If you are reading this the ATV has already been set on fire and rolled down a mountain...just kidding but be prepared to be confused!

okay a little backstory, picked up a non running 1985 bayou 185cc. adjusted and cleaned the carb, honed the valves, and dropped a new battery in. Ran like a beast! for about 4 days... out of nowhere (literally the bike sat overnight) I got a no spark, replaced the ignition coil, wire, and plug... nothing, checked my rectifier, stator, and and battery. all good. re-spliced EVERY SINGLE cracked wire in the entire harness. sparked amazing ran great for 2 days until I murdered my fuel pump on a stick. i repaired that and for whatever reason i got a no spark again...i let the bike sit for 2 days and came back to work in it and for fun i gave it a pull, strong spark! put thee plug back in and it ran great...for a day...i checked all my connections and found a ground that was not making a consistent connection, fixed that and ran great for another 2 days and that brings us to where i am now...

yesterday It was a nice day so i went for a ride around the property, bike started in one pull (i have electric start but my starter is bad and DISCONNECTED from all power, but still in my bike) anyway, i rode for like 20 mins and parked it and left for about 3 hours. came back to the bike and no spark again! i rechecked all my connections, my coil, wire, battery, stator, and even my kill switch. nothing, nothing at all! okay this is where it gets weird...today i was working on it again and was fiddling with my wiring just in case i messed up again, everything was tight and good. this part is important so read carefully. i pulled my pull start 3-5 times and no spark. immediately afterwards i pressed my electric start button for no reason and i got ONE spark when i pressed it 4 times. and i can repeat that consistency, i can pull my pull start ~4 times and then press my electric start button and get one spark off the plug when i press the button ~5 times. and remember my starter is not connected to power at all, the positive wire coming from the solenoid to the starter is electrical taped up and hanging off the bike. i started messing with the wires again and disconnected the plug coming coming from the CDI going to the kill switch/lights/electric start thing on the handlebar, and pulled the pull start, strong spark for 5-6 pulls and the nothing, like the spark literally stopped and i did not touch a thing! i plugged my kill switch back in and no spark. i unplugged it again and no spark... i can continually get a single spark with the pull start / electric start button combo but that is thee only way...and this is where im left at...please help...

 

You electric starter may be disconnected from any power but the left control switch isn't as it ties in with the ignition switch also. It may be the source of the problem or it could be stator or cdi related but I'd go through the electrical tests the service manual has along with the wiring schematic that should be able to help you narrow down the problem. 5 bucks might help keep you from pulling your hair out..https://www.tradebit.com/filedetail....pair-1985-1986