Topic: 1999 Honda VLX 600 No Spark

[Bill K]

 OK, a friend of mine is trying to get his bike going after its been setting for five years. We cleaned the carb got a new battery tried to fire it up. Plugs have no spark. Ive been trying to help but know NOTHING  about these bikes. I know its a wide open question but thought Id throw it out there. He called me a little while ago and said the coils were hot but thats it, what ever that means  Any Ideas ?? Read something about trigger pickups, source coils, CDI units ......hell I dont know 

[kirkn]

First things first:  good plugs?  They spark in a different machine?

Good connections thru-out?

Then, you almost certainly need a wiring diagram to know where to start tracing:  battery voltage at battery, then at key switch, then at wherever it goes next.

Kill switch NOT grounding ignition?

It seems to me, if it was running when parked, it seems very unlikely that a major component (other than battery) has failed just from sitting.  Much more likely that it's something related to sitting - corroded connectors, etc.

Good luck with it.

Kirk