TOPIC:

So after all my trials and tribulations, my 78 police bike isn't firing. My first thought is that my graphite core plug wires are shot. I have racing coils on the bike and I want to move to a copper core wire for more durability.
My question is: Can I just go get raw wire by the foot and use all the connectors? Is there a tutorial or a site that shows how to do this properly? Thanks for any replies.

Bought my wires by the foot and cut to length.
would be a good idea to get new plug boots while you're at it. It's about a 5 min. job and easy.

These from Z1E come with plug caps attached.

www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=208

Yeah its not hard, I usually build guys new wire sets for around 25 bucks here at the shop, just make sure you're using the correct plug cap.

Bicycle Lee wrote:

So after all my trials and tribulations, my 78 police bike isn't firing. My first thought is that my graphite core plug wires are shot. I have racing coils on the bike and I want to move to a copper core wire for more durability.
My question is: Can I just go get raw wire by the foot and use all the connectors? Is there a tutorial or a site that shows how to do this properly? Thanks for any replies.

Some random thoughts while presuming use of starter button is turning the engine over and that the kill switch is in the "run" position.

Seems unlikely all four plug wires would die at the same time, so wondering if any plug is firing.

If no fire at any plug, wondering whether battery voltage is getting to the coils or to either coil (might have a bad wire or loose connector). Is there output voltage from the coils (but simply not reaching the plugs because of faulty plug wires and/or plug caps?)

Does the bike use points and condensers, or has it been converted to an electronic ignition? Have the points been inspected, cleaned and set? Is there battery voltage at the timing plate?

Could be mistaken, but suspect police models used resistor plug wires and resistor plug caps to help reduce ignition static interference with the radio gear and perhaps other police bike electronics involved.

Don't know about "racing coils" but do know the Dyna S coils and Dyna wire core plug wires and caps (believed to be straight through, non-resistor, style caps) solved the ignition problems on my bikes and installed easily and quickly.

Hope some of this might help a little or at least give food for thought.

The bike has points that were just put on about 100 miles ago. I checked them when this started happening and they are still set in the right position. And I don't think that all four wires went out at ONCE. I've been having peculiar firing problems for about a month. I noticed that it had already fouled out the inner plugs...so I changed them and it ran seemingly fine for a day. Then I was riding it around and it died completely. When I finally got it going, I would have the throttle all the way down and barely make it to 25, unable to shift without the engine cutting out. The wires seemed a likely culprit

Bicycle Lee wrote:

The bike has points that were just put on about 100 miles ago. I checked them when this started happening and they are still set in the right position. And I don't think that all four wires went out at ONCE. I've been having peculiar firing problems for about a month. I noticed that it had already fouled out the inner plugs...so I changed them and it ran seemingly fine for a day. Then I was riding it around and it died completely. When I finally got it going, I would have the throttle all the way down and barely make it to 25, unable to shift without the engine cutting out. The wires seemed a likely culprit

Believe you're on the right track by first getting the ignition to specs (also check/adjust valve clearances) before any carb work. However, one quick check at this point would be for a clean non-clogged free breathing air filter.

Would like to hear that all plugs have a healthy fat spark after replacing the plug wires and caps. Then if still fouling, may want to also consider fuel mixture.

well, I know that I have some surface rust in my tank that has been giving me some trouble with my fuel delivery. I have done my part to try and flush some of it through, but it dirties up the carbs and plugs pretty quick. I was thinking about either resealing my tank or getting a new one, which would (hopefully) solve that issue, but I still think I should change out the plug wires. I bought some bulk copper-core wire yesterday, and once I get a bit of free time, I'll try and rebuild them. My brother just bought the wire and did it on his old Vurago, using the old boots and caps and said it worked great. Figured if all else fails, I'll get the whole wire kit, but if this doesn't work I'm only out 5 bucks and a few hours of work.

The bulk copper core wire should work just fine. Old deteriorated plug caps can also cause problems -- the resistor style has what appears to be a carbon piece imbedded inline. Don't know exactly how or why the caps go bad, but my old ones had widely varying ohm resistance readings which might not have mattered but worried me anyhow so I replaced them. Am now enjoying copper all the way from the coils (through what I believe are non-resistor caps) to the top ends of the plugs.

For testing purposes with the new plug wires, you could connect them directly to the plugs (without caps) and evaluate the spark quality while spinning the engine over. This would also help indicate functioning of the coils and wiring to the coils.

Crud in the fuel tank could cause "running out of gas" but this seems inconsistent with your fouled plugs description -- meanwhile, would suggest an inline filter if not already being used, until the tank innards are cleaned (there are some really excellent threads here on tank cleaning -- my personal fave being the bee-bee's and clothes dryer method).

Hoping for your success with the repair work.

thanks for all your help. Yes, I already am using an inline fuel filter...I can't wait til I'm running clean fuel through the system...haha
I had some of the running out of gas feeling a few times...stopped on the side of the road, flipped the petcock to prime to get some fuel in the carbs and it would usually start again. This time and recently it ha been different. It feels like it isn't running on all cylinders...which I found was true when I saw the inner plugs...now I just want to replace that wire and see...the coils shouldn't just go bad, right? I'm using Accel super coils.

Might be wrong, but wouldn't suspect fouled plugs to result from crud inside the fuel tank. Forgot to suggest earlier about checking for a kink in the fuel line. If not already done, might help temporarily to remove the tank and rinse it out several times with fresh gas. (Shake tank around, turn it upside down and dump out gas into a large container such as a wide shallow pan or disposeable turkey roaster you can then just leave outside to evaporate).

Will be interesting to see what if any effect the new plug wires may have toward correcting the plug fouling. And remember to check/adjust valve clearances if this hasn't been done recently.

if your coils are like mine (factory) then the wires are formed into the coils and you will have to use splices to put new wires on...