No spark at less than 10 volts ... good to know. That points toward the battery again, especially after I had tried to crank her a couple of times!
Found these in the Trouble Shooting Section. I didn't see a quote button, so am copying and pasting so I can keep all this stuff in one place so I can find it when I need it.
Troubleshooting Guide Reply #10
How to test for spark
mjs3790225 wrote on 12/26/15 at 08:12:39:
Here are some videos and directions I put together for testing a couple parts of the ignition system.
How to test the pickup coil with two LEDs shoved in the connector.
Get two different color LEDs. 5mm size are fine. Blue and green are better choices but I used blue and red.
Disconnect your pickup coil connector.
Shove the LEDs into the connector coming off of the pickup coil.
The LEDs should be inserted with polarity opposite of each other.
While making certain you have the leads from the LEDs making good contact inside the connector, try starting the engine.
This will cause the rotor to spin around the pickup coil. Each time it passes the pickup coil it will cause the coil's magnetic field to collapse and shoot voltage through the LEDs. One LED will light up when it approaches the pickup coil, and the other will light up after it passes it.
If you are getting blinky lights, your pickup coil is working correctly.
Here is a really poor video of me talking about the theory behind this test and stimulating an old pickup coil with a wrench. The video was made as a series talking about something else so it isn't a great substitute for the instructions listed above.
https://youtu.be/EpfbL_aCoNAHow to test the ignition coil by forcing it to spark without the CDI
https://youtu.be/PWDGqB-hW3wHow to test the CDI box by forcing it to spark
NOTE: This test assumes you already know your ignition coil and pickup coil are both good.
First verify power to the CDI box. I am using the diagrams for a 1996 Savage.
Remove CDI box from wire harness
Remove spark plug from engine but keep in socket
Turn on key switch
Turn engine run/stop switch to run
Check voltages on the CDI wiring harness
Put a voltage meter on the Orange wire with a white stripe, and the black wire with a white stripe. You should have battery level voltage. This means your CDI box is getting power to actually think and make operations. If it isn't, you have a issue with power getting to your CDI box.
Check your you safety/bypass switches.
This same orange/white wire supplies positive power to the ignition coil.
If no power on this line, no power for your coil to make a spark
Second, verify power can make it through your ignition coil to the CDI box
Put a voltage meter between the blue wire with yellow strip, and black wire with white stripe. You should have pretty close to battery voltage.
Third, disconnect the pickup coil wires and halfway bypass it.
After the plug is disconnected, jump the orange wires together. Leave the green wire disconnected.
Fourth, reconnect your CDI wiring harness.
Fifth, ground your spark plug. (touch it to the head)
Use an alligator clip and ground the plug to a clean part on the engine case.
Sixth, force the CDI to spark by dumping the pickup coil's magnetic field - look at the spark plug for a spark or listen for it
On the pickup coil's harness plug, tap the green wires together.
This sends a pulse to the CDI that is normally only made while the rotor is spinning around.
You should have gotten a spark out of this action. If you didn't your CDI is likely bad. (Or your rotor is currently sitting over the pickup coil. Move your engine a bit more ahead so it is past the timing mark).
Video kind'a outlining this test
https://youtu.be/KdEjrKjbUYMTroubleshooting Guide Reply #11
Let's check the decomp.
put it in 2nd or higher.
bump the bike forward to rotate the engine.
bump it forward till you can rotate the decomp lever (left hand side, top of engine)
This indicates the engine is on the exhaust stroke.
Now try to start like normal (clutch in, neutral, etc.)
If it goes, your decomp is outta adjustment and the starter stalled on the compression stroke.
decomp out of adjustment [there's a link on the original post]
Somewhere I had read about watching the spin at the decomp cable (I think). If it only spun half a turn, or too many times it indicated the decomp out of adjustment. Will add more specific info when/if I find it again. Hence trying to keep all this info in one thread.