kenikas

Finally getting around to a follow up on this, unfortunately this machine kinda got back burnered and is still in the corner of the garage due to other carb/ignition troubles. But we did come up with a cure for this shifting issue, this is a nylon lined cable, and the Suzuki replacement is surprisingly NOT CHEAP! So we got a serviceable used cable from powersportsnation, that is much smoother than the original. But it still doesn't always completely center when shifting and we're hoping that when we get it running better and ride it around it will loosen up a bit more. My thoughts are that the internal spring on the shaft is a little weak and that's causing part of it, so we just put a couple of "helper" springs on the foot lever, and that seems to have cured it.

Wanted to post a follow up to this since we finally found the culprit and got the old beast running.  It turns out everything was good with the magneto, so we put it all back together and went through all the wiring and switches again just to make sure and everything checked good per the wiring diagrams and the manual. Still no spark! Tried several different spark plugs, nothing. The guy we got it from had replaced the ignition coil with an aftermarket "racing" coil and the resistances checked "close enough for government work", but luckily the original coil was in one of the misc. parts boxes that we got with it. The spark plug connector on it was broken but we were able to take the one off the "new" coil and use it on the original one, and after cleaning off all the rust and crud on the mounting contacts, it tested perfectly within specs so we bolted it on and hooked it up and nice big fat sparks!
So I guess the moral of the story is never throw anything away!