Not necessarily, could be very weak or untimed/intermittent spark.
An occasional cylinder catching sounds to me like the timing however. I wonder if the distributor shaft is in 180 degrees out? Maybe the plug wires are going to the wrong plugs?

Valve clearances is another one that shows up as that problem, double check they are opening and closing fully.

A bit of starter fluid here would be useful, even if everything is unhappy it should catch on that, and then you will be able to tell if its timing is irratic or if it runs smoothly that its the fuel doing something weird


I had a good one on a bike the other day. Was running but a torn intake boot, so parked up till a replacement came in. Then wouldn't start. Plenty of fuel and spark. Eventually gave in and pulled the head and cylinder to find a tiny bit of carbon sticking the rings in the lands, somehow getting in there after the final run lol