Quote:oldNslow, if I connect the battery directly to the starter, and it spins it under compression (with the ignition coil removed), would that indicate the battery doesn't have enough juice to do both the starter and the spark?
That won't tell you anything.
You said the plug fires when it is out of the head . That indicates that there is nothing wrong with your ignition module, the coil or the plug. With the plug out there is no compression and the starter isn't loading the battery and drawing the current down below the level that the ignition system requires to fire the plug.
Quote:If the voltage drops below 11VDC with the starter engaged, there is not enough current for the CDI.
When the plug is screwed into he head, and the starter is turning over the engine against compression, a battery that is weak, or not fully charged, isn't capable of (1) spinning the engine over fast enough and (2) supplying enough current to the ignition module to cause the coil to fire the plug.
If you can figure out a way to hook your multimeter leads to the bike battery, or get someone to hold them for you, take a voltage reading with the bike off. A good, fully charged battery should read round 12.75V. If you have just removed the battery from a charger and it reads 13V or more then turn the ignition switch on for a minute o two to get rid of the surface charge.
Then hit the starter button. Like Gary said, if the voltage drops below 11V the plug isn't going to fire.
Or jump it from your truck battery.
If the truck battery starts the bike you are all set. Your bike battery is the problem.
before I hit post I just went back and saw this:
"
Full disclosure: the battery did tip over on my way home from picking it up. "
New battery ?