Ok so my mechanic son just left after trying his hand with the timing and first thing he said was that the ohm meter I was using is too sensitive. He told me to go look in his grandpas tool box for his old sweep needle meter. His grandpa (my father in-law) passed away 15 years ago……

So instead I found a past post where MarkT linked an analog style meter with the Rx1 setting for only $17 on Amazon. Placed my order and it says delivery tomorrow. No wonder the brick & mortar stores have mostly disappeared. I’m guilty of it……..

Analog meter arrived and worked great. Got it timed nearly dead nuts. This video is for sound only. I shouldn’t have even attempted to capture the ride because my phones on selfie and everything’s out of focus. Oh well.

It runs good but it did miss or stumble once at the 38 second mark. Never did it again. I will ride more when the weather improves, but I think I can close this ongoing saga. New crank seals. New clutch plates. Better ignition switch. New points & condenser. New idle speed screw with NO O-RING!!

And it idles properly now. 

I have a procedure to suggest (that you might already be using, can't tell from your posts)

1. Dial indicator all set up and zeroed, precise method to determine point opening in use.  Advance mechanism blocked open if applicable.
2. Rotate flywheel clockwise (CW) to about 2.5mm BTDC or so (something beyond the timing spec of 1.8mm in this case). Points opening indicator method should show points closed.
3. Now rotate flywheel counterclockwise (CCW) until points just open.  Look at dial indicator.  Is it reading within the 1.8mm BTDC +/- spec?  If yes, done!
4a. If points opened late, say 1.6mm BTDC, the point gap needs to be widened.
4b. If points opened early, say 2.0mm BTDC, the point gap needs to be narrowed.
5. At this point I generally turn the flywheel to where points are slighty open and I can see a gap.  Now I loosen point screw just enough to nudge adjustment the direction I need to go...  say my timing was 1.6, I'd nudge the points open ever so slightly. 
6. Keeping an eye on the small gap I start with, I can usually see the adjustment change as I tighten the screw...  A second screwdriver wedged in the slot can be used to keep the gap from moving (at least as much).  Another method is if say the gap opens as screw is tightened, then you can start out with a smaller gap that will open to where you want it as screw is tightened.  (I hope that makes sense)
(At this step, feeler gauges can be used and is what I used to do...  Going back to timing at 1.6mm, I'd measure the maximum point gap which for sake of example, I found to be 0.012". Then I'd nudge the points open slightly until I measured the maximum point gap at say 0.013" instead of just "eyeballing" that they were open slightly more.  Now you can fiddle with tightening the screw until max point gap is at 0.013" with screw tight.)
7. Repeat step 3.  Say as you're rotating CCW, now the points open at 1.7mm BTDC.  That means we have to open the point gap slightly more. 

I don't adjust points a lot...  but I found the above method usually gets me in spec within 3 or 4 tries...  I don't use the feeler gauge anymore because it seems I can eyeball if I opened or closed the slight points gap I started with when moving the plate and tightening the screw. 

It's less frustrating too.  If say I was at 1.6mm BTDC, tried to open the points slightly to get closer to 1.8, and ended up at 1.5?  I don't even worry about it.  I just know I still need to open the point gap more so I try again.  After a couple of tries, it seems easy to get a "feel" for it and get within spec pretty quick. 

Good luck Bill!

 

Oh man Mark. I needed this write up earlier in the day. I followed the manual and DEETS write up. But I will print this and put in my binder with the manual. Your description copied below is exactly what transpired. It was almost like leading your shot on a clay pigeon. Took a couple tries but I almost nailed it, so I’m calling it good.

“Another method is if say the gap opens as screw is tightened, then you can start out with a smaller gap that will open to where you want it as screw is tightened.”

Thank you for taking the time to do this. It’s gold for people like me.

Just lost my entire post. As you say it misfires once only at 38 seconds & ran great "sounds lively". Definitely electrical but timing won't cause a misfire directly within reason but a very wide points gap could do something possibly to do with coil not being energized fully as points are opening way too early--which I realize advances it all--but!!. If 'that', it might missfire worse with the lights on making the mag work harder & possibly because they earth the ignition source through the lighting coils. I still scratch my head over that idea. Anyhow. If you wanted to eliminate the entire loom you can run the mag loom black direct to the plug coil. Only one wire into the coil so go there direct. No kill switch so be careful. If it still plays up then at least you know it's not a fuzzy wire along the ignition part of the loom. I'll read Marks long story tonight so apologies if I'm contradicting or oposing what's there as not yet read. I'll post his before I loose it again. Ps also a loose left man bearing can cause erratic spark but I'm sure you've been there, plus was just a once only misfire.