200x difficult to start

[Frankencelery]

I just picked up an '85 200x on Ebay for a friend. The deal turned out to be not nearly as good as we thought, and among other things it wouldn't start at all unless it was pulled. After adjusting the CDI gap it's greatly improved, but you still have to kick it just so and hold the throttle just so to get it started. Doing the standard spark check looks like the spark is very weak to me. Is there a component that I should start with to adjust or replace? By the way, it runs fairly well once it's going, although it needs a carb rebuild.

The guy who sold it (I'm not going to mention his name with a partial refund pending) claimed it was rebuilt, but the engine smokes, and it has no rear brakes. Unfortunately, I wasn't there to pick it up, and left it to my friend, who picked it up even after it had to be pull-started (Duh!) so now we're stuck with it and trying to make the best of the (way overpriced) situation.

Anyway, enough complaining. Most of the fault was ours. I should've gone with him to pick it up, and I would have told the guy he was smoking crack and to keep his three wheeler.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

[speed20]

Could be a number of things....change the plug if you havent already.....if you have to pull it off.....I would think it would be low on compression....so heres what i would do

Check compression (should be ATLEAST 90psi, at the minimum).
check the valves (intake should be 3 thousandths, and exhaust should be 5 thousandths i believe)

If you do all that, and still nothing try this:
Check the timing- pull the CDI off (located on the left hand side of the motor) so you can see the timing chain and gear. (Take the little flat head screw off of the left hand side of the motor (where the stator is) ( i think its alot easier to lean the bike over (so oil doesnt come out), and take the case off myself. get the motor at TDC (top dead center). There is a triangle aluminum piece made on the case that the "F" mark should line up with, and the "O" on the cam chain sprocket (behind the CDI) should line up with the "V" mark on the rocker box (right above the cdi).

If everything is good....it should start fine.

[bigredhead]

Follow the plug wire to the unit that attaches to the frame.. remove the bolts and sand down all the connections to the frame.. New plug.. clean the air filter, and try again.

Go over the entire frame.. shock mounts.. etc.. make sure it's not falling apart. any cracks need to be welded asap !

[Frankencelery]

Thanks for the info. The issue really does seems to be weak spark. I have to SNAP the kickstart as fast as humanly possible to get it to start. Then it idles very high because the carb needs rebuilt. I'll take these things one at a time.

[speed20]

I always take things one at a time...because if you dont, and do everything at once, you dont really know what the problem is! but after reading the post thoroughly, check all your contacts and make sure everything is getting a good connection (sand down all contact points). that should do the trick! although my friend had a 3 wheeler that was harder than heck to start....turned out he had the wrong plug in it (was about 1/8 shorter than supposed to be). got the right plug and its been running ever since! Good luck on finding the problem!