Spark Advancer KZ 1000 1980 A-4 running rough.

I have been chasing a timing issue with my bike. It would tend to mix it up between idle to 4000 rpm with a rough unpredictable idle.

I looked, checked and pulled my hair out trying to find problem. I ended up finding it and wanted to share with forum. I'm sure there are members who know this, it might help someone chasing same issue.

This is my first Kaw and don't have a local contact to bounce questions. I am not very knowledgeable about the KZ platform but am getting better. I ask the forum or just try, try, try to learn and solve problems myself.

I used a timing light and set timing to correct specs. I removed the spark advancer and cleaned, oiled and checked it out. I noticed that the rubber bumpers where gone off weight ends and the weights didn't click back firmly against the Dyna - S rotor.

I found that the advancer springs were lose and the bike advanced timing to early.

I purchased a new spark advancer 21148-010 and the bike runs perfect now with no problems from idle to 4000 rpm. It idles great and made a huge difference.

Clean and check the spark advancer if you cant find issues with a rough running bike. It bit me and it can happen to you.

Do spark advancer weight springs wear out or were they messed around with?

At one time I had evry advancer unit that Kawa made for the Z1 and KZ. Do the springs wear out , yes they can. I think the advancer unit I have now on my Z1A is from an ELR (Eddie Lawson Replica)as is the complete ignition system but with Andrews coils.

Another snippet of info on these advance mechanisms, particularly when converting to DynaS. I found removing the small shim washer which is present when you are changing from the points rotor to the DynaS rotor is a must. I once found when not removing the shim the DynaS rotor caused the Mechanism to be sluggish!
RegardZ.