Seca T not starting

[Mr. Turbo]

Went to start my bike this morning, and had a load of trouble doing so. It did the same thing monday but was fine tuesday. Here's the process. Turn on fuel, ignition switch, kill switch. Crank motor, engine tries to catch on first seconds of cranking, but dies. Keep cranking, engine refuses to start. Check plugs/spark (plugs dry and sparking) Hook up to car battery, crank more. Eventually sputters to life. After a few minutes of idiling it runs fine. I'm split between this being the battery or the ignition coils. My car did the same thing (crank it forever and it starts) when its coil died. Any ideas?

[Anonymous]

You can rule out the battery by putting a voltmeter on it before trying to start it.

[Anonymous]

If the coil was bad I don't think you'd get it running even with a jump. Charging system could be weak, could be a bad battery too. Is it a sealed or acid-type battery? The acid ones can do some weird things.

[Mr. Turbo]

Battery is a lead acid type. The alternator brushes died earlier in the summer, causing the warning lights to turn on and the fuel pump to stop even if the bike was running. (but it would start) The bike is now doing that again, i'm wondering if something in the charge system decided to die, or if the resistance of a dead battery could cause that drop in voltage? (Don't know crap about electrical circuit stuff) Who sells MC batteries? (besides wally world and a dealership)

[Anonymous]

TK sells batteries, and can possibly get you a sealed-type replacement for the acid POS you have now.

Check the charging system out as well if you're familiar with the parts and look for anything burned or unusual.

[Mr. Turbo]

borrowed a good battery from my roommate's bike (same size, put on charger to make sure it was at 100%) Bike did the same thing, tried to run, then stalled. Afterwards it continued to crank w/o any fire. I checked the wiring by the fuses, nothing looked burnt or even felt warm. I know my air filter is clear, and there is definetly gas going into the engine. I'm still thinking spark coils as 1. my car pulled the same BS 2. the bike is old enough to buy me beer.

[RAGrote]

Old plugs
Old plug wires
Old fuel
clogged carbs
Bad sync on the carbs
dirty fuel filter
water in your fuel
poor spark (rectifyer)

These are a few of my favority things....

[Mr. Turbo]

Update on this, got my new coils and the bike did the same shit... Crank and it fires.... then revs drop bike stalls, won't start again. Voltage is good, when i hit the starter it drops from 12 to about 10. I noticed some of the fuses holders have been taped together, but the resistance is tiny. I'm just confused The spark from the new coils is nice and hot, i can smell the fuel, and i'm sure the air filter isn't clogged. Any ideas?

[Jackal]

I bet its the battery. But if you want to test the ignition coils it is quite easy. You need to find the tolerance your coils need (you have a service manual right?), then test them with an ohm meter. It takes like 5 minutes.

[Mr. Turbo]

I have new accel coils on the bike, they make a hot spark (my hand got to feel it) Battery hasn't even been used with the bike running, just these attempts, its all of a week old. Gonna charge it and try again... Maybe water in the gas?