I am in need of some help - bike ain't runnin' right...

If the right hand switchgear connector was crumbled, continuity can be erratic and if you have done the coil mod, the trigger wire for the relay may be on/off erratically. I strongly suggest you use a new multipin connector to replace the one that disintigrated and coat the pins with dielectic grease. I have had problems with this connector on ALL my KZs due to its location and getting beat up from removing the gas tank.

I think I may have it nailed. I replaced the crumbled connector with all new soldered and shrink wrapped connectors.

I was getting ready to do the coil mod when I realized I was checking voltage incorrectly at the yellow/red wire. In order to get an accurate reading off this wire you need to disconnect it from the coils. The coils will store energy otherwise and throw off the readings. Once I did this I was getting only a ~.3 volt loss from my battery through all the wiring. I feel that is acceptable.

I also finally got ahold of the fuel filters I needed and changed them. I took it for a quick ride and it seems to be doing fine now. I will be riding to work later and that should be a good soak test.

Thanks for all the help!

I knew I spoke too soon!:pinch:

It started acting up again on my way into work. It ran fine for about 5 miles, then started cutting out for about 3 miles, then ran fine again the rest of the way to work.

I don't know what to really check next. The trouble acts electrical/ignition related as it feels like I lose 2 or more cylinders when it happens.

I keep wishing that maybe I just got ahold of some bad gas or something. Intermittent problems are the worst!

0.3V loss with no load dosn't tell us what's happening when the coil is in the circuit. You need some load. Either the coil or some clip leads to an old car headlight. Then measure voltage.

Don't know how the dyna gets it's ground. If it's through the plate, make sure it's a good low resistance circuit. Plate may have a coating on it. Aluminum oxide is a poor conductor of electricity.

Wiggle, push on, & pull on stuff while you measure. It may help locate the problem.

So I should leave the coils connected when I measure switched voltage? If I do that and measure right off the lug on either coil I get 1 to 1.5v loss. Should I still be seeing 12.5v or better? That's what I get when I unplug the coils.

Maybe I should just go ahead with the coil mod.

What are my chances of having a bad Dyna coil that only acts up when it heats up? Would it eventually start testing bad?

savedrider wrote:

So I should leave the coils connected when I measure switched voltage? If I do that and measure right off the lug on either coil I get 1 to 1.5v loss. Should I still be seeing 12.5v or better? That's what I get when I unplug the coils.

Maybe I should just go ahead with the coil mod.

1 - 1.5 V is OK. Does not justify coil mod.

If it were me and if I owned a battery operated timing light with a clip-on inductive pick up, I'd be inerested in seeing if there is any difference in triggering and advancer behavior between when it's behaving and when it isn't.

If it flashes consistantly wwhen not acting up and skipes flashes when it is acting up, then you're missing sark for sure. If the advancer is steady when it's not acting up and dancing around when it is, clean and lube as per manual.

Remote diagnostics is a PITA. Esecially after a pitcher of margueritas.

Keep thinking. How is it supposed to work. What could be missing from that picture.

What a fun and exciting ride home from work last night! *insert sarcasm here* :whistle:

The timing light thing sounds good. However, it seems to want to behave when I have it running in the garage. It's strange you mention the timing light though. A while back I was setting/checking with my light when it stopped strobing normally. I blamed it on the cheap light. Makes me wonder.

I think first thing today I may just pull the plugs and lay them across the head and check for spark.

I worked on it for 3-4 hours today. Didn't really make any progress though I haven't got a chance to test ride it.

I checked spark on all four plugs and I have fat blue sparks on each one. My 1 and 4 plugs are clean and burning properly. My 2 and 3 plugs don't look as good - the #3 especially. #3 was completely black and sooty. So it seems to be pointing to something on the 2/3 side.

I also cut back the vinyl casing on the right hand switch controls and continuity checked all the kill switch wiring. Everything checked ok and I also took the time to solder some splices in there that I'm not sure were factory or not.

Checked the Dyna S modules and trigger leads again with a test light and they seem to be functioning normally.

I'm going to switch the coil that has been firing the 2/3 cylinders over to the clean plugs on the 1/4 cylinders. If it acts up again I'll see if the sooty misfired plugs follow the coil.

If it still acts up I may look into having Dyna load test the coil or the Dyna S.

I think I may have isolated the problem.

I spent more time today resoldering and continuity testing connections. I finally fired it back up and it didn't really sound any better. For some reason I started tapping the left Dyna ignition module with my knuckle and I noticed it sounded different than the right module. While it idled I started tapping the module with the handle of a screwdriver and sure enough it started misfiring. If I kept tapping eventually it would stall. I performed this test several times to confirm. I also tried it on the right module and nothing would happen. This is the same module that was feeding the coil that died.

I'm 98% sure I have a bad 1/4 pickup on my Dyna. It's still under warranty so I'm going to give Dyna a call on Monday and see if they can load test it for me.

Did you happen to check the resistance of your wires?

Snakebyte wrote:

Did you happen to check the resistance of your wires?

Which wires?