TOPIC:

Inductive. Inductive lights use an "inductive pickup" that clips around the sparkplug wire to fire the strobelight when the spark plug fires. This makes setup VERY easy. Earlier lights required attaching an adapter (really just a spring) between the sparkplug wire cap and the sparkplug, then attaching an alligator clamp to the spring to pick up the firing signal. Pass on buying that type, they're a pain. In tuning the KZ's you won't need the "advance" feature offered on some lights, so if that type turns out to be more expensive it's money wasted. Once you use a timing light you'll never again be satisfied with the "static" timing method. Ed

Ok....so I gave it a shot and got the timing on....well, more on than it was...still has some lag and not as much pick up as I should. I checked my spark wires with one of those hand-held devices and found that spark wire one has WAY less potent of a spark than three or four...and two has none at all....so what now???? Is it coils? Cylinders?

Post edited by: Bicycle Lee, at: 2007/08/22 15:24

I checked my spark wires with one of those hand-held devices

You mean the timing light? If so, less spark or no spark could just be your spark plug.

Start with the cheap fix first (don't ask me how I know).

not the timing light, an inductive spark tester that looks like a small paint scraper. BUT! More news...so I started troubleshooting and figured maybe just the wire was fouled. So I switched the wires for two and three on the coil...2 still had no fire...so it must be in the coil, right? And if 1 isn't getting as much spark as 4 than maybe that coil is fouled too, right??? EH???

nobody?? I'm just wondering whether assuming that my problem lies in the coil is a bad assumption or not.

I'm not sure what answer to give you.
But you could always swap the 2/3 coil with the 1/4 coil and see if the problem follows.

If you have a volt ohm meter you can check your coils pretty easily. You want to check the primary side and then the secondary side of the coils. On my kz550 the primary reads about 3 ohms the secondary about 13k ohms.
If your bike uses resistor caps on the sparkplug leads you should also check these, most should read about 5k ohms. I had a couple of faulty caps on my bike, one had infinite resistance the other was very high. The spark was very weak on these leads. I went ahead and changed my wire and caps as preventive maintenance.
Most bikes have an advance mechanism that needs to be cleaned and lubed periodically. Basically, as the rpm increased off idle the timing curve is advanced. This may be why your bike is stumbling. It could also be fuel related, when was the last time you cleaned your carb and fuel system??

I hate to sound like an idiot but which is the primary side of the coil?

The primary side is where the small ignition feed and the wire going to the points connect. The secondary side is where the plug wire connects.

Primary side of coil is the hot wire from the switch.check the voltage on this wire.if it is less than 12v it is a good part of your problem.