmly to a fin on the head. Kind of slide/grind the spark plug body against the edge of the fin so you know you have good electrical contact. Get lined up so you have a direct line of sight at the gap of the plug. Now have the buddy kick 'er thru. Got spark?

If no, un-plug the kill switch and try again. (If the kill switch is faulty, it could be "killing" your spark without you knowing that was the cause.) Got spark now?

If no, clean the points. Some folks like a squirt of electrical contact cleaner - I'm partial to mechanical cleaning by pulling a strip of plain (no ink or glaze varnish) through the points. Then try again.

We'll be watching for your results.

Ed

Ed has given you good direction. Report back and be specific about the results. Victor

Thank you guys! I will give victor a call soon and i am located in high point North Carolina. I have seen 0 spark but apparently it has in the past because i had fire one time. The bike sputtered. I appreciate all this feedback ill continue to post updates!!

Enjoyed your call today! Remember, you must touch the connected spark plug to unpainted metal on the Dirt Squirt, not just a hand held piece of metal. Otherwise you are not completing the circuit. Victor