Coil swap question???

Hello all, new to this forum.
I just picked up an 81 kz550 ltd.
can anyone tell me if the coils from an 83 kz550 are a direct swap with 81?
Here's the bike by the way.

It appears that your 81 has an electronic ignition, in which case it should be a direct swap.

If you're planning on buying used stock coils, keep in mind that they are 30 years old. New aftermarket are available.

The Dyna green coils are an excellent upgrade, and yield a hotter spark. At a price, of course.

koolaid_kid wrote: The Dyna green coils are an excellent upgrade, and yield a hotter spark. At a price, of course.

go green all the way..cool looking bobber. hows the ride??

Rides rough.
No shocks.
Found some coils off of an 83 that was running and is being parted out.
Cools and wires both for $30.
If those don't work then I'm gonna replace the ignitor.
Yeah I want to upgrade to all new electrics but first I just want it running again.
I'll upgrade next winter probably, I have a xs650 chop in workin on too and most of my extra cash goes to it.
Here it is:

I'm actually thinking about taking all the wiring out and rewiring it bare bones.
Any body got a link to a bare bones diagram for these?
Just headlight, taillight, and brake light.
And ignition of course.

There are primary & secondary resistance checks outlined in the manual for testing the coils. However, a coil can test fine cold but still be defective, particularly under load. My stock coils tested fine w all values within spec, but they were getting very hot - I guess from internal shorts or something?

Igniter. There is a series of checks for the igniter as well. I would do those before buying another used part. If you don't have a multimeter, a VC97 digital meter is a good & inexpensive tool to have.

Can you do a walk through on how to test that ignitor?

Also, I appear to have an oil leak.
It looks like its coming from some bolt under the motor.
It's not where the filter is or where the drain plug is.
It's something that has wires connected to it.
What is this thing?
Oil pressure sensor maybe?

You can build a brand new igniter for relatively cheap, if you are so inclined. The link is in my signature.

Good looking frame. I don't think I could go hardtail, but I like the way they look.

The last picture is the frame for my Yamaha.
It's been a ground up build.
The kz is in the first post.
I really just want to get this kz runnin ASAP so that I've got something to ride.
Once the Yamaha is done I'll concentrate on upgrading the kz.