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Posted yesterday that I had got a '78 KZ650 that came with a NIB Gerex ignition but I guess with the change back to the old format it got dumped? What little info I could find said that these were supposed to be pretty good back in the day. Any info (wiring diagrams?) would be greatly appreciated.

Which GEREX system? The MULTIFIRE SERIES (CDI) system or the 'GEREX Convertible Ignition System?' I have the wiring diagram for the MULTIFIRE SERIES.

I do know in my Clymers manual in the modifications section, they recommended the Gerex system. I guess it was the hot ticket back then. Dyna is the ticket now but the Gerex is supposed to be great too.

Not to sound ignorant (which isn't that hard), but how can I tell? All it says on the box is "Gerex Electronic Ignition System". The only literature inside is for installation and gives no clue. Tried to load up a pic but the file is too big.

Here's a picture of the MULTIFIRE SERIES: www.velvetone.com/forsale/gerex.html

The 'GEREX Convertible Ignition System' had a much smaller 'ignition box' than the CDI system above.

OK, it's the Multifire series I have. Unfortunately it may be a moot point b/c there is no coil in the box. I'm sure THAT won't be hard to find.....

I did a search of Gerex but nothing came up, did find a post from Jeff Saunders (Z1 Enterprises) back in 2005 which reads as follows: "Gerex was THE ignition company back in the late 1970's and early 80's - I'm not sure when they went out of business, but it was way back when...

Gerex made a number of different ignitions over the years, although the wiring was similar on all of them, it did vary a little from bike to bike and ignition to ignition.

I ran a Gerex ignition on my turboed Z1 for a couple of years - incredibly good system until it fried itself - very fat spark - but then the black box was a monster. The system that was on my bike used Gerex coils - these are very low resistance - just 1.2 ohm - so you would need to be careful if you ever replace the ignition to check the resistance of the coils on your bike.

I don't know if anyone bought out Gerex, they seemed like they vanished overnight - I'd be curious if anyone knows what happened.

If the ignition is still working, leave it on the bike.

If you do have to replace the ignition, the Dynatek systems are the best value for money - although there are a couple of other options for the KZ650 (Boyer-Brandson & Newtroniks being two of them).

We sell a ton of Dyna ignitions for these older bikes - Dynatek gives a warranty on the product, and stands behind it with good support if a problem does arise."

The last time I talked with Gerry (1981 I think it was), he was moving on to other projects as more and more motorcycles came with non-points ignitions. He went on to do some work for Ferrari, irrigation companies, etc.

I used to visit his shop in the LA area when I lived there in the late 1970s. He would always share his knowledge and what he was up to bikewise. A GEREX Multifire ignition lasted 27 years on my '73 Z1-900. Another GEREX Multifire ignition, the one that's on my '78 KZ1000, is still going strong since I purchased it from Gerry in 1984.