cl350 left cylinder not firing

[autumnsscope]

I'm new to the forum and working on bikes, I have a 71, cl350 and the left cylinder is not firing. The spark is good, someone said that it could be the coil but was hoping to get some other ideas on what it could be. thanks.

[Sev]

If you have good spark it's not the coil.

That basically leaves two possible problems -

1) You're not getting compression. Do a compression test - pull the sparkplug and ground it to the frame. Then attach a compression tester and turn the engine over a couple of times. On a 4-stroke I think you want ABOUT 140psi... but it depends strongly on the compression ratio of the bike.

2) You're not getting air/fuel at all, or in the proper proportions. Clean your carbs, check your fuel lines, vacuum sync the carbs etc etc etc etc.

[mydlyfkryzis]

One other possibility, that cylinders points are out if time. The 350 is a real nuisance setting the point gap and timing.

Sev is right on the money with the other 2 items...

[autumnsscope]

awesome thanks alot for your input. that saves me the money of finding a new coil.

[mydlyfkryzis]

For testing, you can use a standard automotive type coil. They are real cheap at Pep Boys. Something for an old points type ignition Chevy will do. You can even use the coil, but since they are large, they are hard to mount.