Should I have a digital ignition installed?

I have had several 81 up big bore bikes and they all have pinging under load at lower rpms. Some of it is jetting and some all the other stuff mentioned. I never got it to completly go away. I like the idea of the Dyna 2000. You will be able to adjust it to where it goes away. Maybe alot to spend on a 30 year old bike but if you like riding it why not. I dont think it will make the bike faster.
If the bike has a stock exhaust you would be pleased with the performance increase from a 4 into 1 header. Keep the air box on and buy a jet kit.
Tom

OK thanks that's what I was wondering, I guess I was expecting a lot more acceleration than it's actually capable of. I do like it, and it is one of the quickest 1980's bikes that were made. I'm a big fan of the 1980's style bikes, and they can be bought cheap, which is an added bonus. I don't like to downshift much when I accelerate, so an upgraded ignition may be a good idea for me.

etbike3135 wrote: I have had several 81 up big bore bikes and they all have pinging under load at lower rpms. Some of it is jetting and some all the other stuff mentioned. I never got it to completly go away. I like the idea of the Dyna 2000. You will be able to adjust it to where it goes away. Maybe alot to spend on a 30 year old bike but if you like riding it why not. I dont think it will make the bike faster.
If the bike has a stock exhaust you would be pleased with the performance increase from a 4 into 1 header. Keep the air box on and buy a jet kit.
Tom

Well, there are several factors at work here.
First is initial advance.
Second is final advance.
Third is the advance curve, or how it advances as the rpm increases.
In an ideal world you would want control over all three, and I am not certain that the Dyna 2000 gives you all three.
It would be cheaper to just downshift into the proper gear when you choose to accelerate. And more fun, in my book. But that's just me.

chiaronate wrote: 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?

Your bike may not be running as well as it should, but if you're putt putt putting around at very low rpm you shouldn't expect breakneck acceleration. Take a look near the front of your Kawasaki Service Manual and you should find the Engine Performance Curves. They will give you a good indication of what to expect at different rpm. Here's an example for the KZ650; obviously yours will be different, but you will probably find that power comes on with greater rpm until you approach redline. Ed

I realize I get more horsepower/torque as rpm increases, but I thought it would have more mid-range at 4-5000rpm, and without tons of detonation. That's good to know about the performance chart, is it in the Kawasaki manual? It will be about a few weeks before I get mine in the mail that I ordered.

I'd open up the right handlebar switch pod & inspect the start and run/stop switches for crumbled solder connections, as these older bikes are starting to suffer failed/failing joints. Now would be the time to give the switches a squirt of the De-Oxit(turn them off and on, to spread the preservative/cleaner).

Do the left handlebar switch pod the same, as it has high/low beam and horn controls.

As for the question of ignition wiring in the headlight? Not to my knowledge, are any circuits there, except the wiring for the clutch interlock start switch. You've got the ignition coils under the tank, and if your bike has electronic ignition, the pickup coils are behind a CD sized right engine cover, with the IC Igniter(it actually give the ignition coils their grounds, firing the sparkplugs).

See if your bike is in this manual:
www.kawiworld.com/index.php?option=com_c...icle&id=77&Itemid=99

Ok it's been a long time since I posted on here, but I finally got the work done. The "detonation" was not detonation, but actually two tight valves. I had the valves serviced and that took care of that problem. Acceleration is nice, but I'd still like more. The local shop can install a 1260 kit that will give it about 40 more horsepower. I just may have that done over the Winter.

chiaronate wrote: Ok it's been a long time since I posted on here, but I finally got the work done. The "detonation" was not detonation, but actually two tight valves. I had the valves serviced and that took care of that problem. Acceleration is nice, but I'd still like more. The local shop can install a 1260 kit that will give it about 40 more horsepower. I just may have that done over the Winter.

40 MORE HORSEPOWER?? :S

WOW! I would get that guaranteed in writing with the understanding that if bumping your KZ1100 from 1082cc to 1260cc didn't boost the hp from 108 to 148 the shop would do the work for free! Put the bike on the dyno before and after the change. 40 hp sounds like an awful lot of gain for only a 16% increase in displacement; I would expect the gain to be something closer to 20hp. Are they adding nitrous oxide or a turbo? Ed

I thought it sounded like a lot also. They build drag bikes, there's a picture on the wall that was built there which gets into the 5's. The guy I spoke with is a big kz fan. That 40 horsepower does not include nitrous, I don't know how they do it.

He actually said about 40 more horsepower at the wheel if that makes any difference.

chiaronate wrote: He actually said about 40 more horsepower at the wheel if that makes any difference.

That's even more difficult to imagine. It would take roughly a 47hp gain at the crankshaft to gain 40 hp at the rear wheel. Ed