TOPIC:

Does the power for the coils at start come from the battery only or is it also a supply from the alternator thru the rectifier ??( thinking like a magneto (SP)), at present the bike is not running, it will not start, very very weak spark, waiting to get new electrical plug connectors from china before I call in an auto electrician to try and figure out what is wrong, was thinking of pulling out the spare "stator" thingy from the parts bike incase the short I had originally cause a burn out of the gizmo mentioned above and therefore not enough power getting to the coils to get her to fire, at present she's a poor lonely looking old lady sitting in the shed with no tank on, seat and side covers removed, think I have a spider web on my helmet also

kza13 wrote: Does the power for the coils at start come from the battery only or is it also a supply from the alternator thru the rectifier ??( thinking like a magneto (SP)), at present the bike is not running, it will not start, very very weak spark, waiting to get new electrical plug connectors from china before I call in an auto electrician to try and figure out what is wrong, was thinking of pulling out the spare "stator" thingy from the parts bike incase the short I had originally cause a burn out of the gizmo mentioned above and therefore not enough power getting to the coils to get her to fire, at present she's a poor lonely looking old lady sitting in the shed with no tank on, seat and side covers removed, think I have a spider web on my helmet also

In answer to your first question- no. The ignition relys on battery voltage only. And of course the charging circuit is in parallel with the battery voltage. So once the bike is started and running, the supply for the ignition is really being fed from the charging circuit and at that point the battery is acting like a storage tank.
I doubt the stator is a problem and I would be reluctant to "just swap it out" I never use this method for trying to figure out the problem. 1 damaged electrical component could damage another and until you "find" the problem, changing out parts could ruin the new part you just put in.
Scotch recently posted about high resistance across the starter relay. You're experiencing weak spark and not running. So if we step back and think about this a weak spark is usually attributed to low voltage. So back to basics and forgive me if this seems to be insulting but it's easier to explain it in this manner.
Voltage is the "flow" of electricity
Amperage is the "pressure"
Resistance is "the resistance to flow"
The battery has the ability to convert chemical reaction to electricity and also convert electrical energy to chemical stored energy. A weak battery usually due to age of the battery can have one of two failures. As I remember it the negative plates in the battery are comprised of a wire mesh covered in what is usually refered to "spongy lead". When the battery is called upon for power, the sulphuric acid in the battery solution comes out of suspension from the battery fliud and deposits on the spongy lead. The sulphuric acid has a charge and causes a difference in voltage between the positive plates and negative plates and we see that as "voltage" One of the failures in the battery is that the spongy lead disintegrates over time and falls down in the battery and lays on the bottom of the battery case. The battery case is actually designed to store enough of this lead until the battery has met its life expectancy. The less lead on the negative plate structure, the less ability of the battery to convert chemical energy to electrical energy. The second failures of batteries is when a chunk of that spongy lead falls off of the negative plate mesh and gets trapped between the negative plate mesh and the positive plate and causes a short in the battery. This problem is mostly seen when you charge up a battery and then the next day, the battery is flat dead. So that covers the battery.
So the battery has the ability to create voltage "flow" at a given ampereage "pressure" If the demand of the flow and pressure is greater than the source of the supply, you'll see a lack of flow ie low voltage. So on the bike, when we turn on the key we have flow to the ignition circuit, possibly a few lamps and then when we hit the starter button, we also have flow to the starter circuit. You can't have flow until you overcome the resistance to the flow and all of this is measurable. If you start with everything turned off and you measure the battery voltage you have a base line of what battery voltage flow can come from the battery. Then turn on the key and watch the batterty voltage. It shouldn't drop more than possibly 1 to 1.5 volts. When you hit the starter button you'll see a substantial drop due to the high draw of the starter circuit but once the engine is flipping over on the starter button, you should still see battery voltage above 9 volts. If it's not above 9 volts then there's not enough flow left to supply the flow needs of the ignition circuit and that will show up as a weak secondary spark. So in this case you either have a high resistance in one of the circuits or a weak battery which struggles to convert enough chemical energy to electrical energy fast enough to overcome the flow requirements being demanded.
Most people will check connectors with an ohm meter which is a 9 volt internal battery in series with a resistance meter. You can achieve the same thing with a volt meter with the circuit turned on. Clip the negative lead to ground and then start running the circuit. Go over each of the connections and measure the voltage on each side of the connector. you should never see more than .1/10th of a volt difference between one side of a connector and the other side. if you do then you have some cleaning to do. Also check that feed wire from a point upstream to a connector to check the voltage drop on the wire itself. One of the worst culprits for wire harness failures is that sharp pointy volt meter lead or trouble light lead that people seem to think is ok to piecre the insulation on a wire to check for power. 3 years later and that pinhole has absorbed moisture and corroded the wire then the copper strands will break then the circuit draws current and heats up the break in the wire and either enhances the corrosion or melts the wire at the break.
Hope some of these thoughts help and again my apoligies if it seems too fundemental and offends.

No offence taken, all help greatly appreciated, bike is still sitting in the shed, at present i'm suppose to have a stress test soon, had a double bypass and a stent installed in the old ticker a while ago, and it looks like I might have to have some more "plumbing" adjustments done, maybe another stent, who knows, so i'm still working and trying to organise the tests, so no working on the bike. Will post when I've got some news on the bike, Cheers Pete.