Did i f*** something up?

Hi everybody i just wanna say thank you to everybody on this forum for all info i have got just looking through old threads, all of you guys are so helpful and really know your kz.

This is my first motorcycle and i am far from a mechanic, i have just learned enough to do a few things that were necessary. The bike was belching black smoke and fouling plugs when i bought it so i put new dyna coils on it helped for sure but plugs still got black quickly. Forgot to say the bike is a 77 1000 ltd suposedly a 1075 it has a mac pipe with no baffle and cheap pod filters, jetting is now 17.5 pilot and 115 main. They had needle set to richest position so i raised the clip on notch and it was hard to tell much of a differance in mid range. So i checked the voltage at the coils after the new dyna 3 ohms were installed they were at about 10 volts. also i could not time both cols( cylinders 1 and 4 were advanced and 2and 3 were retarted) So i decided to buy a dyna s ignition (it had electronic but was old unknown version not a dyna). Now with the dyna module i was able to time both coils evenly. However my volts at the coils were still only 10.66. I cleaned all the connectors on the bike except the swithch pods, now i am thinking its the kill switch. So anyway i just had the bike running yesterday as good as it has since i bought it (aside from the shitty pilot circuit that needs cleaned and the occasional hard lurching and popping out of gear in second) and i rode it to the gym with no problems. Here is where it gets interesting. When i left and got ready to leave i found that the little plastic button that is pressed to start had fallen out ( it was barely in the hole anyway and was broken so bound to happen) the little spring that the button pushes in was exposed and i tried to use one of my keys to push it an start it. It sparked and tried to start for a second but wouldnt so i tried again and it made the neutral and oil lights go out and come back on. I turned the key off and i heard a hissing pop type noise (when i was installing the dyna s ignition i forgot to put the dyna rotor on in replace of the old rotor and when i would try to start it it would do nothing but when i turned the key off it would either make that same hiss pop noise or it would actually engage the starter and one time it backfired like a shotgun and another time with a big flame) since i put the correct dyna rotor and got it timed it has only twice made that noise when turning the key off the first time was right after i got it timed, then i rode it for a a while without that happening until this time. So i actually found the little button and started it up and it sounded like it was missing or not on all four i let it warm up and thought it felt like it was not synced even though i had synced the carbs just two weeks before and there was no way they could go out of sync instantly without doing things to it. It was just running rough and less responsive and sounded similar to how it did when a plug got a little wet so when i got home i looked at them and they were all dry, black as usual but no wetness at all. I started it up today and it was still running like that and i also noticed a strange noise like a deep gurgle noise at idle i had never heard that before. I am afraid i may have done something when i tried to start it like that. Sorry for the length of the post i just hope somebody can shed some light on this odd situation. I am already considering selling the bike although it would kill me but i am now noticing what is most likely a transmission problem along with the other things on it that need fixed.

Hi welcome to KZR!

The fouled plugs are most likely from fuel or oil, not really the ignition. Leaking rings or valve seals cause oil to burn and that will make plugs look black, An engine that is running rich will also turn the plugs black. Does the bike smoke at all when you start it up?

Secondly these old KZs run lower voltage at the coils because the wiring and electronics wasn't the best in the 70's. Id say what your seeing is normal there.

Next, The Dyna system will discharge the coils every time you turn the key off, sometimes my 650 will bark at me when I turn the key off. That's normal.

You need to got to the basics here, check your crab sync, out of sync carbs cause lots of weird problems. Check that and get back to us. I would guess with mods you describe your mixture is off. You may have the mains too small and your needles too high but I am just guessing here... you have to put new plugs in and run a plug chop. Assuming your not burning any oil.

Trying to tune with pods is difficult. Not impossible just difficult. You don't happen to have the airbox?
Also you mentioned the pilot jet needing cleaned. That circuit affects the engine from idle to mid throttle. It sounds to me like your pilot is dirty, pods, and someone has tried to tune around the deficiencies. Time to get back to basics.

Agreed Tyler, except the 10.66 Volts at the coils is low and unless there is a ballast resistor there they should be at battery voltage, but I do't think ignition is the problem here.

thanks for the quick reply guys! i have just done the carb sync a couple weeks ago because i had lowered needles and adjusted valve clearences all are .002 to.004 now except for one that is tight. I will probably check sync tomorow but that would be crazy considering it was fine on the way there and ran rough after starting. As far as the fouling its not oil it has always been gas i can tell by the smell and also it has more of a clear look and not thick like oil. I never thought that my mixture could be that rich it would foul plugs. I am at 4th notch would you suggest going to 3rd notch which is stock? I think my mains are close because it runs strong full throttle and does not hicup at all. I also do not have airbox but have heard the stories of pods. Tyrell Corp i am not sure if there is a ballast resistor, or what to look for. Btw checked volts on coil again only 10.39

Sounds like a battery issue.
Steve

thanks for the input steve. I did notice one time before that the battery seemed a little low. I just checked the voltage it was 12.87 with ignition off. I turned on the key it dropped to 12.30 and continued dropping at steady rate

Charge it then let it sit over night. If it drops, new battery.
steve

Ok so here is what happened since website got hacked. I found out that the nunmber 3 header was not getting hot, and i aasumed it ws not a spark problem since the plugs were all dry. I put in a new set and then looked at the new one and it was totally white and the other three were slighlty brown so must have not been getting gas. I am gonna clean the carbs out tonight and hopefully that will fix it.