I need the WISDOM of the Old Timers but Young at Heart KZ750B

Today i was on my 77 KZ750 Twin. I decided to make it a kick start bike only when the starter clutch started slipping. Just stopped using the electric start and kick it.

So today while riding the bike at 60MPH, it just slowly stopped accelerating and came to a stop.

Tried to kick it, nothing. Tried to use the starter and it sounded like it tried to turn over (sometimes it still does) but it didnt. Had to call a tow. While I was waiting for the tow, I noticed the igniton coil and fallen from ty straps I had holding it on to the frame (something I will never do again). I recently changed the ignition coil and didnt properly Fix it back.

The tow guy loved the old KZs and learned on a 400. He said "i bet you blew a fuse. Its no big deal" I told him the bike TRIES to turn over so how could a fuse be blown? And what fuse could have been blownby the igniton coil fall (if thats even the problem).

Any ideas? I have to travel for work tomorrow and wont be able to get to the bike until Tuesday , but want to hear what you think?

And could a failing clutch cause this (the bike still goes in gear easy. when the bikes stopped, it felt like a power problem).

Could be a dead cell in the battery.

I'll check, but the battery is good. Lithium. Wouldnt the dangling Ignition coil be a prime suspect? On the version i have, there's this little metal hoop on the wide that looks like a screw goes through it. Its connected to the black and yellow wires. That was loose.

Yes, loose coil and loose ground wire can also be the problem.

Thanks so much for your guidance. I will take a photo of it this week (the wire that is loose with the hole for a bolt) and show you. Will also check the fuses.

A black wire and yellow wire?

or a black wire with yellow stripe?
 

the black and yellow spade into the coil. On on of those wires is a thin metal "O" that looks like a bolt goes through it. Its loose with no bolt. Thats the best way I can describe it. Tomorrow I will take a pic of it.

Hmmmmm
I only see a red/yellow wire and a blue wire going to the coil.
The red/yellow is the 12v positive going into the coil
The blue wire goes to the points.
I'll wait for the photo tomorrow.

photo: filebase Patton

If it just "tries" to turn over it's more likely battery voltage.
Many lithium batteries don't get on with the fluctuating charging systems on these older machines and soon suffer from cell failure.
Been there done that and reverted back to plain flooded acid or AGM batteries because of this very issue.
If it were a coil etc it wouldn't affect the cranking speed and a shorting coil would cause sporadic cutting out or sudden power loss and not a gradual loss of acceleration which is more indicitve of declining power from the battery.
 

if it slowly stopped accelerating, wouldn't that point to fuel starvation? Or did it just cut out suddenly.

wrote:

if it slowly stopped accelerating, wouldn't that point to fuel starvation? .

It could be a result of insufficient fuel but then it wouldn't affect the bikes cranking.
He says the bike slowly died but then only TRIES to turn over which would imply a low battery whether it be caused by an incompatible battery/charging combination or dead short from the coil .
The coil short pulling the battery down is less likely as it should have blown the fuse first.
Assuming that the symptoms and surrounding circumstances have been described correctly that would be the logical assumption.

 

Battery conditioners for acid/agm batteries have the "smart" element in the charger. Lithium chargers do not have this and just pump power regardless. Lithium batteries have the "smart" element in the battery.
​​​​​​The charging system on these old bike is pretty crude and fluctuates the power supply and confuses the lithium "smart" circuit and will fry the battery in pretty short order. 
If you want to use a lithium battery you need to upgrade and modernise the voltage regulation circuits of the bikes system.