Freebyrd's 81 KZ1000 Build

My 95 GSXR 750 swinger is aluminum, and it has the bracing on top. It's a little bit longer, I'm not sure if it's quite 4" or not.

I have a picture of the steel gauge mounts in my build thread somewhere. Lemme see if I can find it.

Thank you for the ideas Leon! I would have to farm out all my aluminum work so anything out of steel is good. I'd also like to try a bunch of fabrication on it. I'll have to measure the zx-9 wheel and see if it would fit. What year katana 600 was that from? I love the look of the front zx-9 wheel, so ideally I'd want a swingarm that would take the rear wheel too. Thanks for input everyone! Keep it coming! I love this forum

Steel gauge mount photobomb!!!!!

Thanks for all the ideas and photos!

OK so I have updates from today. I switched the coil leads and tried to start it, and still nothing. I did a compression test and got 170-150-150-150. The rings haven't been seated yet, and I think 150 at least on all 4 cylinders should fire. Correct?

I did notice that I have weak spark. Sort of an orange color and barely visible in the daylight. Any ideas or suggestions to improve spark? I'm now leaning towards a spark issue. Plenty of fuel was pulled from the bowls, will clean carbs again, but I figure with the carbs, it should be good enough to at least burp at me a few times. Also, a blast of starting fluid did nothing, which after the compression test is now pointing me towards spark as well.
Any ideas??

Thanks!

freebyrd24 wrote: ...Any ideas or suggestions to improve spark? I'm now leaning towards a spark issue....

May aid diagnosis to first know:
What voltage is being received at the coils? And how does it compare with voltage measured across the battery posts?

This info will help determine whether the issue is related to (1) voltage getting to the coils, or (2) coil function, or (3) high intensity voltage path from the coil to spark plug tips.

Good Fortune!

Start with what Patton suggests. Orange spark is waaaayyyy too cool. You should get fat, blue sparks. I'll bet dollars to donuts that the spark is your issue. 150 is plenty of compression to run. If it were the carbs, then the starting fluid would have made it start. Also, the tailpipe cannon experiment proves that your carburetors are providing fuel.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions guys! Yeah the spark was very very weak. My back was acting up so I called it a day but I'll try to get out there asap and test voltage and let you know. I did start with a nice fresh battery fully charged so will test at coils asap!

OK I did some testing on my lunch break today. I started out with a battery at 12.75 volts with the key on. I checked voltage coming out of the feed wire to the each coil and both read about 12.3/12.4 volts. I attached the leads to the coil post and took voltage at the post, and still has 12.3/12.4 volts. I then took the leads off the coils and measured 2.2 ohms on each coil. This all sounds pretty good to me. Opinions? And whats the next logical step?

Thanks!

What kind of shape are the wires, and plugs in? Do the caps make good contact with the plugs, or are they loosey goosey? Sounds like you are getting enough juice to the coils.

I'm not familiar with the ignition on the 81's. Is that a factory electronic, or does it still run points? Do you still have the original ignition setup, Dyna, or other?

I'm running the factory/stock electronic ignition. Stock coils, running same plug wires and caps that I got the bike with. Caps make solid contact with the plugs, positive clicking. If I had a loose connection on 1, 2 or even 3 cylinder, I have to think at least one cylinder would have had good enough spark to make at least a sputter or cough. I haven't gotten a cought since I put it back together.

Since I have factory electronic ignition, is there anything to clean in there that might cause a weak spark? I didn't think so, but I'm not sure.

freebyrd24 wrote: I'm running the factory/stock electronic ignition. Stock coils, running same plug wires and caps that I got the bike with. Caps make solid contact with the plugs, positive clicking. If I had a loose connection on 1, 2 or even 3 cylinder, I have to think at least one cylinder would have had good enough spark to make at least a sputter or cough. I haven't gotten a cought since I put it back together.

Since I have factory electronic ignition, is there anything to clean in there that might cause a weak spark? I didn't think so, but I'm not sure.

Are the spark plug wires removable from the coils?

Yes they are. I noticed on one of the coils that the wires were loose, so I fixed it, but it all the way back into the coil and tightened it back up. Is there a way to measure or test the voltage leaving the coil?