A Newbies Adventures in Maintenanceland!

1973 Z1 with V&H

Patton I used your idea and made an aluminum bracket that I ran between the muffler and mount using a rubber bushin. It seems to be great, it aloows the muffler to move around just enough without rattling around. I added some oil and Lucas break in additive, wires up my LED brake light and turn signals and installed my spark plugs. I thought I would do the static timing test as described in another thread and ran into a problem (I think).

Here is exactly what I did:

The battery is installed and hooked up, my headlight brakelight and turn signals work good Like I said I have the ignition coils hooked up and plugs in and plug wires attached. Basically the bike is ready to start. I took my tester light and clamped it to the black wire (while it was on the ignition coil since it's all hooked up) and then touched the pointy part on the light to my negative battery terminal. The light came on and was on no matter where the crank was. I switched side to the green wire thinking maybe the one coil was being weird, and the same thing happened.

If I took the black and green wires off of the coils and tried this test while they are NOT on the coils would it work better? How am I completing a circuit by hooking ground to those wires, does this indicate I have a short somewhere or is the circuit going through the coil winding and back to the battery?

Thanks

"Basically the bike is ready to start. I took my tester light and clamped it to the black wire (while it was on the ignition coil since it's all hooked up) and then touched the pointy part on the light to my negative battery terminal. "...

Ok, you have me confused here for a moment....

I'm assuming the thingy you're speaking of is a +12Vdc light as in the image below, correct? If so, this works basically like a volt meter in respect to ground.

The spring loaded alligator clip is your ground terminal. This goes to the battery (-) or in an ideal and correctly wired up KZ, frame & engine for that matter for they are all the same ground potential.

The light probe tip goes to you measuring +12Vdc test points.

As you have written, your measuring ground (battery -) with the probe tip in reference to a black wire that I'm assuming is ground....

:S Doesn't make sense big guy....

What exactly are you trying to accomplish, static timing?

OMR

I am using a 12 volts tester like you have there. I was going by your tute on here:

kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&...d=4&id=352003#352300

My wire colours are different than yours, but I think I did the same thing you did. My tester light has a plastic sheath on the point, so I found it easier to use the point on the battery (-) and the clamp in the wires going to the coils. My wires that go to the coils (the ones that you were using the point on ) are heatshrinked so there is no point to test at other than at the end where it is bolted to the ignition coil, Hence I ran the tester from the battery (-) to the black terminal on the 1+4 ignition coil and the green on 2+3. When you did the test did you have the primary leads attached to the ignition coils?

Do these light testers only work properly in one direction? could it be working improperly because I didn't use the alligator clip on ground?

Switched bat+ is at both ign coil primary terminals, so going through test light from either primary terminal to bat- would be same as just going between battery terminals.

It's the signal from crank rotation that ungrounds one of the two ign coil primary terminals whereby coil fires through its secondary loop.

Good Fortune!

Just to clarify, here is what I am doing:

I am hooking the tester light to battery ground and point A in the pic, and then battery ground and point B in the pic. Both instances the light stays on, and seems to be the same brightness no matter where the crank is. should I disconnect points A and B and try the test while they are not connected to the coils?

dammit, hold on

Ign coil primary wiring terminal "Point A" is either grounded or ungrounded, depending on crank position.

Likewise, ign coil primary wiring terminal "Point B" is either grounded or ungrounded, depending on crank position.

Good Fortune!

OK, so this explains why I was getting the light on all the time, but I am now really condfused as to how the static timing test works. If I am understanding the instructions in the linked tutorial I am doing it correctly, but it seems that I should be connecting the tester to battery + and points A and B respectively so that the "grounding and ungrounding" either lights up or dims my tester. What am I missing, sorry for my retardedness.

With ign switch turned ON, connect test light between the locations shown below.

Turn crank by hand using the 17mm fake nut, and see what happens.

Hopefully test light will go on and off (not merely dimmed), and on and off, etc., as crank is turned.

But this is only assuring grounding and ungrounding, and not the timing of the grounding and ungrounding.

Static timing (engine not running) is determining that the unground signal is going out to the coil just as the F mark on the advancer aligns with the permanent case mark.

Likewise, dynamic timing (engine running at idle rpm) is determining that the unground signal is going out to the coil just as the F mark on the advancer aligns with the permanent case mark.

Good Fortune!



Edit --- This might be more clearly stated as follows:

Static timing (engine not running) is determining that the ungrounding is happening just as the F mark on the advancer aligns with the permanent case mark.

Likewise, dynamic timing (engine running at idle rpm) is determining that the ungrounding is happening just as the F mark on the advancer aligns with the permanent case mark.

Ground the light with the clip to any where on the motor or the battery. Stick the point in the connector for either the black or green, depending on which coil you are testing. Turn the crank with the 17mm wrench with the key ON the light will light up when the ignition fires. It should fire when your timing marks line up. Do the same with the other side the same way.

Thanks a lot man, this is what I was thinking. Just to make sure, you underline "unground", this leads me to believe that if lets say I am doing the static timing on 1+4, when I hook it up like you have it there I should have the light ON, and when the 1+4 "F" mark is lined up with the case mark the light should go out (ground connection cut, so no circuit)

Thanks Patton, you da man!

Kawickrice wrote:

Ground the light with the clip to any where on the motor or the battery. Stick the point in the connector for either the black or green, depending on which coil you are testing. Turn the crank with the 17mm wrench with the key ON the light will light up when the ignition fires. It should fire when your timing marks line up. Do the same with the other side the same way.

This is exactly what I did, but the light stayed on. Based on Pattons pic it would seem that I was jsut connecting ground to (+) through the curly coils in the pic, therefor no switching on or off.