No spark.

Yep, those are what we call the pickup coils, Kawasaki calls them pulsing coils, they tell the IC igniter to turn on and off generating the spark or the plugs. They can fail from age and engine heat.

If you've not removed the pickup coils or changed the magnetic polarity, you're probably good, but read this:

home.comcast.net/~loudgpz/GPZweb/Ignitio.../PickupAndRotor.html

Just went out to check the pickup coils before it started thundering out. On the Black and Blue wires I got 467 OHMS. On the Red/Yellow wires I got 450 OHMS. Doesn't really look like those might be the problem. Maybe a bad ground somewhere is the problem.

Yup, that's the factory electronic ignition. As long as it works, it's better than the Dyna S, so I'd stick with it.

The way it works is the coils get power from the kill switch on the yellow/red wire, then one coil coil has a black wire that gets switched to ground through the igniter, and the other coil has a green wire that gets switched to ground through the igniter. When everything is hooked up and switched on, the coils will show 12v on both of the small wire connections. The igniter then switches the ground side (black wire and green wire) on and off as the crank turns.

The black/yellow on the igniter is ground. The skinny wires on the igniter go to the pickups. There will be very little, if any, voltage on those wires.

When the bike is switched on, but not running, the other three heavy wires will have 12v on them (assuming everything is hooked up correctly). When the bike is actually running, the heavy black wire, and heavy green wire will alternate between 12v and pulses of 0v, but the pulses will be too short to measure, so they will appear to simply have some lower voltage on them.

If the igniter goes belly up, you can make one for about $35. Check the HEI link in my signature.

That coil in the first photo is not a KZ coil, but loks like one of the cheap, unreliable, aftermarket ones. You may want to get new coils if you want thebike to be reliable. The ones to get for your bike are the gray Dyna 2.2 ohm coils.

Also, it should not matter if the igniter is touching the frame or not. If that's the case, the igniter may be bad.

You can test for spark without cranking the motor. Just tap a screwdriver between the pickup and the rotor.

Never test for spark without having the plugs in the wires and grounded. If you make it impossible for the sparks to jump to the motor, you can fry a coil or igniter.

I use these when testing for spark:

Ignition Systems Testers
www.lislecorp.com/divisions/products/?pr...ivision=1&category=8
www.lislecorp.com/divisions/products/?pr...ivision=1&category=8

loudhvx wrote: Yup, that's the factory electronic ignition. As long as it works, it's better than the Dyna S, so I'd stick with it.

The way it works is the coils get power from the kill switch on the yellow/red wire, then one coil coil has a black wire that gets switched to ground through the igniter, and the other coil has a green wire that gets switched to ground through the igniter. When everything is hooked up and switched on, the coils will show 12v on both of the small wire connections. The igniter then switches the ground side (black wire and green wire) on and off as the crank turns.

The black/yellow on the igniter is ground. The skinny wires on the igniter go to the pickups. There will be very little, if any, voltage on those wires.

When the bike is switched on, but not running, the other three heavy wires will have 12v on them (assuming everything is hooked up correctly). When the bike is actually running, the heavy black wire, and heavy green wire will alternate between 12v and pulses of 0v, but the pulses will be too short to measure, so they will appear to simply have some lower voltage on them.

If the igniter goes belly up, you can make one for about $35. Check the HEI link in my signature.

That coil in the first photo is not a KZ coil, but loks like one of the cheap, unreliable, aftermarket ones. You may want to get new coils if you want thebike to be reliable. The ones to get for your bike are the gray Dyna 2.2 ohm coils.

I replaced the cheap looking coil with the original one that came with the bike. The previous owner gave it to me when I bought it because he had an issue that he thought was caused by a bad coil, so he replaced the coil he thought was bad and still had the issue so he held on to the old coil. Still cant seem to find the notebook I wrote down the readings I got from the coils in, so I'll probably go out and take all new readings. With my luck this whole problem is probably being caused by one small issue that will take forever to find and be repaired easily, or something that ill be real expensive to fix haha.

Your bike may benefit by doing this:

Cleaning Motorcycle Electrics

Get some of the De-Oxit electrical contact cleaner and figure on spending a good day going from the front of the bike to the back. It’s a plastic safe cleaner/preservative. www.deoxit.com is their website.

On the older Kawasaki's, a majority of electrical connectors are inside the headlight housing requiring removal of the headlight, then the fun begins.

Do one set of electrical connectors at a time to avoid mixing up what connects to where. Usually disconnecting, spraying with De-Oxit and reconnecting is about all you'll need.

However, when encountering the green crud of corrosion, a brass wire brush may be needed on the pins you can reach.
Some 400-600 grit wet and dry sandpaper strips rolled into a tube should reach the male and female pins in the more difficult to clean connectors.

Smoker’s pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and wooden toothpicks work as cleaning aids.

Really small electrical connectors may require the use of a welders tip cleaning tool assortment.

Most pins in the connectors are coated with a thin plating of tin, and others may be nothing more than copper or brass.

If moisture is added, the resulting corrosion lowers the voltage/current being carried causing dim lights, slow engine cranking, slow turn signal responce and lower input voltage to the ignition coils resulting in weak spark.

The left and right handlebar switch pods will need attention too as they have circuit functions like turn, horn, run/stop, and start.

Usually a spritz or two with actuation of the switch is about all needed for these switches unless corrosion is detected and then careful disassembly is required.

The ignition switch may or may be not sealed to allow spraying the internal contacts. I urge caution if attempting to open this up as springs, and ball bearings may fly out never to be seen again!

If your bike has the older style glass tubed fuses, I suggest replacing them as vibration can cause internal failure. AGX is the type used, and most auto parts stores can get them for you.

Clean the fuse holder clips, looking for signs of overheating(discolored insulation, signs of melting).
I use metal polish on a cotton swab, followed by spraying another clean swab with the De-Oxit and then rubbing the inside of the fuse clip.

All battery cables must be clean and tight for maximum current transfer. Check the cables going from the Negative(-) battery terminal/post to the engine mounting bolt

Also the one going from the Positive(+) terminal to the starter solenoid and from there to the starter motor.

If any battery cable feels ”Crunchy” when flexed, replace it as possible corrosion is inside the insulation.

Each "Bullet Connector" will have to be sprayed to ensure good connectivity, especially the ones going to the energizing coil of the starter solenoid.

The alternator output “Bullet Connectors” are usually behind the engine sprocket cover and will need inspecting and cleaning too.

The turn signal light sockets will benefit from a spritz from the contact cleaner along with the tail light/brake light socket.

Some brake light switches can be sprayed on the actuating rod, with the spray running down inside to the electrical contacts, others may be sealed requiring replacement if the switch is intermittent in operation.

Some people put the Di-Electric Grease on cleaned terminations/connectors, I don’t, as I’ve read/heard it can cause problems when it gets hot, actually insulating the connections, so the choice is yours to use or not.

I think I've covered about all of the electrical systems on the bike.........






Why WD-40 Should Not Be Used On Motorcycle Electrical Items.

For many years, I was proponent of the use of WD-40 on fuse clips, fuses, switches and connectors. After hearing of other peoples experience with intermittent and sporadic activity, I shrugged it off as maybe they did something wrong in the application of the product.


It wasn’t until the time I rode my 1982 GPz1100 B2 model to downtown San Diego that I encountered the problems others had gone through.

After concluding my business downtown, I walked to where my bike was parked, turned the key to unlock the forks, and prepared to start the engine. The key was in the "On" position, yet I had no lights in the dash panel, the fuel pump was not running(I have FI), and the horn and tail light were not working.

Puzzled as to why nothing electrical was happening, I remember my earlier conversations about how WD-40 will over time become a non-conductor(more like an insulator). I had some pieces of 400 and 600 grit sandpaper in my tool kit and with them was able to scratch away the coating from the WD-40 on the fuses and clips.

After removing the insulating film, the bike started and ran like it should. Since that time, I’ve told people about the problem with WD-40. If you must use a contact cleaner, I recommend getting some "De-oxit" from Radio Shack Stores or any good electronic supply store.

MFolks wrote: Your bike may benefit by doing this:

Cleaning Motorcycle Electrics

Get some of the De-Oxit electrical contact cleaner and figure on spending a good day going from the front of the bike to the back. It’s a plastic safe cleaner/preservative. www.deoxit.com is their website.

On the older Kawasaki's, a majority of electrical connectors are inside the headlight housing requiring removal of the headlight, then the fun begins.

Do one set of electrical connectors at a time to avoid mixing up what connects to where. Usually disconnecting, spraying with De-Oxit and reconnecting is about all you'll need.

However, when encountering the green crud of corrosion, a brass wire brush may be needed on the pins you can reach.
Some 400-600 grit wet and dry sandpaper strips rolled into a tube should reach the male and female pins in the more difficult to clean connectors.

Smoker’s pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and wooden toothpicks work as cleaning aids.

Really small electrical connectors may require the use of a welders tip cleaning tool assortment.

Most pins in the connectors are coated with a thin plating of tin, and others may be nothing more than copper or brass.

If moisture is added, the resulting corrosion lowers the voltage/current being carried causing dim lights, slow engine cranking, slow turn signal responce and lower input voltage to the ignition coils resulting in weak spark.

The left and right handlebar switch pods will need attention too as they have circuit functions like turn, horn, run/stop, and start.

Usually a spritz or two with actuation of the switch is about all needed for these switches unless corrosion is detected and then careful disassembly is required.

The ignition switch may or may be not sealed to allow spraying the internal contacts. I urge caution if attempting to open this up as springs, and ball bearings may fly out never to be seen again!

If your bike has the older style glass tubed fuses, I suggest replacing them as vibration can cause internal failure. AGX is the type used, and most auto parts stores can get them for you.

Clean the fuse holder clips, looking for signs of overheating(discolored insulation, signs of melting).
I use metal polish on a cotton swab, followed by spraying another clean swab with the De-Oxit and then rubbing the inside of the fuse clip.

All battery cables must be clean and tight for maximum current transfer. Check the cables going from the Negative(-) battery terminal/post to the engine mounting bolt

Also the one going from the Positive(+) terminal to the starter solenoid and from there to the starter motor.

If any battery cable feels ”Crunchy” when flexed, replace it as possible corrosion is inside the insulation.

Each "Bullet Connector" will have to be sprayed to ensure good connectivity, especially the ones going to the energizing coil of the starter solenoid.

The alternator output “Bullet Connectors” are usually behind the engine sprocket cover and will need inspecting and cleaning too.

The turn signal light sockets will benefit from a spritz from the contact cleaner along with the tail light/brake light socket.

Some brake light switches can be sprayed on the actuating rod, with the spray running down inside to the electrical contacts, others may be sealed requiring replacement if the switch is intermittent in operation.

Some people put the Di-Electric Grease on cleaned terminations/connectors, I don’t, as I’ve read/heard it can cause problems when it gets hot, actually insulating the connections, so the choice is yours to use or not.

I think I've covered about all of the electrical systems on the bike.........






Why WD-40 Should Not Be Used On Motorcycle Electrical Items.

For many years, I was proponent of the use of WD-40 on fuse clips, fuses, switches and connectors. After hearing of other peoples experience with intermittent and sporadic activity, I shrugged it off as maybe they did something wrong in the application of the product.


It wasn’t until the time I rode my 1982 GPz1100 B2 model to downtown San Diego that I encountered the problems others had gone through.

After concluding my business downtown, I walked to where my bike was parked, turned the key to unlock the forks, and prepared to start the engine. The key was in the "On" position, yet I had no lights in the dash panel, the fuel pump was not running(I have FI), and the horn and tail light were not working.

Puzzled as to why nothing electrical was happening, I remember my earlier conversations about how WD-40 will over time become a non-conductor(more like an insulator). I had some pieces of 400 and 600 grit sandpaper in my tool kit and with them was able to scratch away the coating from the WD-40 on the fuses and clips.

After removing the insulating film, the bike started and ran like it should. Since that time, I’ve told people about the problem with WD-40. If you must use a contact cleaner, I recommend getting some "De-oxit" from Radio Shack Stores or any good electronic supply store.

I've been going through the connections and cleaning them out with an electrical cleaner I picked up at a local hardware store. We've also had to replace a few bullet connectors. One coming from the main fuze was a melted and corroded mess and was causing the main fuse to overheat and melt the plastic behind it. After fixing that the fuse stopped overheating.

I just got back in from testing the coils again. With the meter set to 200 I got 2.7 OHMS from the black/red and black/green leads, but I wasn't getting any reading from the caps on any setting. I even took the wires off to see if I could maybe get a reading right from where they go into the coil and got nothing.