Testing Coils

On the BMW forum I frequent we have had the same story and I have taken to saying electronic ignition so as to distinguish from points or Magneto but many of the bunch there still missuse the term CDI.

"...did not do a very good job of designing the ignition system on the Z1300s. It is far more likely than not that they used a bag full of old parts till they got some form of spark and the creature ran. They are by far one of the worst ignition systems that ever came out of Japan. The coils are of very poor quality."

Normally Rick I respect your comments at face value, but this is just pure BS speculation! And ow, simply because a few of you have hit on a great perceived solution to a non-issue for a lot of us, it seems to have been adopted that Kawasaki's engineers dropped the ball. My '76 Gold Wing had coils that couldn't handle any mods to the motor, either, but that doesn't make them bad coils or bad engineering. It just means they were designed for the purpose of the stock bike.

Pete, I am more than capable of doing clinical testing of the coils, thank you!

All of this slap-it-on-and-see-if-it-works type of problem solving doesn't really help in most cases. I'm glad you all have landed on some coils that do work, but nobody learns anything from that. So, I will just bow out and leave you all to your shade-tree parts swapping.

trikebldr wrote: "...did not do a very good job of designing the ignition system on the Z1300s. It is far more likely than not that they used a bag full of old parts till they got some form of spark and the creature ran. They are by far one of the worst ignition systems that ever came out of Japan. The coils are of very poor quality."

Normally Rick I respect your comments at face value, but this is just pure BS speculation! And ow, simply because a few of you have hit on a great perceived solution to a non-issue for a lot of us, it seems to have been adopted that Kawasaki's engineers dropped the ball. My '76 Gold Wing had coils that couldn't handle any mods to the motor, either, but that doesn't make them bad coils or bad engineering. It just means they were designed for the purpose of the stock bike.

Pete, I am more than capable of doing clinical testing of the coils, thank you!

All of this slap-it-on-and-see-if-it-works type of problem solving doesn't really help in most cases. I'm glad you all have landed on some coils that do work, but nobody learns anything from that. So, I will just bow out and leave you all to your shade-tree parts swapping.

So, what are your thoughts on why Kawasaki used low resistance coils and a ballast resistor rather than higher resistance coils in the first place? If it wasn't a band-aid fix to use the lower resistance coils, what were the design advantages?

You'd be kidding yourself if you thought these bikes (or pretty much ANY production line bike) weren't built to a price point. If it worked out more economical to adapt something already on the shelf than to buy another component, then you can bet your bottom dollar they would have done it.

And by the way, measuring the performance of components and adopting suitable ones for your application isn't "shade-tree parts swapping" in my book - I'd call it performance engineering

"...did not do a very good job of designing the ignition system on the Z1300s. FACT It is far more likely than not that they used a bag full of old parts till they got some form of spark and the creature ran. HUMOUR They are by far one of the worst ignition systems that ever came out of Japan. The coils are of very poor quality." OPINOIN

None of this is Speculation or Bullshit and I do hope I don't need to explain HUMOUR

Rick,

Spot on mate !



What fascinates me about some people on forums such as this, is that you give them proven, factual, tested, live, practical advice, and they attempt to take it apart and throw it back at you.........its just unbelieveable sometimes !

My old man (who is no longer with us unfortunately), told me when I was a boy "SON, NEVER ARGUE WITH IDIOTS AS THEY WILL BEAT YOU UP WITH EXTERIENCE, BRING YOU DOWN TO THEIR LEVEL AND MAKE YOU WISH YOU HAD SAID NOTHING"

One of the rules I now live my life by.............but on this occasion let my guard down.

Good luck

Pete F
UK

Hear, hear.