george

To answer yr first question.... Yes you shld have a spark when pushing slowly with the kickstart. Nowadays cdi can trigger a spark with slow revs. It won't be the hottest spark, but you must "hear" and see the spark. So, check and clean all yr ground wires and connectors, as mostly their lays the problem. Use sandpaper to rub of the rust, even when it seems there is no. Then kickstart it again and see if it helped. Secondly, start with a frsh plug as a fouled one is shortcircuiting the current.

yes, sounds like like air pockets in the cartridge. Have you pulled the rod, during the fill up, up and down, and felt restriction all the way? Did you hold the forks up side down a moment before assembly? Just leave it and bounce it a bit, cld be solved that way.