Should I have a digital ignition installed?

It's definitely something I would have someone else do. I have been thinking about cleaning the electrical connections with electronic parts cleaner, or maybe wd-40 or whatever. I'd be interested to see if that makes any improvement.

daveo wrote: The Dyna 2000 installation on the KZ1100-A2 was not too difficult, though a dedicated effort was necessary. I used adhesive-back velcro to hold the brain on the rear inner-fender, and had to rig something up to attach the Mini-coils.
The Dynatek 2000 instructions are systematic and easy to understand, like they were put together by someone who actually did an installation, and excellent tech assistance is available over the phone too.

DO NOT clean electrical connectors with WD-40 as it will end up causing a problem! Use Deoxit or some other product specifically made for that purpose. Ed

Study the electrical (ignition) section in the service manual you ordered. After a short while, you will wonder how you survived without that book. Hopefully you will be able to resolve the issue without spending a pile of money.

OK thanks Ed, I was actually thinking of using dielectric grease. I didn't know wd or anything similar would do any harm. I do prefer a type of grease because it is longer-lasting.

650ed wrote: DO NOT clean electrical connectors with WD-40 as it will end up causing a problem! Use Deoxit or some other product specifically made for that purpose. Ed

Hopefully, but I wouldn't count on it..things usually aren't that simple. It will be a few weeks before I get that manual, it's coming from New Zealand. I'll just look around and see if anything looks dirty or corroded.

daveo wrote: Study the electrical (ignition) section in the service manual you ordered. After a short while, you will wonder how you survived without that book. Hopefully you will be able to resolve the issue without spending a pile of money.

OK I don't have dielectric grease, so I put petroleum jelly on pretty much every electrical connection I could find. nothing looked really bad. I didn't start it yet because I don't like to do that unless I'm going for a ride.

OK I finally looked at the plugs, they have a dull black coating. From what I've been reading online this is caused by running rich?

Check the input voltage to the ignition coils, it should be the same as battery voltage, if down around 8 volts or less, it's time to clean the many and various electrical connectors and switches.

Then using the multimeter set on ohms, unscrew the sparkplug caps from the sparkplug wires, looking for 5000 ohms. These caps fail due to heat, vibration, and age. If you find one or more out of measurement range, replace all 4 caps. When installing new caps, cut about 1/4" off the end of the sparkplug wire for a better connection.

Cleaning Motorcycle Electrics

Get some of the De-Oxit DN5 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, and can be purchased at most electronic supply stores.

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 DN5 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 response 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 DN5 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.........

Re: Cleaning the many and various Motorcycle electrics

I used the De-oxit D-5 spray on all the electrical connections of my 78 Kz1000 that had sat for twenty years .

When I parked the bike in 92 I was starting to have troubles with some of the electrical system, but after pulling everything apart and giving it a spray , reconnecting the connectors and working them back and forth a few times, then gave them another shot of spray to wash them off before the final reconnection.

Everything still works perfectly and has for over 7000 miles this year.

I am extremely happy with the results , a lot of the connectors were green when I started and after the cleaning they looked new ( shiny gold )

I found the Deoxit D-series, D-5 spray in a 4 oz can at a big electronics store called Frys in Illinois, don't get the small cans at Radio Shack , they are different and meant for computer type stuff.

store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f

Trust MFolks , the guy's a true rocket scientist and really knows what he's talking about.
JD



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" DN5 from Radio Shack Stores or any good electronic supply store.

Thanks MFolks, that sounds like a lot of cleaning. I just got back from a ride and it took about half the time to do a cold start with the new plugs. I'm wondering if new plug wires would be in order? I'm still getting a lot of detonation in 4th and 5th gear. I may just have that dynatek ignition installed along with plug wires and coils. I don't know what to compare it to, but it really seems underpowered from what I was expecting. If I accelerate full throttle in first gear I don't get any tire spin. I'm thinking this isn't normal for a 100hp motorcycle?

It is a lot of cleaning. Remember, you have a 30 year old motorcycle that probably needs 20 years of maintenance. I just picked up a can of Deoxit from eBay for $14 delivered. Deoxit link
Going to town when it arrives.

Are any ignition-related connections in the headlight assembly? Everything else seems like it's working well, I just want the get the ignition working right before doing anything else.