The International CBX Owners Association

I just took my '82 out of storage, charged the battery and tried to start
it. No Luck.
I pulled the #1 plug to check spark, and when I held the plug to the fins
with the ignition on but NOT touching the starter button,
I noticed an arc to the plug, when I held the plug to the fin the plug
produced a constant low spark.
I tried 2 different battery chargers, then removed the battery and put
the charger leads directly on the battery cables.
Same result.
I stopped right there for fear of doing damage, if I haven't already.

Any ideas? Thanks

I am no electrical expert, but I don't think there is an explanation for this phenomenon, is there

Do you mean they all do that?
It's normal?
I never noticed it before, but I've never checked it.

I'm guessing an open circuit in the ignition switch but I'm no electrical expert either.

The spark has to be circuit leakage, if it jumps a gap larger than ( or the same as) the plug gap, there is a problem for sure... My Dyna S system often fires a plug as soon as I switch the ignition on (without the starter) but I'm sure that's not related.

Thanks for the help.
Just thought I let you know what I found.

I bought a new battery for the bike at Ed's Batteries in Westbrook, Maine,
and mentioned the problem. One of the guys said although he wasn't
familiar with CBXs', he thought it was a normal condition in electronic ignitions.

His reasoning was that when you turn on the key and energize the ignition
system, there is current flowing. He thought that because I was just touching the plug to the head, there was not a sufficient ground for the
current to dissipate. Like Alimey4u2 said, the plug should spark once when it's threaded in the head.
His suggestion was to ground the plug with a heavy jumper wire,
when I did the arcing stopped.

I reinstalled the plugs, installed the new battery and the old girl fired up
and ran like a charm. I think the old battery had a dead cell or two and kept the bike from turning over fast enough to start the bike after sitting for several months, even on a battery charger.

Now I just have to wait for the snow up here to melt.
We're due for another 8-10 inches tomorrow, so I'll just keep
polishing and dreaming while I wait for Spring.

Gnus acadia81, Thanks for the feedback & safe & enjoyable riding....