Need help in Cincinnati

I have spent thousands on this KZ 1000, and have yet to see it run for more than a day. I have a new engine, new harness, rebuilt carbs, etc. It is practically a new bike, but it will not run. I have just replaced the coils with Dyna coils, and replaced the plug wires as well. No spark, no power to the coils. I need to find someone in the Cincinnati area who would be interested in getting this thing running, because I am out of ideas. It seems that there is no one who is capable of doing the job so far.

grubdog wrote: I have spent thousands on this KZ 1000, and have yet to see it run for more than a day. I have a new engine, new harness, rebuilt carbs, etc. It is practically a new bike, but it will not run. I have just replaced the coils with Dyna coils, and replaced the plug wires as well. No spark, no power to the coils. I need to find someone in the Cincinnati area who would be interested in getting this thing running, because I am out of ideas. It seems that there is no one who is capable of doing the job so far.

no power to the coils ---



Would also assure integrity of the ground connection where the negative battery cable attaches to the rear of the engine.

Good Fortune!

I'd do this: Remove the engine mounting bolt where the battery Negative(-) cable goes, take either a wire brush, or medium sandpaper and scuff up the surfaces of the cable terminal and where it goes. Re-attach the engine bolt with the cable, and then check for voltages on Pattons diagram.

A forum member "Black Banshee" had similar problems on his bike, due to paint on the grounding surface of the battery cable.

Thanks, I will get to work on this. Honestly, this bike looks too good to not be running.

If you get desparate I'm about 3 hours north of Cincy.

I am desperate. I have 8K tied up in a bike that wont run. Where are you located?

I live in Cincinnati, I can help you out. Send me a pm so I can get in touch with you. My name is Mark.

Wait till you find out what it was. It will probabby be something really simple and you'll feel like a dumb ass. :laugh:

dshelly wrote: Wait till you find out what it was. It will probabby be something really simple and you'll feel like a dumb ass.

You'll notice the 'Welcome to Planet Medina' about that same time.

grubdog wrote: I am desperate. I have 8K tied up in a bike that wont run. Where are you located?

Nine miles north of Muncie in Indiana, 127 N to 35 N to Muncie where you pick up 3 N, and I live on Highway 3.

If I don't find the problem within two hours I'll give you $50

I didnt realize you was from muncie indiana. I live in ridgeville which is about 25 min from muncie.I run around muncie all the time.

Ignition coil mystery(copied from Kawasaki.org)

I replaced my factory coils with the Dyna coils she ran like a monster until she warmed up! After cleaning the plug wire terminals I realized the coil on the left side which fires 1 & 4 had a small black smudge right where the wire exited the coil terminal.

The plug wire terminal itself (the metal tang) stuck out beyond the end of the coil terminal socket! Long story short, the coil was firing right into the bottom of the tank!" The physical make-up of the Dyna coils is quite different than the factory coils and that alone is enough cause all kinds of problems. Take a look at the ground wire connections from the battery to the engine and make sure they're good and clean. Also make sure the pin connectors for the Regulator and the Igniter are clean and dry.

Mine were holding water! After cleaning and using a bit too much "dielectric" grease on the pin connectors, they held water after washing the bike! Those coils have to be grounded and grounded good on solid steel mounts that are cleanly grounded into the frame. Check the motor mounts and make sure they too are clean and providing optimum frame to motor grounds.

The bike would run great until warming up or a few miles down the road and then start getting that hollow sound like a valve hanging open and roll out of the throttle and she seemed ok, roll on the throttle and intermittent backfires and that hollow sound with little power! I put under all the tests in the shop "with the tank on the bench" and everything kept checking good! Throw the tank on and take her out, and she'd fall right on her face! I fixed the problem permanently this spring by shimming the coils 1/2" in on their mounts using stainless steel washers. And just to make sure, I added 5/16" PVC fuel line insulators to the plug wires where they exit the coils. Any uninsulated or exposed metal protruding beyond the coils plug wire socket terminal is a misfire waiting to happen!

Problems occurring after warm up and after the bike has been run can be quite difficult to nail down! IC Igniters, Regulators, coils, and the pick up coils at the Ignition Advance mechanism can all develop a hairline cracks that allow function when cool and break connection when hot! Static testing cold and hot will reveal the possibility of one of these cracks. Test the coils cold and and after warming them in an oven set at 180 degrees. Test the Igniter the same way but at lower oven temps. If you need the test specs let me know. One of the ways I found my problem was I pulled my #1 plug wire at speed and could see that it wasn’t firing. Now I’m not recommending try this! But if you do, be ready to push it right back on that plug or let that thing go and hit the kill switch! In my case, there was no fire when I knew it was firing when I left the shop.