coil amperage

Bike was missing at idle and high speed. Was the skinny wire that feeds the coils. I had it direct to the batt. through a relay for awhile. Don't know why I changed back. That skinny little wire is not enough. The coil mod is nessessary for some bikes, mines a 76 kz900. Picked up around 3000hp and it just keeps getting better! Throttle response is fun! Wide open throttle it's a blitz. I don't think my bike is supposed to be so quick. It doesn't make sense. But neither do I! Perfect match once again. If ya go around telling people the coil mod is a farce, your goin to jail! Hold off on that 401k and leave the carbs alone. If anyone doesn't believe in the mod, let me stop by and install kawasaki's skinny wire to inspire you with confidence.

What comes with the motorcycles from the factory is about 18 gauge in size going to the ignition coils. If you increase the size of the wire to 14 gauge, the current/voltage will flow better.

Some riders have gone to 12 gauge for ignition coil wiring after doing the ignition coil bypass wiring.

American Wire Gauge(AWG) is backwards to what people think, that is, 18 gauge is larger in number than 14 gauge or 12 gauge is but smaller in conductor size.

nads.com wrote:

Picked up around 3000hp and it just keeps getting better! Throttle response is fun! Wide open throttle it's a blitz. I don't think my bike is supposed to be so quick. It doesn't make sense. .

Now that's quite an increase in power, well worth the little bit of effort involved in replacing the primary wires

If you see some kind of massive improvement with the "MOD", it just means something in the wiring needed fixing like the ignition switch, harness connectors, fuse holders, etc.

It also may be that the coil is weak and arcing across some windings so it puts out less than stock voltage, and increasing the voltage to it's terminal raises the output a bit. Kind of like taking a bigger whip to a tired mule.


The "MOD" basically bypasses the real problem which is sort of a fix, but it certainly does not prove the stock wiring is no good. Mine has worked fine for 31 years.

bountyhunter wrote:

If you see some kind of massive improvement with the "MOD", it just means something in the wiring needed fixing like the ignition switch, harness connectors, fuse holders, etc...The "MOD" basically bypasses the real problem which is sort of a fix....

Would suggest checking the voltage supplied to coil primary terminals (ignition switch ON), and compare it to voltage measured across the battery terminals.

Ideally, there should be no drop in voltage between battery and coil.

I concur with bountyhunter that something in the wiring needed fixing like the ignition switch, harness connectors, fuse holders, etc. . And would include internal workings of the kill switch (off-run-off switch).

Typically, voltage from battery runs to ignition switch, then to kill switch, then to coils. See example in image below.

Good Fortune!

[Click on image to enlarge view.]

Ah it is fun to see someone getting off on their Kawasaki performing like a Kawasaki, even if it is due to ignoring a problem... chuckle I love it.. did none of you guys tell em what a 900 was really like.. wooooohoooo! Hang ON!! :woohoo:

Capt America wrote:

Ah it is fun to see someone getting off on their Kawasaki performing like a Kawasaki, even if it is due to ignoring a problem... chuckle I love it.. did none of you guys tell em what a 900 was really like.. wooooohoooo! Hang ON!! :woohoo:

Apparently you are not familiar with our Mr. nads.com's inimitable writing style and descriptive abilities. It gets better

If you measure the voltage drops along the way to the coil, you will likely find the worst offenders are connector devices not wire drop. Ignition switch, kill switch, harness connector, fuse connections. Any mechanical device that has electrical contacts is always the worst for voltage drop because the contacts oxidize with age.