Well here's the latest...  The problem has gotten worse.  It used to come back to life after several dying episodes.  Not now, it will run a little ways then die, over and over.  I went back in yesterday and changed the connection to the coil and the tach.  When I installed the tach a couple months ago I used a cheap 2-in-1 connector that I had in the tool box.  Thinking that may be the problem, Not.  

When checking the spark, which I've done a half dozen times in the last few weeks, it would throw a yellow spark then occasionally blue.  Thinking I didn't have the plug properly grounded the whole time, I went with the blue.   Checked it again this morning and nothing but weak yellow spark.  And the plug, which was brand new and only had 10 minutes of use, was coated with a dry black powder.    

The battery is new and tests good under load, so that's not it. Went through connections, all look good.  Never had to deal with these symptoms before, so not sure if this is the common death throws of a coil or TCI or??    

See this for explanations:

I'd find a used ignition coil and put it on. It can still be the ignitor coil or the TDI as well.

You smell something burning. Sounds electrical to me.

If it was starving for fuel it will sputter backfire and pop.

verslagen1 wrote on 10/17/16 at 12:18:00:

Spark plug analysis can only be done after the engine is fully warmed up.

I'd remove the tach to see if it's causing the problem.

Also, spark plug analysis is best when performed on a new plug. The crappy fuel we are forced to burn today turns a sparkplug black on any non-FI engine in just a few miles.

You are going down a good path with the CDI and spark plug. Run that one down before looking at fuel delivery. Work one problem/solution at a time.

Thanks Gang!    Really appreciate all the help.  I'm going to start by diving back into the electrical.  That smell I explained comes from the upper left portion of the head.  Which could be coming from under the left portion under the tank which is where the coil is.  Also where I tied in the tach.  It's a ryca tach that ties into the coil and the horn.  Tach and horn have always worked fine and I just installed a new connector to the coil thinking that connection may be shorting the coil event though the tach works fine  .

The problem started shortly after I dove into the carb, installed the tach and a dyna exhaust.  Weird thing is, it only does the start-run-die thing  occasionally.  Carb: I'm going to replace the screen at the bottom of the float valve housing.  I left it off when reassembling the carb.  Also replacing the needle.  It looked a little bent to me when I had the carb apart.  I made it straight(er) then reassembled. But it's probably still not perfect.  Electrical:  unhook the tach from the coil and see if that works.  If not, install another coil.  Also, go back through all the connections, again.      I'll let you all know how it goes.  Mahalo!      

mes from the upper left portion of the head.  Which could be coming from under the left portion under the tank which is where the coil is.  Also where I tied in the tach.

I had overlooked the tach addition. Definitely inspect and repair if you see anything that looks wrong, and just disconnect it and put it back stock electrically if you don't see anything.

The percentage of problems that are outside the known , everyday Suzuki induced little hassles that crop up after someone decides to work on it is pretty high. I'm WELL Familiar with the fine art of carefully crafting bear traps and then feeding them a leg.. and the first place I look when I see a problem develop is the last place I was working.

I'll have a chance to work on the bike this weekend.  Let ya'll know what I find.  Thanks for all the suggestions.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 10/21/16 at 02:15:58:

I've never seen gasoline cause a stench.

Running a proper 12:1 to 15:1 (WOT to cruise) mixture results in an exhaust temperature (at the first 3 to 4 inches of down pipe) in the range of 1150 to 1300 degrees F. When the mixture starts to go just a little lean, say 17:1 to 20:1 you'll see temperatures in the range of 1500 to 1700F. In this range the coating on the pipe begins to burn and smell. Beyond 20:1 the engine will begin to shut down due to fuel starvation, but if the mixture is hovering around 21:1 head pipe temperatures will be around 2000F, and you will smell things burning.