Wierd ignition mod - Why would you do this?

Great picture. I didn't know I had an upgrade. Still can't believe the hack job done on it. Everything is jury rigged and wrapped with a ton of electrical tape on the top end so I thought I had a real problem on my hands.

trianglelaguna wrote: ....the right thing for the p.o would have been clean male females and like colored gauge wires imo

That will happen now. Time to make the ugly go away and neaten it up.
Thanks for the quick replies folks.

Final comment - I pulled about three feet of electrical tape off each connection to find the original fittings still in place! It seems like routing the line correctly would have been a lot simpler than all the trouble he went to.

I've seen wire nuts used, and sometimes just wires with the insulation removed, twisted together and wrappped with at least a roll of the sticky black electrical tape.

When I do electrical wiring modification on my bike, it's using heatshrink tubing,heatshrink crimp splices(or butt conectors) and non sticky harness/loom tape.

If anyone needs websites to obtain these items & tools, drop me a PM.

Ok folks, help me out again. After several months of teardown and slow reassembly, I'm finally to the point of getting the wiring back in. Not only does this bike have the upgraded Dyna, it also has the Dyna dual output 3.0 ohm coils. Do these coils have a specific ground or can the ground be hooked up to either side? The service manual tells me which color wiring for each coil, but nothing specific about the ground side. I'm assuming since there isn't any markings on the coil to indicate a specific terminal for ground that it doesn't matter. I don't like assuming though and would rather know for sure. Thanks for your help.

Make sure both ignition coils have the same terminal for the Red wire, this supplies the power to the coils from the run/stop switch.

Kawasaki's original wiring is like this:

Ignition Coil Primary And Secondary Wiring

Ignition coils on the 80’s Kz1000,Kz1100’s and Gpz1100’s are wired the same, that is as you sit on the bike, the LEFT ignition coil primary(small wires) are two wires, RED and BLACK. The secondary (or sparkplug wires) go to #1 and #4 sparkplugs(your primary wiring may be different).

The cylinders are numbered left to right as you sit on the seat; #1,#2,#3, and #4.

For the RIGHT ignition coil, the primary wires, again are two wires, RED and GREEN, with the secondary going to #2 and #3.

The RED wire gets it’s voltage from the run/stop switch on the right handlebar switch pod.

The BLACK and GREEN wires connect to the IC Igniter(if the bike has the Kawasaki supplied electronic ignition) it actually gives the coils their grounds to fire the sparkplugs.

Primary(small wires) side of the coils will read between 1.8 to 3.0 ohms.

Secondary(sparkplug wire ports)side of the coil will read between 10.4K to 15.6K ohms. These ports are wired together, so it makes no difference which is used, as long as the correct coil to sparkplug configuration is followed.

The sparkplug caps should read 5K OHMS, any higher, or a reading of infinity means new caps should be ordered.

To stress the ignition coils, take a hair dryer, heat the coils and see if the ohm readings change from cold to hot . If they do, it’s time to buy new coils.

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Keep in mind, the wiring is reversed for the 550’s 650‘s and 750‘s, that is the RIGHT coil primary will be two wires, RED and BLACK with the secondary(sparkplugs) going to #1 and #4.

The LEFT coils primary wiring would be again two wires, RED and GREEN, with the secondary(sparkplugs) going to #2 and #3.

These engines have what is known as a “Wasted Spark” that is, a sparkplug will fire during an exhaust stroke. It does no damage and many other motorcycle engines have this design.

The Dyna wiring color may not match up with the Kawasaki color diagram, but it shouldn't be hard to figure out.

KZCM wrote: ...Dyna dual output 3.0 ohm coils. Do these coils have a specific ground or can the ground be hooked up to either side? The service manual tells me which color wiring for each coil, but nothing specific about the ground side. I'm assuming since there isn't any markings on the coil to indicate a specific terminal for ground that it doesn't matter. I don't like assuming though and would rather know for sure. Thanks for your help.

Your assumption is correct.

As to each coil--
The terminals are at ends of primary winding.
Either wire may connect to either terminal.
It doesn't matter which way current flows through the primary winding.
One wire inputs battery++, and the other wire connects to the pickup module where it's repeatedly grounded (coil charges) and ungrounded (coil fires).

Good Fortune!