weak spark

Hi,
I have a KZ1300A1 that I have been restoring, when I bought it the owner said that he used it daily but it sometimes did not run on all cylinders.
Now I have the bike back together, new cam chain,new tensioner,nylon wheel etc I have an even worse problem and I am hoping that some one out there can help me sort out the problem.
It is fitted with the Dyna 2000 electronic ignition system, all 3 coils are working fine and they are the recommended dyna coils, if I turn the engine over quickly I often get no spark at all but if I turn it over slow I sometimes but not always get a very strong spark.

I have a white wire on the dyna 2000 module which I cannot work out where it goes, is it a spare?
I also have 4 wires running from the alternator, 3 yellow which plug in to a connector also with 3 yellows and a blue which does not seem to go any where.
Can any one help please.

Hi Sixpipes,

I've never installed a Dyna ignition so I'm no help with your wiring at least not with the color coding.

Things I do know:

The three yellow wires can be connected in any manner to the other three yellow wires.
The strong spark is the "shutdown spark" (my words). Which has been reputed to happen when the module is shut off or looses power.

I'm sure that one of our members will be able to give you some additional perspective soon.

Welcome to KZ1300.com

Bill

I've got an A1, had problems with it starting a while ago, very weak spark, so I put a set of accel coils on it, thought that would fix it, it didn't, turned out to be the starter motor, when I tried to start it the starter "sucked" all the power, brushes were worn and armature was full of carbon, I cleaned it, put a kit in it and put in new brushes and I got "full" voltage to the coils, this is just what happened to mine, don't know if it's anything to do with yours as the set up is different, just thought i'd mention it. One question though .... how do you turn the engine over "quickly" or "slowly" ??, just wondering, cheers Pete.

Hi Sixpipes,the blue wire is from the oil pressure switch,running in the sleeve with the three yellow ones,connecting to blue/white at the harness below the regulator.Hope you get it right.

Sixpipes,

Bill is correct here (as usual)!

There maybe nothing wrong with your ignition system at all.
The wiring system on the 1300 is not good at all (as with most bikes of its era) & has far too many routes & circuits before the coils actually get fed.

I would agree that its best spending time looking at where your battery power is going at the same time as the coils when trying to start the bike. The starter motor is always suspect & can often "short" or allow the current to be leaked when your starter button is pressed.
The starter button itself is also a terrible design & often rots & rusts inside the switch casing itself due to being at the very base of the casing & getting most of the water around it. Have a quick look to see its good & clean as if not, it too will suck up power that the coils & ignition system needs to start the bike. Also look at the KILL switch as this too can drain power if not in good order.

As Pete states, listen to how your starter sounds when its turning off the button. If its SLOW then its probably leaking power via the pick ups or has an ARC inside the starter casing. It should SPIN freely without struggle.

Its just unfortunate that so many circuits need power all at once on initial starting procedure, so they all need to be 100% fit & healthy to make it happen.

Due to the above issues I strip & clean my starter motor every winter & have changed all my handlebar switch gear for those off a ZRX1200 which have far less metal parts inside & more plastic, which does not rot.

Best of luck & let us all know how you get on !

Pete F

Hi,
thanks to everyone who has replied to this post
Well so far I have checked the starter switch and that was showing an earth leak. I have stripped the switch down and it has helped to increase the strength of the spark so much that I now have a spark on all the plugs.
When I stated slow or fast turnover what I should have said was that I inched the engine over on the starter for slow or kept my finger on the button for fast.
I now have my oil light back on - thanks.
I have 12v at the coils but only 7.4v with the starter motor running.
I have taken the starter motor out and sure enough it was full of carbon and quite dry, I have rebuilt the motor and greased the shims/washers with a smear of light grease and will re-fit it tomorrow.
My other thought was to re-wire the lighting so that the lights only come on when switched on as opposed to being on all of the time.
Can someone please tell me what the black on off button is next to the hazard switch as it seems to do nothing.
Again many thanks to you all.