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I hope to be able to do this over the next few days, been a bit busy.......

Not exactly a demon on wiring so if there is anyone in the hood (W.Dorset S.Zummerset. E.Dev) who actually knows what they're doing with a meter, give us a shout. The slightly depressing thing is that the bike has spent some time in a workshop and despite replacing leccy components as previously described and going over the system, it left that premises with even less of a spark then when the whole saga kicked off. However, the suggestion of problems with the barrel itself is quite well documented, and I know we haven't tried bypassing, where there's hope etc etc................

Well, we've done it all. By passed ignition, by passed everything on the bars with a good 12v source - and nothing.

Traced the signal back into the CDI from the stator, all good, traced the 12v feed to the CDI, all good, but nowt out of the CDI to the coil. Tested the coil seperately - all good. Removed loom and tested it with a meter. Check. It looks like the CDI, there's a spark every 12 revolutions or so, no wonder its a nightmare to start. The problem is that the two other used CDIs I picked up over the last few months display exactly the same symptoms. It just seems unlikely that three would be duff and exhibiting the same fault. The guy who helped me with all this is an experienced mechanic who knows his way round most electrical systems. If I could find someone else round here with a kick start 350 we could try popping my CDI into their bike, that way they're protected (which wouldn't necessarily be the case if we did it the other way round.) The only alternative is to sell the bike and spares on sold as seen........what a saga.......

Just to put this one to bed.

We can start the bike from cold, but it is still reluctant. The loom and all onboard ignition components have been tested under load and are fine, carb is clean, jetting spot on. The spare used CDIs check on the test bench, but try as we might we couldn't really improve the situation. So the bike is now for sale, it'll be up to a new owner to decide if he or she wants to try juggling with the CDIs or take the plunge and buy a new one. If they've got a strong right leg and some stamina they could even keep it as is, but I doubt that will happen. Early DR 350s can be unwilling to produce a regular spark when cold on each rotation and it does seem to be a CDI thing. Anyway thanks for the input, I hope to back soon.