accel vs dyna coils...

We're all here trying to help you out but it's a struggle when you start out by asking about Dyna versus Accel coils and then about 8 posts later tell us that you've having trouble on 3 of the 6 cylinders. Now the story starts to come out and it's obvious to some of us more mechanically inclined  that your issues are more likely related to something completely different.

So now I would ask you to tell us the "story".
Are you trying to resurrect a bike new to you that was a non runner?
If it was a running bike, is this a new problem that just started after trying to get it going since being laid up in storage?
You initially decided to "change out the coils" . What was that based on?
You installed AW82 coils. Were they new coils? Aftermarket coils? Where did you get them from? Did you test the primary side of the coils to ensure that they are 2.7 - 3.0 ohm resistance?
When you put the coils in, did you remove or keep the ballast resistors?

You said you cleaned the carbies. Did you do it or have them done? If you did them, did you blow the circuits to confirm that they were clear and flowing? Did you follow the carb overhaul procedure as written in the FAQ section of this Forum? Probably the most critical aspect of the KZ1300 carbs is the idle/low speed circuit. If it was not blown out in the right direction and under the rights circumstances, you  or your carb guy probably stuffed the bottom end of the circuit with all of the debris. Scotch developed a tool for clearing this circuit properly and it's worth its weight in gold but he only sells them for a reasonable price. Send him a PM if you want to buy one.
One test that nobody seems to do is when the bike is running, blip the throttle and watch the fuel flowing out of the main jets and down the throttle bores. Why people never do this test is beyond me. If the diaphram doesn't lift the Carburetor piston valves to raise the main jet needles, there's a real problem. if the piston valves don't all come up evenly, then there's another problem. Either way, this test is in my mind one of the most critical tests after rebuilding the carbs to confirm that everything is ok.


If you pull the spark plugs out of 1, 3, and possibly 5, are they wet with fuel?
I always have a squirt bottle kicking around with gas in it. If I have a problem engine that won't start, i crank the engine and then squirt gas down the carb inlet. If it kicks over, then we know it's a fuel problem. if it doesn't kick over, then it's probably spark related, be it bad plug, bad coil, bad timing.

i bought the bike and it was a starter, but always on 3 cylinders.
my limited knowledge lead me to join the forum and during my
research here on these bikes and elsewhere, i consistently read, about the weaknesses:

1... coils
2... chain tensioner
3... 4 litre small oil sump
4... water pump

unfortunately i live in an area of the world where these bikes are not known and if they where, no one will ever touch them anyway, because
they're just too old and in my case with this bike, as they say, very complex....complex when you compare it with a cb750 or a gs1000 for instance.  two models which most mechanics here consider too old to work on, regardless of their simplicity. 
i knew i had to do the water pump because the oil in the sump was cream and i'm hoping it's this rather than a head gasket or something.....
re assured by a very old kz1300 guru who is 2000 klms away, i complete this with his aid.
i then decide alone, to do the aw82 coil conversion, (without his aid) making sure first primary and secondary of all second hand coils were
good....ballast resistor was removed. 
by accident and luckily, i find a larger 6 litre oil sump and add that to the equation. the bike started and ran, you guessed it ... on 3 cylinders.
i was told to do the carbies next.
so i found a mechanic quite away from me, who swore blind he could fix the bike....he said to me, at some point whilst starting the bike, that he got zapped from touching the frame and will look into it.
he disassembled the carbies and refitted with a brand new complete kit and diaphragms. he balanced them and he also re kitted the front forks.
i am not sure how far the mechanic went with the carbs, but i am assuming he has done what has to be done....as a bike mechanic should. 
a bit naive yes, but i have no choice than to think otherwise.
new ngk bp5es plugs and wire leads were also added....
i am now told that denso W20EP-U arethe best plugs for this bike.
after 3 weeks the mechanic tells me all good, come and pick up.
$2000 later, the bike comes back to me starting and running beautifully.
im smiling................
i took it around the block (about 1 klm) and she ran on all 6 cylinders.
smooth as a silk and quick with all that power.....
beautiful.... i am celebrating.
four days later i go to start the bike....back on 3 cylinders.
6 , 4 and 2 only, running. i take out the plugs, they are all oily black....
i clean them and re position them. one extra cylinder just, but only just, warms up header 5.  at this point, i'm totally frustrated and pissed of.
i speak with certain people who suggest to buy brand new coils and get rid of the aw82's. the old kz1300 guru says piss off the old coils and buy some dynas. (process of elimination)....an expensive one at that!!!       
i exclaim...!!!

so, i'm now at this point now, where this bike is still in the back of my mind. do i take the bike back and get it looked at again possibly under warranty or perhaps another bill of $2000, or do i spend $400 and get some dynas and eliminate another possibility...???
I 'm a single dad and so fairly busy and preoccupied raising a very young daughter.
not that i 'm doingit tough or anything nor need any pity,
but the bike is not necessarily my main focus....as you can appreciate.
i 'm thankful for all the concern and advice i have got from this forum and i would like to eventually get the bike running on all cylinders .... preferably during this lifetime, but i aint slashing my wrists because of my bad luck.
i figure the correct thing to do is take the bike back to the mechanic, who i know will tell me in three weeks time, that he found another problem with it and bill me again, for another problem he has now discovered.....thank you very much.

its 9pm and winter over here at the moment, my back isn't the best and im nearly over it all, so going inside to watch some tv for a change.....providing the fuse box doesn't blow, that is.
.....................gotta laugh.

Sounds like you're "Down-Under, have a sense of humor and I respect the "single Dad scenario !
Again going to suggest that your carbs are still dirty !
Plugs and coils of any description/make will not cure this problem. Ultra-Sonic cleaning is essentially useless in this regard ! In fact it has most likely made the situation worse. You need to strip them and flush out the crap ! Consider The Cleaning Tool. It Works perfectly for this task. And you'll probably save lot$ of ca$h!

It does also sound like you are confident to do some basic mechanical work, but nervous of doing carb work due to lack of knowledge of the details?

If so, In addition to what Scotch suggests I would encourage you to take the carbs off and do some basic investigation yourself, you'll be surprised what you can identify and just need to be methodical and do one thing at a time.

The manuals are downloadable from this site, the articles and discussions on here do cover vast amounts of what's encountered and with basic tools you can have the carbs off in less than an hour.

Once off, lay a cloth or towel on some bench space and have room to lay things out logically.

Once the float bowls are off and with not much more than an aerosol can of brake cleaner with a tube on the nozzle you can check 99% of what's needed.

I think that approach gives you the information you need to better decide if you can proceed yourself or subcontract certain tasks.

Also recommend you get some JIS screwdrivers, to avoid damage to the carb screws.

I don't want to piss in anyone's Cornflakes here but I have a few thoughts.
1 If I paid someone $2000 to do a set of carbs they'd better be perfect. having cylinders 2 4 6 running fine and dead on 1 3 and intermittant on 5 in no way shape or form relates back to coils. The coils are paired 1 6 , 2 5 , 3 4. It's virtually impossible for a coil failure to only compromise one plug on each coil so it has to be something else - logical..
You report that the dead cylinder have black oily plugs and you report that it ran on all 6 then the next day it's on 3 cylinders and you're looking at black oily plugs. That's indicative of valve stem seals. Oil laid up in the cylinderr head runs down the valve stem, then past the valve seals and continues down the valve stem and ending up in the cylinder. When you flip the engine over on the starter, that oil that is now sitting on the piston washes all over the spark plug and now you're dead in the water.
I wouldn't be ditching the AW82 coils just yet. Wait till they start showing signs of weakness. Yes Dynas are good and so are the Accels provided they meet the requirements. But the AW82's have had a good run on the Honda wasted spark systems and I wouldn't be tossing them.
First thing I would do is toss in a new set of sparkplugs and see what happens. if it starts up on all 6, then you know you need to find the source of oil getting into the cylinders. could be lots of things especially when you starting off with a rebuildable bike and don't know the history and not familiar with the model. Stupid things can happen like the prevous owner thought he might clean up the emission system and blocked off the crankcase ventilation causing high pressure in the crankcase driving the oil down the valve stems. (Seen that one before)  Or another possibility is that the crankcase ventilation has a lot of piston blow by and now the ventilation is soaking the intake tract with oil. Seen that one too.
if the blackened plugs are dry and filthy black, then the carbs for whatever reason are way too rich. Float levels, wrong jets, misadjusted choke (enrichening valve) lots of things come to mind.

Bottom line here is when you're not a master in the trade, you need to find a source of good advice and or a really good reputable mechanic. I trust nobody to do my work. I'm really good at what I do but I know that there are others who may be better than me in certain aspects of whatever I may be trying to achieve. if you develop good skills and have good mentors, you can do anything. The biggest struggle is communication. there's lots of really good advice available here but it requires you to disclose every possible detail so that the answers you receive are valuable info for you to work through. These bikes are not that complicated really. They're big and have a few pecular aspects. You want complicated, come on over to my place and I'll introduce you to my Porsche 928 with 8 - 3" binders that constitute the workshop manuals for this Porsche model. 5 liter V8 with sequential fuel injection, 2 ignition coils, 2 distributor caps 2 on board computers. 52 relays and 3 fuse panels. 4 overhead camshafts 32 valves. It's my Nemisis. Love it to death and hate it just as much. I will never part with it. when it drives me to drink, I just enjoy the drink, then go back to working on the car.

thanks to all the responses.....much appreciated.

i like yr thinking kawaboy....and yes i don't profess to know these bikes or any other bike for that matter as well as the other guy......i just get by..... and only barely.

i have also thought of the possibility that the valve stem seals could be a culprit given that my plugs are someone wet after running....they are never charcoal black, but more so, saturated in oil.

what is involved in doing the valve stem seals....? does one have to take out the head or can it be done in situ?.....it could be, what is to come.

interestingly, no one mentioned anything about a possible short to the frame of the bike when my mechanic was trying to start the bike....
i would have thought, this could have been an issue.

the possibility of non venting to the crankcase could also
be true, because the bike is missing the air flow valve that sits under the
tank. but then i suspect, if this was the case, i wouldn't have
all cylinder running, even for a moment as i did....?

i will hold of in buying the coils however, as i still have the option in taking it back to that mechanic under warranty.

...i think that's at least, sensible.