contact breakers sparking wildly

1979 kz650 c

So here's the thing yesterday after getting carbs fully squared away, decided to advance my timing a bit, so i went to take the oints cover off and a spark popped as i took it off.

i started the bike advanced the timing, runs and sounds great. and i can see sparks from the points sparking but in some cases its jumping all over the place and not staying contained in its place.

i've checked the wires and screws, gaps and cleaned but sparks are flying.

now the interesting thing is the bike will run great when i put the cover on its like the sparks are hitting the cover and the bike starts to run bad and eventually cuts off.

take cover off runs fine.
cover back sparks the cover almost the finger.

but then i get the cover on and now its running fine but i'm sure its still spaking wildly in there.

Any ideas!

See if you can get a "Points File" it's a small flat file designed to dress the high areas on the ignition points and make them parraell(sp) Most auto parts stores used to sell them but now will give you a funny look when you ask.

Check the wiring as one or more wires may have moved touching the cover. Another thought is the condition of the capacitors (or for the Brits in the crowd, the condensors).
They break down from heat and age and can fail stranding you.

I'd look into getting an electronic ignition system and not have to worry about dwell,gap,and timing problems again.

I think Jeff at www.z1enterprises.com can get you a Dyna S cheaper than buying it from Dyna.

the breakers and condensors are new installed them when first got the bike 4 months ago.

it didn't start when i got it, the points cover was broken at the bottom and there was all types of corrosion inside, so i replaced it all. and now sparking i don't think i'm supposed to be seeing the spark so much

On the ignition points, making and breaking the magnetic field to produce a spark to run the engine is normal to see sparking from time to time. It's when the capacitors are failing and the points are burned that worry begins.

Yes Mfolks is right. If no wires are touching the point plate and the contacts on the points are clean and flat. It is the condensors. The condensors job is to stop the points from sparking when the points break. If the motor is "off" and the key is "on" how much does the points spark when you rotate the motor by hand?

Bizzare. points do arc a bit in function, "naturally". to arc to cover, ? wtf. the distance from condencers is less than that to cover which has no ground ? 2 things to check, batt. ground to cases, & acc, ground bl/yel, from batt to chassis. points ground via wiring harness to all. study and understand the stack of washers/insulaters at points/.cond, wiring. the placement of cond, wire in stack has been a freqent prob. G

definitly condensers and hate to tell you this but the points will probably be pitted badly from all the arcing bad enough that you will most likely have to replace those as well the aftermarket condensers are made mostly in the far east now[china,tiawan places like that] so the quality is not the greatest so if i was you i'd just go and get a dyna s ignition and solve your problem once and for all.

If you feel like you can handle some simple wiring modifications you can update to an electronic ignition from one of the small Kaw fours. This ebay seller tinyurl.com/dzuz5e is parting out a 750 from 1980. She has the advancer and pickup coil plate, $9.99 each. All you need next is the ignitor, this one should work, tinyurl.com/bxp5yo

I went this way on my 78, using an advancer/pickups from a 550 or 650, with a 750 ignitor. It works great these last 5 years and hasn't given me any problems. rstnick adapted a 1000 electronic ignition to his 650, so almost anything can work. I think the hardest part was studying wiring diagrams of bikes that used electronic versus my points bike, and then seeing where I had to make wiring changes. It was simpler than it sounds.

So in my wanting to keep a points set up i was able to resolve the issue, basically i reset the points about 8 times
filed the contacts just to be certain, then set and reset. and then voila sparking normally now as they should. advanced the timing a little bit and now she pulls and pulls i'll switch to electronic ignition when i build one for racing, this build is strictly for personality and a little power but not expecting to go for pinks with this one.