Engine not turning over. Troubleshooting help.

Hey guys! So I have a 1978 kz650 B that I'm restoring. It looks like the The guy who owned it before me put an electronic stater in it and took out the points plate. I'm under the impression the point and condenser are usually contained inside the electronic starter. I've put a new battery in it and spark plugs and the starter sounds like it's working. It even sounds like the engine is compressing but there is no spark. I almost got it to turn over a few times but I'm wondering what I'm missing. Is it an electrical problem? Any ideas you can give me would be much appreciated!!
This is what the bike sounds like. (Poor quality and dark, sorry!)

Engine is turning over for sure.
So over to question nr 2. Do we have spark?

The guy I bought it from said it needed points and a condenser but the electronic starter is where those usually go so Shouldn't that be working? My only two thoughts are it could be the ignition coils... but I'm new to bike restoration so I'll need to learn more about those, or it could be a wiring issue. The right turn signals and the tail light don't work so something is wired badly. The electronic starter looks like it was wired in hastily too. I wonder if the spark plugs aren't getting any sort of current. Other than those things could it just be the timing? I heard one cylinder fire a few times throughout the night trying to get it started.

Is there a way to see if the spark plugs are sparking?

Wow, No the points and condenser are NOT inside the starter motor but on the right side of the engine under the points cover. The points cover it the one that has "Kawasaki" stamped into it.

Welcome aboard! Sorry guy, but you sound like you are bouncing off the walls. I have 2 recommendations:

1. You need to SLOW DOWN!
2. Before touching the bike again you need to buy the Kawasaki Service Manual for you bike. They usually are available on eBay; just be sure to get one that includes your bike's EXACT year and model as there are serious differences between the various KZ650 years and models. No one has ever regretted buying the manual!

It is obvious from your posting that you are not at all familiar with the bike. That's fine, no one is born with that familiarity. Given that fact, reading the manual will impart the knowledge you need to be able to work on the bike. It is very important that you do things CORRECTLY because making mistakes on a motorcycle can get you seriously hurt.

Buy the manual and read the entire thing cover to cover. You will be amazed at how much you learn about the bike. You will still have questions, and you should ask them here before you do anything to cause a safety problem or possible damage. Folks here are happy to help, but I doubt anyone here would be pleased to try to key in all the information that is already written and accompanied by photos in the manual. Ed

Yup and pics too. Can't help with something we can't see.
Steve

With the key on, see if you have 12V to the positive coil terminal, if so then it could be a trigger problem.

baldy110 wrote: Wow, No the points and condenser are NOT inside the starter motor but on the right side of the engine under the points cover. The points cover it the one that has "Kawasaki" stamped into it.

That's where the starter is.

650ed wrote: Welcome aboard! Sorry guy, but you sound like you are bouncing off the walls. I have 2 recommendations:

1. You need to SLOW DOWN!
2. Before touching the bike again you need to buy the Kawasaki Service Manual for you bike. They usually are available on eBay; just be sure to get one that includes your bike's EXACT year and model as there are serious differences between the various KZ650 years and models. No one has ever regretted buying the manual!

It is obvious from your posting that you are not at all familiar with the bike. That's fine, no one is born with that familiarity. Given that fact, reading the manual will impart the knowledge you need to be able to work on the bike. It is very important that you do things CORRECTLY because making mistakes on a motorcycle can get you seriously hurt.

Buy the manual and read the entire thing cover to cover. You will be amazed at how much you learn about the bike. You will still have questions, and you should ask them here before you do anything to cause a safety problem or possible damage. Folks here are happy to help, but I doubt anyone here would be pleased to try to key in all the information that is already written and accompanied by photos in the manual. Ed

Ha Ha! You are right I should slow down I'm excited about the bike is all. I actually have the OEM manual and a 3rd party repair manual that I haven't had time to read through yet but when I'm working on the bike I look things up. I'll take your advice and read through it so I can get more familiar with the bike. And I'll post some pictures so y'all can see.

This is the bike as it currently looks. She needs some love but she'll be a beauty when I'm done.




This is where the "Kawasaki" logo is stamped on the right side. The points and condenser should be here but there is an electronic starter here. I took it out for the sake of documenting my progress. You can see the actual starter in there in an my earlier post.





These are confusing to me. These are behind that starter. They look like points, but they don't look like the OEM points. Help?

So what you are calling the starter is actually the electronic ignition module, that explains a few things.