Thanks guys!

Curt,
Depending on the results I get after ohming things out, I'll definitely consider your offer. And I'd be happy to pay next-day or second-day delivery since I'm supposed to be going out of town next Sunday (June 1st). And this Monday is a holiday..... Great!!! No mail on Monday!! Just thought of that....

Anyway, I'll keep ya posted on my troubleshooting. Gonna try and get out of here (work) a little early so I can get this figured out before the week-end. May not get it fixed, but at least I'll know what's wrong....

Thanks again!!
Aaron

Well, got home and broke out the ohm meter and the good news is, the culprit appears to be the pickup coil. The bad news is, as if I have to tell you, none of the local dealers has this part in stock. And this late on a Friday, none of them can/will order it 'til Tuesday, since Monday is the holiday. So I called the indy shop I go to and asked how soon he can get a part in and he procedes to tell me that this may be my lucky day. Says he has an aftermarket pickup coil he bought for a Yamaha ATV. Doesn't know if it'll work til I get mine out and we can compare the two, but hey, ya never know.... I'll keep my fingers crossed... Will have to wait til tomorrow though because I've got to get ready now for my niece's wedding.

Hope everybody has an enjoyable Memorial weekend and ride safe. Oh yeah; I'm not as "out of luck" as it would seem. Got the Vulcan back together last weekend so I can still get some riding in!!!!! Will post some pics when I'm not busy wrenching on the Yamaha....

In the Wind,
Aaron

Problem solved!!! It wasn't the pickup coil after all. Well, it kinda was. Got up early this morning and took things apart til I got to the pickup coil and, just for sh*ts and grins, I ohmed out the pickup coil itself. And it was good!! So I checked the resistance at the plug again and just like before, it was bad. So a bad wire??? Cut the plug off and checked the reading on just the wires and it was good!! So all this time I had a bad connection at or in the plug!!! Put everything back together (used high temp RTV as a gasket) and installed new spade-type connecters on the pickup coil wires, changed the oil filter and filled it with oil and hit the starter........And she fired right up!!! Right away it sounded better just at idle. Had to wait a couple of hours to take it for a test ride, but I just got back and it's running great!! Better than it has in a while it seems. So a bad electrical connection caused all this trouble!!! Oh well... At least it was an easy fix (just aggrivating figuring it out!) and it's back up and running.

Thanks for everyone's help and input!!

Back In The Wind!!
Aaron

That is great news. We'll keep that in mind.

It seems the simplest and most basic things can sometimes be the hardest to figure out.

Glad you found the problem and it wasn't and expensive fix for you. Ride safe and have fun.

Fantastic! glad to hear to it!

good to hear your fixed and back on the road

Im having the same problem . So let me get this straight you changed out you spark plug wires?. Where did you get the wires from thanks Roger

Dang,
Makes me think I better put some of those in my bags. I go riding on these desert back roads with no phone and couple of jugs of water, it would be no fun to be stranded

RCOOKR1, he repaired the pick-up coil plug that had a bad connection.

The timing pickup coil is located forward of the clutch on the inside of the left engine cover near the crank end.

You have to locate the wire going into the rear of the cover from and find the plug to test for ohms.

Check your service manual on the test. Mine was bad too, but I switched it out with a new pickup and did not catch the bad plug.

Could have saved a few $$.