Convert 77 750 twin to electronic ignition

My buddy has a 77 twin and yesterday when we went for a ride he had a heck of a time starting it. Reminded me of my 650 before I put a Dyna ignition and did the coil repower mod. What all is involved in switching it over and is it possible to get new parts and where to get them?

He can use the electronic ignition off the 82-83 KZ750 twins, if he can find the parts, or he can use the KZ440 electronic ignition on his 750 twin.

I have done it both ways.

Yep, now that Newtronic has been bought by Autocar, they aren't manufacturing their Electronic ignition for 750 twins anymore, but you still might find them out there somewhere.

Dyna does not make them for this bike. One guy on this other forum has touted his way of usinf half of a Dyna S (which has/needs no seperate brain unit) for his twin.

Boyer-Bransden was contacted by some other people at a different forum and they said you could build one out of their parts.

Then of course, like steell mentioned, there's the later twin's electronic ignition from Kawasaki.

Personally, I have done the coil power mod *and* replaced the coil on all my bikes. One of my 750s has points and the other has a Newtronic. Personally, I think the coil power mod and the new coil made the biggest difference. The points are fine once the others are replaced....

Another option is one I installed on a 400 twin earlier this year. I put in brand new points and used them to trigger an HEI ignition module. This is sort of a "poor man's ignition", but it eliminates arcing at the points and makes the spark a lot more consistent. It also allows the use of a hotter coil.

It eliminates the condenser (which costs more than the points), but if you keep it, you can wire in a switch to convert back to normal points use, in case the ignitor fails.

The points should last 100,000 miles with this mod, as long as the moving parts are kept oiled, and the cam is smooth and lubed.

Here's the write up:
www.geocities.com/loudgpz/GPZheiModForPoints.html

I'm waiting for some more miles on the bike to report any failures, but so far there are none.

Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2007/08/27 13:39