KZ650 Starting/Idle Problem

 My dad's Kawasaki KZ650 is being very difficult to start and will die
at random.  I had replaced/adjusted the points about 500 miles ago,
and today when checking them they seem to have closed up a bit.  I
can't re-adjust them until tomorrow, because I need to replace the
crappy points screws that have stripped on me.  Tonight after it up
and died on the road (almost like out of gas), it needed to be cranked
and cranked, then it let out a loud backfire and black smoke, then it
started up again.  This happened twice.  Timing on one side seemed OK,
the other looked the same but the timing marks were 'wobbling' more
than the other (not sure what that means).  I had to up the idle to
keep it running in the garage, and even then it sputtered and died
twice on me.

This just a points issue, or could it be something bigger, like
carbs?  It ran fine after I replaced the points, then just seemed to
go downhill from there.

Thanks,
Doug

 kb1jec@gmail.com wrote:

Was the advancer lubed when the points plate was off?

 

Was it running fine before you fiddled with the ignition? If it was,
then it's unlikely to be a carb problem, since you haven't touched them.



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 Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:


Bullshit. OP don't need no steenking dwell meter.

Car mechanics used dwell meters on distributors with multi-lobed points
breaker
cams. The problem was large ignition coils with high inductance having to
supply 3 or 4 cylinders with a spark every crankshaft revolution.

The large coils took a long time, relatively speaking, for the primary
current to flow into the coil and induce a magnetic field, so the mechanics
needed the dwell meter to maximize saturation time.

But an I-4 motorcycle engine only needs ONE lobe on the points breaker cam

The smaller motorcycle coils have less inductance so they can saturate
rapidly
and induce a spark quickly at high RPM.

The coil has plenty of saturation timeif there is only one lobe on the
breaker cam.

The down side of small motorcycle coils was that they produced low secondary
voltage, maybe 9KV to 12KV. The owner of a points ignition motorcycle had to
keep cleaning and resetting the contacts to maximize current flowing into the
coils.

He had to run a smaller spark plug gap of .025 to .028 inches so the lower
voltage could jump the gap.

And there was less chance of ignitable mixture passing through thespark, so
carburetors had to be adjusted richer than optimum for cold starting.

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 kb1jec@gmail.com wrote:


There are actually two condensers but they are mounted on one piece of metal.

http://www.bikebandit.com/partsbandit/showschematic.asp?dept_id27978

19: BREAKER,CONTACT,R MARK 565181-001  $27.04  

20: BREAKER,CONTACT,L MARK 565180-001  $27.04  

25: CONDENSER KZ550-A1 565273-001  $30.20

You can test your condesers with an ohm meter. You set the ohm meter of Rx10
or Rx100 or Rx1000 and put the leads leads from the disconnected condensor
lead to the condensor case. The ohm meter needle should flick momentarily.
Then reverse the leads and it will flick again. This test won't work with a
digital ohm meter. If you get a steady reading from the lead to the condensor
case, it's shorted inside and you need to replace it.

I wouldn't pay $30 for two condensors, I would go find condensors for any car
with ignition points and solder a longer wire on to the short lead.

All ignition points condensors are .22 microfarads or .022 microfarads, I
disrember which it is.

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