Motorcycle Wiring Guru Assistance Needed

[MaxxVE]

Hi -

So my brother and I decided to take on a project build for his first motorcycle. We had the spare parts of the 2000 Ninja 250 I still had and he bought a 1981 Kawasaki KZ440.

His bike ran but the engine needed a new head gasket. The wiring was also questionable at best. The previous owner lost the key and cut, spliced and wire tied a bunch of stuff.

We want to use the modern ninja wiring harness but there are a couple key differences and a few questions I have.

The ninja uses a 3-wire stater and the kz440 uses a 2-wire.

The ninja has two separate coils firing individual plugs and the kz has one coil firing both plugs.

I don't know enough about how the electrical system on these bikes work but I would like to use the newer wiring. We connected it up and got the starter to roll the engine over but we're not getting any spark.. I sold the ninja coils already so we were trying to connect the single kz coil. The 3-wire leads on the ninja harness were connected to the 2-wire leads on the kz motor (two were twisted together temporarily)

I'm not sure tells the coils when to fire and if that timing is totally different on the two bikes its possible what we're trying would never work to make the bike run.

Nothing is permanent yet and we may have to fall back on the old harness, but any help or insight would be appreciated! Thanks!

[Racer x]

Are you sure the two wire is not the pick up? I think the first thing to figure out is if the pick up will talk to the ninja ignition computer. Is your engine a 180 deg crank shaft?

[MaxxVE]

Originally Posted by Racer x

Are you sure the two wire is not the pick up? I think the first thing to figure otitis if the pick up will talk to the ninja I notion computer. Is your engine a 180 deg crank shaft?

The ninja harness has 2 wires coming from the engine for the ignition pickup coil and 3 wires coming from the stater.

The kz440 has 2 wires for the ignition pickup and 2 wires from the stater.

The engine does have a 180 degree crank shaft but that's a good point about the pick up. I'm not sure how I would tell if it talks to the ninja's ignition control module? Maybe I can bypass that..

[Racer x]

No you need that. Let's start with the pick up. You need to wire up the box and see if you have spark. Or of you can spin your engine and get an AC signal from the pick up. I can compare it to the ninja 250.
For the charging system I would need a diagram. Did the 440 have an external regulator?

[MaxxVE]

Originally Posted by Racer x

No you need that. Let's start with the pick up. You need to wire up the box and see if you have spark. Or of you can spin your engine and get an AC signal from the pick up. I can compare it to the ninja 250.
For the charging system I would need a diagram. Did the 440 have an external regulator?

We couldn't get spark this past weekend when we tried it. I'll have to check the pick up to see what it's putting out.

The 440 did have a regulator/rectifier that looks almost identical to the ninja's but with only 2 yellow wires going in rather than 3. Stater

[Racer x]

What year ninja wiring are you using? Charging is easy. It's the ignition part that will be interesting. And dual coils will be needed.

[MaxxVE]

The wiring harness is from a 2000 ninja 250

[Racer x]

OK I think you need to come up with two coils. Can you pull a reading off the pick up. Or ohm it? I'll look and see again what colors go where.

[MaxxVE]

I won't be able to check the pickup until sometime this weekend but I'll report back with what I find.

[MaxxVE]

I was actually able to find a free minute to check the resistance of the pickup wires.

It was about 0.4 kohms



I also tried starting it while connected and it put out about 200 mV on and off.

[alex.s]

pickup resistance sounds about right. nice fluke btw

[MaxxVE]

Originally Posted by alex.s

nice fluke btw

Thanks, I picked it up at Harbor Freight for $5.99

[alex.s]

haha! i gotta get me some of those stickers

[Racer x]

This is what I got for an Ohm reading.
Strike one. But let's see what a spinning AC reading looks like. I will fire up my 2007 on Saturday.

[crazymadbastard]

Wouldn't the manual tell you the AC range output to troubleshoot?
It is fun using a multimeter though.

[MaxxVE]

Originally Posted by crazymadbastard

Wouldn't the manual tell you the AC range output to troubleshoot?
It is fun using a multimeter though.

I own the service manual. I'll check it tonight.

[MaxxVE]

According to the service manual the pickup coil should be 100-150 Ohms. So Eric yours is right on the money but the KZ440 not so much.

[Racer x]

OK I have been working on my bike for two days. I have some sort of ignition problem. So I thought I would share my findings.
I am trying to make spark from an 88-94 ignition box.
The ohm reading of the pick up is 114 and should be 100~150
Now when I measure the peaks voltage from the pick up. I get 3.50~4.20 volts AC
My 2007 has a reading of 2.75 VOLTS
The 2008 manual says 3.2 or more but says DC and I think that is a mis print.

[MaxxVE]

Originally Posted by Racer x

OK I have been working on my bike for two days. I have some sort of ignition problem. So I thought I would share my findings.
I am trying to make spark from an 88-94 ignition box.
The ohm reading of the pick up is 114 and should be 100~150
Now when I measure the peaks voltage from the pick up. I get 3.50~4.20 volts AC
My 2007 has a reading of 2.75 VOLTS
The 2008 manual says 3.2 or more but says DC and I think that is a mis print.

Hmm... maybe they changed something in 2008?

I haven't had a chance to touch the bike at all the past few days. My brother and I are hoping to work on it this weekend.

[Racer x]

I think the higher voltage on the 08 is because the battery is fully charged in that bike. I think the faster the engine spins the higher the voltage.