I'm moving this since I didn't realize I was in the how-to originally...I was following pace with another thread I was reading...anyhow....

Well, can't say that I'm new to this forum...you guys have helped out tremendously in the past...but I just signed up to ask:
My bike rode funny a couple weeks ago. I thought, "maybe slightly low battery"? I only had to ride about 5 miles and the bike rode fine on the road, but when I would go to leave a stop, it just felt...off. Not as much power in the take off, ya know? Anyhow, after parking it a couple hours, I went to start it and it cranked, cranked, cranked then backfired...I eventually gave up hope and loaded it in the bed of a truck and proceeded home to tear it apart. The plugs were fouled...easy enough, I replaced them...but that didn't solve it and now those are fouled too. I cleaned them, propane torched them and put them in the wires with them grounded to the casing and the spark is very, very weak...I'd guess .003, the thickness of paper.
Carbs are CLEAN. I tear carbs apart all the time, so trust me here. Not just Seafoam cleaned, lol! Anyhow, any thoughts? I want to eventually post a solved here since I could not for the life of me find a post that relevantly had to do with weak spark. I've got the bike torn pretty much all the way down so everything is accessible...shoot me some ideas and tests, please!!! If you could include a link to a walk-through of your suggestion - you rock! If not, I will by all means do the foot work.

And to update a bit, I have the coil packs out and I'm cleaning them (the little spikes inside where the wire goes), I have the battery out...I'm gonna rewire the stator wires with 10 gauge and eliminate the plugs then shoot straight to the battery with the red and green wires...anything else I should cover?

 

i solved this issue with new coils and wires

 

But both acting up at the same time? O_o It just doesn't seem likely. Although I'm certainly not ruling it out. I have the test schematics so I'll run through those as soon as I get home.
With the spark plug wire out of the coil, there is a little rust on the pin inside...I can't think of how to clean that up.

 

well how many miles are on the bike? The previous owner could have neglected the plug wires till they were real bad then neglected the plugs because there 11 bucks a plug

 

Plug wires are a bit stiff, so those are on the replacement list. I've ordered a new rectifier/regulator...it'll be in tomorrow. With any luck, that solves all.
Thanks for the input.

 

Finally got the rectifier in! I cut the wires from just outside the stator casing and soldered 12 gauge wires in their place. I also replaced the ground wire to the r/r with 12 gauge straight to the battery and to the frame (well-grounded). I was going to use this diagram:

...but wouldn't the r/r be receiving power all the time? Or does it just regulate the juice from the stator to the battery?
Oh, btw, all's well! My bike fired right up and runs like a beast! Voltage is higher again and stays above 12 while cranking (it was dropping to 9!). The power wire is the last original wire...any wiring suggestions for that other then the above?
Thanks again for the other suggestions on fixing the weak spark...glad it's solved.

 

I hope you went ahead with the GSXR R/R. They're way better for these bikes!

 

The Gsxr one is a good idea, but 15 dollars plug an play beats it lol