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Just in case anyone else was wondering if it was possible. Kind of a crude conversion, but it starts and runs ok. Low budget fix I guess, lots of die grinder work on the housing and cover piece to make it all work. The wiring patch work inside the headlight was the surprise behind door #1, the point setup was the surprise behind door #2. A friend of mine warned my that the cheap ones are always the most expensive..........

Wow that's a new one. You have to be pretty committed to points to do all that.

Added a pic of the wiring patch work behind the headlight. Thought I did that the first time.

I know a guy who bought a custom chopper w S&S harley-type engine. I think from suckerpunchcycles or some place like that. He converted it to points or tried to anyway, because he got sick of the problems he kept having with the electronic ignition.



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Die grinder?

Looks more like he unleashed a rabid beaver on the bike!

Wow!

Looking ahead on the Frankenbike project, any ZN owners out there that have installed a Dyna system on their bike ? I'm pretty sure the points were mounted in the modified original housing, I have another uncut housing to use if I need it. An email to the Dyna tech line got a pretty vague reply. Hoping to use the system that's all inside and a lot less money......

If your ZN1100 had a mechanical advancer unit, then a KZ1000 Dyna S should work without much trouble.

If your ZN1100 had electronic-advance, then you will probably need to find an advancer unit from a Kz1000 and want to confirm the timing plate of the Kz1000 will fit into the ZN1100 housing. The electronic-advance timing plate will look very different, but the older style plate might still fit, and in that case a Dyna S plate should fit.

I'll post a drawing of the timing plate.

You want to make sure you have 3 ohm or higher coils. The stock coils would have been less than 3 ohms, and not compatible with the Dyna S, so you'd need non-stock coils.

This drawing will show you the Kz1000 timing plate and where the mounting bolts will be etc. so you can compare it with the housing on your ZN1100.

Note the Kz900/1000 timing plates have those cutouts along the edge. The smaller bikes have timing plates that are plain circles.

By the pic it looks like a Z1/KZ plate so the Dyna S should work. Measure the diameter and post it and I can post my extra plate measurements to compare.
Steve

The email I got back from Dyna suggested the DDK2-1C. I found more info on the Z1 site that indicated a different housing from a J model would be needed for that kit to fit the ZN. I attached a picture of the points plate and the mechanical advance unit that was installed with the points. The original housing was rather crudely modified to fit the plate and is probably not usable. I have a spare ZN housing, but should I be looking for a pre electronic KZ 1000 housing and cover to use with the mechanical advance ? I might be able to use the less expensive DS2 system then.

Would the early housing bolt on? Mine looks deeper than that. Here's one I took off the bike.
Steve

The housing gasket # for the '79-80 A3/A4 engine shares the same ending part number -1071. The ZN housing measures 1.540 deep and 4.650 od. They sure look like the same bolt pattern.

The crank seal looks larger. I'll take more and better measurements tomorrow using my caliper and tape.
Steve