AW82-TR1 Coil Upgrade For Z1300 & KZ1300. How To !

Fellow Owners.......

I have had a few questions on this topic recently so thought I would take the liberty of posting these instructions for those of us who want to carry out the upgrade. I have done this to every 1300 I have ever owned & the same for many fellow owners. Its a well worthwhile upgrade.
I trust brother Bill does not mind me doing this, & can move it to another section if better suited.?

Here goes then.............


AW82 TR1 Coil Upgrade Procedure for Z & KZ1300.

Q. Why upgrade ?
A. The original 1300 coils do not have replaceable HT Leads, the AW82 coils do. The original coils give a very weak “governed spark”, the AW82 give a far hotter & stronger spark which is better for starting & general running. If the existing BALLAST RESISTOR fails, it will fry your CDI Unit so best rid of it ASAP. See the FAQ section on this website for more details.
Q Where do I find AW82 Coils.
A. Ebay, Gumtree or a breakers yard. They don’t need to be new, just in good visible condition with no cracks or damaged terminals. Ideally test with a meter if possible before fitting just incase. They were fitted as standard to early 80’s Honda models including CB900F/CB750F/CB750FZ/CBX1000/CB650 & many others. They need AW82 TR1 stamped on them.

Equipment list to carry out this upgrade.
3 x Good AW82 Coils. Should be tested & show around 2.4 ohms.
6 Feet of good quality copper core 7mm wide HT (high tension) Lead.
6 x FEMALE spade terminals (crimp are fine but solder even better!).
2 Feet of yellow electrical wire 10 amp minimum.
1 x Foot of each GREEN & BLACK & BLUE electrical wire 10 amp minimum.
3 x Bullet connectors to extend each colour wire above to reach the AW82 coils.
About 1 to 1 ½ hours time & some good background music !!
Someone who does not mind being sworn at if you get it wrong………quite important !!

These AW82 coils are the exact same shape & size as the originals & the mountings are the same so are a direct fit replacement for the old coils.

Each of the old original coils has a HOT (or +) wire with a bullet connector. These 3 wires will be BLACK / GREEN / BLUE for correct firing order & come from the main wiring harness. THESE DO NOT CHANGE but you need to extend them slightly & fit FEMALE SPADE CONNECTORS in place of the bullets connectors to fit the new AW82 Coils. If you look carefully at the AW82 coils you will see each spade connector has a + or – stamped next to it. +is HOT & - is COLD wiring feed.

You then need to remove or just disconnect the BALLAST RESISTER (small metal box normally located left side if frame up near coils). This has one wire into it (either pink or yellow) and 3 wires out that go to the COLD (or -) pole of each coil. Disconnect these 3 cold wires. Next, trace the yellow or pink wire going TO the resistor back to the main harness and make a 3 way loom from this one feed...........one wire for each coil & fit a female spade terminal on the end of each…………one for each COLD connection to the coil.

It is VITAL the Ballast Resister is bypassed when fitting AW82’s as if not it will damage your CDI unit. :ohmy:

In summary each AW82 coil needs a YELLOW wire for COLD - and either a BLUE/BLACK or GREEN wire for HOT +.

Job done.!!!

Pete F

strate6 wrote: Fellow Owners.......

"... I trust brother Bill does not mind me doing this, & can move it to another section if better suited.?"

"Here goes then............. "

Pete F

Thanks Pete!
That's a great write up. Just the sort of effort that a place like this needs to be relevant 'er something along that line.

Good job on the thread name also, very searchable for future reference and education.

I'll be on the lookout for those Honda coils.

Thanks again for the write up!

Bill

Hello strate6,Ihave installed Nology 3.0 ohm dual tower coils over a year ago with no problems up to date.The AW82 coils are a much cheaper option though.if only I knew about it at the time.....!

Bill,

Thanks...........its a pleasure !

I do have other mods including-

A Hydraulic Clutch Conversion Kit I made & sold many years ago.
Also very soon.........Air Fork Balance Kit for 1300 A1 & A2 models.

Will post them when I get time if thats ok.

Pete

Thanks for the how-to! I've been perusing forums all year looking at tech articles and learning about the bike in general. I was surprised when I came across this upgrade recently especially with how little it has been mentioned. Cheap and efficient mods like this should really be easier to find!

A page should really be made specifically for compiling all known mods/upgrades for the bikes and linking all the how-to's. Would save a newbie loads of time!

I'm interested in the clutch conversion and fork balance kits too! I'll keep checking for them .

Mike,

I bet you anything "Brother Bill" will already have his sights set on a TEC PAGE or UPGRADE PAGE for the site eventually...........

Over to you Bill.....haha !

Pete F