I'm looking for help with an electrical problem (no spark) on my 72 DT2.  I don't have the experience to be sure I'm even reading my multimeter properly.  I've bought three different models and still get reading that jump all over the place.  I did fine with the rest of the restore but I am clearly over my head trying to get spark. 

I'm looking for a mechanic or an enthusiast near Pittsburgh (don't trust the local shops)  who I can pay to walk me through it or do the work.    Please advise.  The bike hasn't been started in 50 years and it's on my bucket list to get it running.  Please advise.  

To be honest, you might have better luck asking here and sticking with it yourself. Not many folks work on these old bikes, and there are members here that can really help. The ignition systems are pretty simple on these 50 year old bikes.

Like Tom said you're probably better off getting help here. I'm an electrical moron and not long after getting my DT2 it lost spark but with the help of folks here I was able to get the proper multi meter, one that has the Rx1 that Mark T suggests, and was able to get it going. While I'm still an electrical moron I have a slightly better understanding of how these old bikes work electrically and am sure that I will need help in the future with same...

Agreed, you will be paying big bucks for someone more clueless than you. Follow the advice and you can do it. No cdi so no ifs on it, it will or won’t testing. Cdi with pulse coils and primitive electronics is a crap shoot.

If the points are visibly opening & shutting then just give them a scratch through the window if you can & i'll bet she lights up. I have some sandpaper sticks here in a manicure set i've never used but i think that would work good for a basic scratch as are quite stiff so won't easily fold up like straight sand paper. I used to just fold some gritty emery cloth which was stiff enough to push pull a few times, then blow the points with compressed air while still open or spray with CRC5-56 penetrating oil where i am, or whatever similar is where you are just be sure there's no grit left behind & they should contact good. Actualy i think i have points files from old i'd forgotten about. Wonder if you can still get them--thin narrow flat files. Mention "points" at the shop & they'll probably look at you funny--what are they lol.

Many digital meters are total crap when trying to take readings on these bikes... they jump all over the place. It's not you!

Get an old-fashioned analog (swinging needle) ohmmeter with an "Rx1" scale... very important that it has an Rx1 scale... usually several available on ebay, Amazon, etc... some from under $20 new... be careful because many have an "x10" scale and you really need an "x1" scale for the resistance... not the same a "x1k".

Simpson is a good name brand.... I've have mine for decades...

Here's an inexpensive one with an Rx1 setting on Amazon for under $20 www.amazon.com/Gardner-Bender-GMT-318-Mu...ction/dp/B00291X79O/

Thanks to Mark T for the Multimeter tip. I got one and it's working perfect. I can finally get some repeatable results. Back to work. Thanks for the pep talk on not giving up.

Hey! Sorry to hear about the problems, as I have mentioned in another comment I was very recently in the same place you were. As mark has pointed out, lots of digital multimeters struggle to take measurements on these bikes, an issue that I myself have run up against a few times. I'm pretty sure this issue is due to electromagnetic interference being created by the coils while you're trying to take measurements, but it is very irritating to come up against. Also it sounds like mark beat me to this one too, but having the right precision range is very worthwhile. Most multimeters have a fixed precision range regardless of the resistance setting (such as 3 figures regardless of what range you are set to) and mine goes down to a Rx10 setting, so with three digits of precision that means I only get single decimal place readings (XX.X) whereas if I had had a Rx1 setting, I would have had 2 decimal places with the same number of digits (X.XX). I'm late to the punch I'm afraid but there's at least some background info that might be useful for you.