TOPIC:

To "scotch" .. mine is a 1979 A1 stock standard, no mods, just a sidecar bolted to the side of it, the ballast block is mounted solid and nothing is touching the tank that I can see. I put the info of the bike in my sig at the bottom of my posts, and sorry mate no use telling me about resistance and ohms cause I wouldn't have a clue, i'm a 62 year old meat processing plant operator at a meatworks, high school education, worked with my hands and not my brains all my life

Ok looked at it again, it was still running like shit, decided to check the black wire that goes to the #1 + #6 coil from the igniter connection plug, found more stuff wrong than I did before, regulator seems to be stuffed, plug and connectors bad and the rubber insulation where the wires go into the regulator body soft and melted looking, thank goodness I have a spare, swapped that over and fixed the plug cause the one on the new one was really good. Anyway the wire to the coil is ok, I sort of know how to use a multimeter to check for a broken wire, and after fixing the regulator it seems to run better, checked the charge to the battery and it is also good, charges at revs, still have a bit to look at, stick some insulation over a plug from the igniter as I swapped the whole unit and that one isn't a good one, did a rough compression test and it's not good either but it should still run. I should just give up, but i'm a stubborn old fart, but it might take a while, so anyway i'll stick a few photos here just to show I did do something, even took a shot of the "old/new" coils in place, wish me luck and thanks to all for offering suggestions and tips, keep 'em coming as I need all the help I can get , hey ???? would the stuffed up regulator and plug be causing any of the problems I've had, I haven't taken it for a run again yet but maybe she was running off the battery and power got low or the regulator was shorting and causing problems ??, i'm clutching at straws here but i'll try anything , cheers Pete.

P.S. there is a brown wire hanging there with a bit of green insulation tape around it, any idea where that goes, don't think it was connected to anything, i'll try and check in the manual wiring diagram, just have to find my magnifying glass

Please forgive the condition of the bike, she is an old warhorse and daily ride, she isn't any show pony that's for sure

Gremlins in the electrical can be a hair pulling experience and I get that.
First, in the world of electrical circuits, an ignition circuit is a low power circuit and therefore very susceptable to issue with corrosion causing resitance which causes voltage drops and then no ignition. When you're working on 35 year old circuits, it's usually a corrosion problem that causes most of the havoc. if not corrosion, then broken wires or even strands in the wires broken which cause resistance or open circuits.
The only proper way to sort out these problems is with a quality digital multimeter. If you bought a multimeter and spent less than $50.00 on it, you're not going to find issues with low power circuits. A decent meter should cost you around $75-$100 or more.
Some people like swapping components around to see if the problem moves from one cylinder to another but if you have a damaged component, you take the chance of ruining more parts by moving the damaged part around. You really need to usse the digital meter and take full advantage of the information it provides.

KZA !
First off: KB has a good point about meters. I've had two cheap ones in the past (You know from where) and just threw the last one out due to it's inconstancy. Example: It would display 12.4 volts, then jump to 12.8v. Further testing showed an anomaly consistent with all "V" readings in which the decimal reading skips from .2 to .8. Obviously a malfunction with a "chip" on the circuit-board. This means I couldn't trust it with any reading/ scale selection. Garbage!
Looks like you're making progress, so Kudos to You! It seems by your description of the situation that you have multiple issues in two circuits. Charging and ignition. Any time you see encapsulating material erupted from a housing it indicates excessive internal heat. My opinion at this point is (based on your descriptions and pictures of the V/R and the connector plug) is that the corrosion of the plug caused high resistance, eventually burning out one or more components in the Volt/Reg. The Voltage regulator should be considered "Toast". I wouldn't trust it at this point even IF it did "Test" OK. It sounds like you've addressed this and can move on to other concerns in the circuit. NOTE: Once you've got things sorted-out you might consider removing the V/R-Alternator-stator plugs completely by soldering and heat shrinking the wires together. I, along with others have done this. I burned out 3 stators before doing this. The 4th is still good after about 26 years. Because you ride daily and likely do so in some wet weather - this may be more of an essential change vs an optional one. Lucky you had another !

An educated guess on my part would suggest to you that a 'stuffed" V-Reg would affect all ignition coils - not just 1&6.
KB raises another good point about arbitrarily replacing components. In your case with multiple concerns I would address all the potential connector and wiring issues to ensure the best continuity which will ensure maximum voltage and current goes to where it's supposed to with the least amount of resistance. Once the wiring is addressed and proven intact you can plug in the electronic components with more confidence. It is very possible that you have corrosion behind a terminal - inside a wire(s) insulation which could mean high resistance or intermittently "open" circuit ! This brings us back to KB's point about using a reliable/trustworthy meter and having the confidence to understand the readings it display. Lots of info out there on how they work. "So simple even a Meat-cutter can use one ! A corroded/broken wire inside it's insulation can be all but impossible to determine without a meter.
If you keep persisting as you are then through the simple process of elimination you're systematically eliminating the faults and one by one going to solve the ignition problem. Hopefully your #1 & #6 problem will be a "connection" issue and won't require a replacement ignition controller.
Hope this helps somewhat in keeping you encouraged !

I just bought 5 each of 2 / 4 / 6 and 9 wire connectors on e-bay, they look like our type, so i'm going to change a few when they get here, have read about soldering the reg wires together, might do that, one at a time as they are all yellow , don't want to mix them up, will go to the shed later and stare at her, swear under my breath, throw the old reg away, a long way away, and do some more checking, but i'll wait to read the sunday papers and have a nice cuppa. I'll have a chat with an electrican at work and see if they can run me thru how a multimeter works, and some setting on it, thanks again guys, much appreciated ... i'll do you a favour, seeing i'm reading the Sunday papers soon and it's not Sunday there yet, i'll post the winning lotto numbers for you so you can get a winning ticket , cheers Pete.

Pete- Just make sure you use rosin core solder and not acid core solder. Acid core would get the job done but 2 years down the road and the residual acid would eat the terminals and wires unless you knew enough to neutralize the acid but there would be no gaurantees that the neutralization would fully work. Just make sure it's rosin cored solder and all will be good

Went out and got some rosin core solder and did the reg wire connections, bike now running on 6 cylinders, all exhausts hot and even, revs well and no backfires, weird huh ??, had to be one of those yellow wires, still no smarter about that spare brown wire with the green tape around it, according to the wiring diagram the brown goes to lots of connectors, but most are not single connectors like the spare brown, maybe an "optional extra" ?? , i'll leave it alone till I get some info on how to use a multimeter and then do some tracing, so alls well that ends well although I haven't been for a ride yet she idles well, 6 cylinders firing sounds better that 4 or 5 then 6 sometimes, i'll post about how she goes when I take it to work tomorrow morning, cheers