Huck Finn

I suggest you hook any 12V battery to your bike's batt. terminals(temporary) and use a test light to find which of the 4 wires at the key is hot. Then connect that live wire to each of the other 3 (one at a time) while watching the test light connected to the coil...(making sure the points are open.....if closed, they will ground the circuit and you may toast wires!... or unplug the points wire while checking). Once you light up the coil you have found your hot wire. Use an insulated switch between it and your live wire. That's it......it should run if the coil gets juice when kicked.

I'm there.......gotta try out a new compression release.

Thanks for the helpful insights! I will definately check the rear axle alignment by measureing each side from the swingarm pivot. The adjustment marks could be off and my bike rides like it only wants to turn right. It seems to want to squat in a right turn and stand up going to the left. ? I believe you are also correct about the rake being different on the two bikes. My XT is extremely stable at high speeds and may be designed to excel on anything but tight stuff. I have already lowered the tubes in the clamps which helped a little but it still favors leaning to one side. I'm sure you are right about the tire but until it responds equally to turning in both directions I will have to pursue other options. I'm thinking maybe a laser level will help determine whether the frame or swingarm is tweaked.

I'm having a problem with the front end on my XT not tracking thru turns on any type of loose terrain. I realize that dual purpose bikes are a trade off as far as freeway stability and cornoring in the loose stuff goes. Yet I get the feeling that something is wrong when my buddy's KLR just breezes thru a loose patch of gravel, then while riding directly behind him, the front tire on my XT tries to skate off into the next county. Another noticeable symptom of something wrong and probably directly related to the handling issue is this: The bike feels like it is trying to crab even when riding straight down a gravel road. I have checked to see if the forks were bent but they proved to be true. Its the old lean left to go straight thing so I checked the rear axle alignment and its ok. My front tire appears tweaked to the right a bit with the triple tree aligned straight ahead but without twisting the fork trees I dont see how to correct it. Any help in aligning the wheels would be appreciated. Is anyone else having similiar issues with their old trusty XT's? I know its a reach but is there such a thing as an alignment rack for two wheelers or something similair where I can have my bike checked?

Recently I took my 89' XT 600 out into the woods and followed forest roads for the most part. It was raining and I found that the front wheel constantly washed out no matter what kind of terrain we were on. The bike simply would not track behind the steering to the point of being dangerous. My buddy's KLR 600 did not have the same problems as I rode the same line behind him and fought my Yamaha thru the relatively easy turns while his bike tracked easily. Any suggestions will be GREATLY appreciated!