Dropped my sportster....no spark

[flt80]

I was putting my front rim on my 1994 883 sportster.  It was on a motorcycle jack.  I got the rim on but I tipped the bike over.  I picked the bike up went to start it, it would not start.  IT has NO spark.  It ran great when I started to put the rim on.  I looked under the bike all the wires look great. None were broke. I pulled the plugs out and when you turn the key they spark once but when you turn the motor over there is no spark.  I have power to the coil. I dont know what to do, believe me I checked all the wires and they were all good. I even put in a different set of plugs and still no spark except when you turn the key on before you hit the starter. Please give me some ideas.

[andyxlh]

hello mate
bad luck - hate those sorts of problems!
when you turn the key the electrical system should be 'hot' there should be a voltage across the open switches, but i wonder if you have dislodged the battery earth terminal, making the spark plug an earth for the engine and making it spark when you turn it on?
the batt earth has a thick plastic cover, and can be dislodged or broken but can't be observed without wiggling it - you might notice a break when you give it a pull. same with the starter motor cable.
do the lights come on and the horn work when you turn on the switch or is the whole thing dead?
check the voltage across the battery
generally the best thing is to buy a simple multimeter from an auto store, and they can discover a multitude of sins. use them on the DC voltage setting across any open switches to chase where the dead line is - there shoild be 12v across the coil input (low tension) wires too.
hope you didn't scrape the bike too much
cheers
Andy
Sydney

[flt80]

The lights and horn do come on and the motor turns over to.   Everything does work.  Just no spark when the motor is turning over.

[andyxlh]

well that eliminates a lot of things. there should be a 12v supply to the coil which is the two wires which attach to the spade connectors. are they both attached? do they ahev a 12 supply? check with a voltmeter or a bulb
also the electronc ign module - if it is broken then no spark. it lives under the triangular cover on the LH side of the bike. hard to test as i remember but there's a whole lot of info in the workshop manual
the sensor is in the nose cone - under the lifter blocks. has that been dislodged or danaged?
by havign the lights and horn etc you have eliminated a lot of the possible problems. It could be a damaged part of the electronic ign which is hard to test for as it is all sealed units. check the wiring from the nose cone (rear of the cam cover) to the ign unit (behind the triangle cover)
the workshop manual has, by memory, a good description of how to test thses things. I had this problem once and it was the connector between the sensor and the module, it was closed but one f the pins had come loose.
good luck
Andy
Sydney

[willymax4]

if you have an owner's manual, look for a reference to a tip switch. seems i've heard that some models have them as a safety feature to cut the ignition in case of an accident.i think they need to be reset before the bike will fire up.

[flt80]

I found the problem...it turn out to be a broken wire after all.  I looked at the wires again, and I found it.  I got to laugh.  I had to put the bike against the wall.  Had to lean it far  to get my fat head under the bike to fix the wire.  When I was done the bike tipped over all the way and the clutch handle broke.  I had another one and I fixed that to.  It runs great now.  Thanks for the help