No spark on one cylinder

I pulled my '88 KZ305 out of winter storage a week or so ago and am trying to chase down a few problems that seem to have shown up over the winter.

The latest is that I don't have any spark on the right side of the bike. I had it running and rode it around the yard last week. This weekend it wouldn't start up and it appears that I have no spark on the right cylinder.

It's not the plug, I swapped the plugs around and on the left side I've got spark and on the right none.

Is the most likely culprit a bad coil?

.

Make sure your getting full power to the (all) coils, and like martin said, all connections from ignition to plugs should be clean and tight.

the ignition systems not a very big deal...

Anybody want to help a noob?

I'm trying to test the primary and secondary resistance on my coils and my manual is not making any sense to me.

Primary:

1. Disconnect ignition coil leads
2. Set the ohmmeter to the x1 ohm range, and connect the ohmmeter leads to the leads from one of the ignition coils

Then my reading is supposed to be 3.6-5.4 ohms.

Ok, first problem, my multimeter doesn't have a x1 ohm range. I've got 2k - 2000k. Where do I set it? Or do I need a better multimeter?

Second problem, when they say "leads from one of the ignition coils" I don't really know what they're talking about. For each coil I have one wire running from the wiring harness to the coil and then the spark plug wire running out the back of the coil.

When I remove the lead running to the coil, there's a little tab connector there. Where am I supposed to connect the multimeter?

Secondary:

1. Disconect spark plug caps from the spark plugs, and pull the spark plug leads off the caps.
2. Set the ohmmeter to the x 1k range, and connect one ohmmeter lead to the spark plug lead and the other ohmmeter lead to the yellow/red lead from the ignition coil.

Then my reading is supposed to be 11-17 k ohms

Again, I don't have a x 1k range on my multimeter. Also, no yellow/red lead coming from the coil. I have leads running to the coils, but on one coil it's black/white and if memory serves the other is black/red.

I'm totally stumped on where to connect the leads in both tests and unsure if my multimeter is even up to this job.

Reading the ohm rating on ignition coils is easy, now the shop manual will list meter settings you may not have, but if your meter goes to 200, you'll still be able to read the ohms.

On most meters, the 200 is the maximum it will read, not the mimimum. You might have to buy a meter with useable ranges to be able to do checks on your bike. Radio Shack Stores sell a good, inexpensive meter along with Home Depot(look in the electrical section) and Lowes.

Disconnect any wires going to the coils as they can affect the readings and put the meter leads on the primary(small wires side) and then read between the secondary side(where the sparklug leads go)it's usually a spike the sparkplug leads go into.

Since you have 2 separate coils, and have swapped the plugs already, try swapping the coils. This will show you if you have a bad coil.
Tell us which meter you have, Google will pull up a reference and then you may be better advised on setting the scale. Is it Digital or Analog? Etc.
U-Tube has videos on how to test the coils and other areas of your electrical as well.

So since I have two separate coils does this whole primary winding and secondary winding thing in the manual not really apply to my bike?

Here's a shot of the front of my multimeter. Will this do this job? If so what setting should I use and what results should I be hoping for when I test the coil?

It still applies, with that meter set it to 2000 OHM. That is in a clockwise direction of your dial, the last OHM position.
Try swapping around the 2 coils. It will be a better test, it actually will test the coil under load, that's what you really want to do. It is a "Bench Test" type of thing. Swap them and see if it gets spark on the suspected coil.

see if you have 12v going to the coil in question,if you have 12v going to it but nothing coming out id just stick another coil on there

wireman wrote: see if you have 12v going to the coil in question

Remember I'm a noob How would I verify I've got 12v going to the coil? Lick the lead like a 9v battery? ;p

Take that Meter, put the red lead onto the red/yellow wire at the coil, and the black lead from the meter to the engine or frame= ground. Turn the key on. Oh set the meter to 12vdc.
If you would swap the 2 coils around you will be testing for power at both coils, also that the ignitor and pick up coils function. If you swap, and the coil that did work now doesn't, then more trouble shooting with the meter. But first swap coils, and check for spark.

Couldn't find a 1988 KZ305 wiring diagram, so here's my guess about the ignition system and where to attach the two ohmmeter test probes to measure the resistance of each coil.

This is a SWAG for sure, and might be incorrect, but won't hurt to try.

Am uncertain what the ohm reading should be on the particular coils at hand, but both coils should be about the same resistance.

Good Fortune!