Dyna Ignition Systems – Which one is best?

Depends on your setup, usage and preferred results of course.

Personally I'm trying to find out what makes most sense for my '78 KZ650, primarily used for commuting.

Dyna-III
Dyna-S
Dyna-2000

What do you guys think? Pros, cons, etc . . .

Cheers!

the dyna s is good but it doesn't have a built in rev limiter the dyna 2000 does but it's somewhat more expensive. if you don't ride to hard and aren't getting to close to the rev limit the dyna s will be fine and you can always add a single stage rev limiter later. they don't make the dyna 111 anymore. but you still maybe able to get old stock from someone and they are a fine ignition as well.

I originally had a Dyna III and it went out so I replaced with a Dyna S that was given to me with the bike and have had no issues in the last 8 months or so that I've been running it. The majority of my riding is commuting and have had no issues with it at all. When I do get a little squirley I just make sure to keep a close eye on the tach.

What kind of issues/damage will result if you're over-reving too often? Does the rev limiter of the Dyna-2000 literally just limit how fast the plugs can fire?

with old points ignitions if you reved it up to high you would get what is called points bounce it would cause it to fire at the wrong time limiting the rpm you could get out of these motors so not a lot of bad things would happen but these good quality electronic ignitions they will rev way past what the valve springs can handle and it can cause valve springs to break or vibrate uncontrollably which can cause piston to valve interferance(bent valves) the rev limiter shuts down spark to the cylinders at different times allowing for over rev protection.

The Dyna 2000 rev limiter will cut the spark when it hits the limit.

If you over-rev an engine, you run the risk of a piston catching up with a valve as the valve spring cannot return the valve quick enough - not pretty...

Whatever electronic ignition you install, make sure the charging system is healthy. If your regulator is bad, you will push 16-17 volts through the ignition - and that's what kills most electronic ignitions...

Ask yourself this...

What is your true riding style for there lies your answer....

Translation:
Drag racing this bike...
Stop light to stop light first off the line...
Every gear you wind it up to red line...
Always WOT riding style...

Then go with the DYNA 2000 setup for your sure to hit max rev if this is your riding style.

On a nice daily rider, sure rev it up to 6Krpm or even higher but with a nice steady twist of the throttle then the Dyna S will be just fine...

OMR

i have in bikes i own, 2 dyna 111's they have never failed me,5 dyna's same for them no failures and all of them either have drl-200 single stage revlimiters or drl-300(new style single stage rev limiters) or drl-400 two-steps plus on my big drag bike a dyna 4000 sp drag race ignition the only problem i've ever had was with my 4000 sp and dyna fixed it and sent it back no charge and shipping was even paid for great company and they really back there stuff. love them wouldn't trade them. next one one list is one of their new ARC ignitions. for the dragbike when i start playing with nitrous.

I've had a Dyna 3 for 30 years in my 78 KZ650 and it had one failure, went to go to work one morning and it was dead. This was fixed by Dyna under warranty. 2 of the other 650s have Dyna S and they have worked flawlessly, but not that many miles on them. Dyna S is much nicer because no separate black box to mount. If Dyna 2000 has the separate box, to me it's not worth it, you have to find a place to mount it and extra complexity, more chance of trouble. I don't care about a rev limiter on a KZ, I never rev over 6000 RPMs.

How does the WG Ignition Coils mod fit into all of this? If I get a Dyna-S, would I need to bother with the mod? What does the mod do exactly anyways?

mod description found here: www.wgcarbs.com//index.php?option=com_co...view&id=12&Itemid=26

The first few paragraphs describe my current situation to a T. So, I've been thinking about doing the mod. I've also been thinking about getting the Dyna-S. In short, do I do both or just one or the other?

Thanks for all your responses by the way. Very informative stuff.

I've never done the mod and don't care to, but it may be the answer for hard starting. When you push the start button the draw on the battery coupled with voltage drop in the stock wiring out to the coils can be enough to make starting harder than it should be.
However if the thought of Dyna taking care of hard starting, fouled plugs ect by itself is in mind, it won't. Actually the dyna draws near twice the power of the stock points, so any gain in spark will be offset by extra draw on the battery. Others can chime in with their gleeful stories, but I've done 200,000 miles plus on Dyna and my experience is it's fantastic as no more fooling with points, but that's it, no better running, no better starting. Same with hot coils, no change.

Thanks RonKZ650. Good to know.