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Which Katana/Bandit Coils fit GS's

  • Thread starter Thread starter bakalorz
  • Start date Start date
B

bakalorz

Guest
I have a 1981 GS-650-GLX
However, the prior owner bought parts that more or less fit and worked, and made a frankenbike out of it to get it running, so I am not sure what is "right" and what is not.

It started running poorly, and I checked various things ...
Eventually put a timing light on it, and found various plugs don't fire at higher RPMs (usually 1,4 sometimes 2,3)

Voltage at the coils was a bit low (maybe 1 or 1.5 volt drop), so first thing I tried was a temporary "manual" coil relay mod (ran a wire from the coils to a quick disconnect that I already had at the middle of the handlebars)
No difference in running.

So I measured the coil resistances.

Coil 2-3 was ~5 ohms and ~30kohms
Coil 1-4 was ~5 ohms and ~90kohms :eek:

Took the plug-connectors off and measured all the parts

Coil 2-3: 11k each plug-connector, and 11k for just the bare coil
Coil 1-4: 40k each plug-connector, and 11k for just the bare coil

So 2 questions ...

1) Are the coils good ?
2) If I do need coils, other threads have mentioned using Katana or Bandit Coils from E-bay ... Which ones will work.

About question one ... searching the site, I think I remember reading that the Coils themselves are supposed to be 20k with 5k (each) plugs ...
The Coils appear to be OEM type - They are tan/beige and I believe they said Nippondenso on them, which would make me think they are NOT dyna-coils or such (and the ignitor appears to be stock too)
I'll assume I at least need to change the plug connectors for 1-4 ... gawd knows what the P.O. was thinking there ...
... So ... New coils or just plug-connectors ...

If New coils, I'll try some off E-bay; which leads to question 2:
Which years or model of Katana or Bandit Coils would work ...
Which will be right electrically, and which will bolt right in ...
In searching, some for a Kat said that they were for a CDI ignition ... I would guess those are wrong ... Did some Kats come with CDI or was that something someone modded
 
The problem is that your bike has 5 ohm coils if it's got a set of points. I would recommend Dyna 5 ohm coils. Anything else will be so old that you might as well buy new, and Bandit/Katana coils are 3 ohms.
 
I think Bandit coils are 2.2 ohms, but you could always run a ballist resistor in line.
 
According to the manual, there are not points but instead a signal generator (with advance built into it) and then the ignitor ... and then the coils.
does this imply that the katana/bandit coils would work as is ?
(without a ballast resistor)

Another question
When I was testing things, one of the things I tried was putting the spark plug leads (one at a time) on a spare plug, which I layed on top of the cylinder head (I only get dim orange sparks ... bleah)
But anyway ... during this, I unplugged a lead (by pulling on the cap) from the idling engine ... And got nicely zapped through the cap :eek:
In searching the archives, I read about people pulling leads with no apparent ill effects ...
Does this imply the wires and/or caps are too leaky.
(I can touch the wires/caps when the engine is running without getting shocked, its only when I pulled it off the plug that it got me)
 
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