Throwing my hands up on this ignition!

I did.....how they do it? CDI supposed to send ~450V to the coil when running. When its ON but not running, there is no switching (dumping of 450V capacitor voltage) so IIRC you may have little to no voltage to the coil. Use an alligator clip on the switched power line to battery + to ensure your start/run voltage is stable and not loose as AJ stated.