Very Weak Spark; 1980 KZ440A1 (with points)

For Ignition cam lube use Bosch (Hot Bearing lube) part# 5 700 002 005 or 5 700 002 025

gavroyer wrote: Good news! I put my old set of point and the old condenser back in the bike and the misfiring is totally gone. It's running like it's supposed to (probably better, given the new ignition coil). So it sounds like my condenser was probably bad. The points were highly suspect too, so the new breaker assembly should get the bike totally good (which it should be given that I'll have replaced nearly the entire ignition system with brand new components).

I also removed and disassembled the advancer to give it a good cleaning. It was still moving fine, but there was lots of old dried out grease that needed to be removed. I regreased it and everything is looking good there (confirmed with my timing light).

Good lesson... new doesn’t always mean good

New genuine contact breaker came and installed, and the bike appears to be running fantastically in the limited time I've ridden it so far.

One note however; I was barely able to get enough spark advance. This is with the factory advance unit and the new, genuine Kawasaki contact breaker and points plate. I had to rotate the plate fully clockwise as far as it would go in order to get the marks to line up with my timing light. It would seem to be that the adjustment should have the plate in the middle of the adjustment range, rather than at the end.

I removed, disassembled, and deep-cleaned the advance unit last week when I put the old points back in, but this issue is one that occurred before as well, and was one of the reasons I originally replaced the points in the first place. The plastic stoppers are present on the advancer flyweights as well, and I re-greased it well during reassembly. It rotates smoothly and cleanly in both directions, springs closed very nicely, and advances the spark to about the right value at the correct RPM. Additionally the advance unit is stamped with "KZ400", which I understand is correct for this 440 too.

Are you using an adjustable timing light?

No, just a standard Innova Timing light. It doesn't have the adjustment for spark advance.

Is your low rpm timing and high rpm timing ok. It's just the plate has no more adjustment?

The timing is within spec, but just barely. I have to slam the timing against the screws to get it to just line up at low RPM, and the high-rpm timing is at the retard-end of the allowance.

Potentially related: I spun a rod bearing last year, and the replacement crank I bought came from a 1981 KZ440. I'm still using the advance that my bike came with (since I'm still using points not electronic ignition).

Was setting the timing always like this with that bike?

I don't recall it being this difficult when I first got the timing set right, but it's been nearly two years since then. I also don't remember if it was like this starting with the crank replacement, but I was a bit preoccupied with "it runs!" at the time; that was my first engine rebuild ever and I was pretty excited.

I'm wondering if there is a mis-matched part somewhere. I would be tempted to slot the plate with a dremel. It probably doesn't need much. And when you have time try to figure out which part is throwing the adjustment off.

F64 wrote :
I'm wondering if there is a mis-matched part somewhere.

Did you set the GAP first? If not, that may be the problem..........

Before attempting to replace or adjust the points the following is important to understand; timing is comprised of two separate components, and BOTH of these components MUST be set properly if the engine is to run well:

--- The GAP – this is the distance the points spread apart when fully open. This is set by adjusting the points. The GAP is the element that determines the DWELL. In essence, the DWELL is the number of degrees of points cam rotation that the points are closed and this controls the amount of time the coils receive a charge before firing the spark plugs.

--- The TIMING of the initial opening of the points (the point at which the continuity across the points breaks) controls the precise instant that the coils receive the signal to fire the spark plugs. This is set by turning the backplate AFTER the gap is set.

Ed