Electric problems

[stevo3176]

I just bought a 86 yamaha moto 4 for the kids to ride on and I am having electric problems. I bought this machine as a non runner thinking that the top end needed to be rebuilt. The previous owner said that the quad was hard to start butwhen it ran it ran fine. If he stopped and let it sit for a long time it would be hard to start. This why I thought it was the top end. So I go to check to see if it had spark and of course it did not. After tinkering with it I could see that it did have some spark but not all the time. This is what happens when I run the started there is no spark at all but as soon as I let off the starter switch I get one shot of spark. What is strange is that the strenght of the spark depends on how long i run the starter before I let off. So If I run the starter for 20 seconds I get a nice fat spark but if it runs five secs I get a little one. This only happens once only when I let of the starter. Needless to say I am very confused. Anyone have any experience with this type of problem?????

[Erics350x]

either a short in the switch/wiring or a bad stator. most likely the stator.