Dyna S ignition

[Roadwarrior]

I am a little late in writing this, but at least now I can say I have thoroughly tested the bike out with the new ignition.

First of all my bike is a 1978 GS550. It never (at least as long as I owned it) ran well. It was gutless, and my gas milage was terrible (29 - 34mpg). I also would tend to foul up spark plugs, which led me to working on the carbs many times in vain. I was constantly fiddling with the points.

Then during Christmas, I noticed that Z1 had the Dyna S ignition for $120, so I bought it for myself as my own little Christmas present. I couldn't afford a new set of coils, but I really wanted to switch over to a set of three ohm coils so I found a set of 2001 Katana coils on ebay and picked them up for $9.99 plus shipping (Smoking deal!).

The Dyna S, and the coils sat on my bench for a while until last month. I installed the coils and the ignition at the same time. The installation was simple. The Katana coils bolted right up, the power wires from the old coils were cut off, and I crimped on a set of female connectors to attach to the new coils. The Dyna S ignition simply bolted into place, but I did have to lightly sand the aluminum plate since it was a little bit of a tight fit into the ignition housing. For power, I spliced into the brake light power wire.

When I started the bike something definitly wasn't right. After doing all the checks that were explained in the troubleshooting section of the manual, and talking with Jeff at Z1 over the phone, it was determined that one of the modules on the Dyna S wasn't working. So I removed the Dyna S and shipped it back for warranty repair.

Since I had already changed the wires over to the new coils I decided to leave the Katana coils in. Now I know you are not supposed to run 3 ohm coils with a points ignition, but I figured all it would do is wear the points out quicker, and that didn't matter since it only needed to work for a little difference.

The bike ran MUCH better with the Katana coils alone. Like a whole new motorcycle. Suddenly there was power, and I could pass cars with the twist of the wrist. The gas milage improved as well. I was starting to wonder if this was all I needed, and that the Dyna S wasn't needed at all.

Then the Dyna came back and I installed it. Wow. The bike idled smooth as silk. I could now lower the idle to just over 1000 rpm. The bike's off idle response was improved, and it ran better all over. The bike now has plenty of get up and go, and I'm getting 35-40mpg now. Definitely worth the money. I am 100% satisfied.

[Ghostgs1]

Just a note of concurrance. Put on the S ignition, but forgot to order new plug wires. Ran with the originals and coils for a week or so. They must have been pretty good as there was little difference when I put on the Dyna coils and wires. The pointless system is very good it made the bike smoother than it was with points. Oh, and the point set that was on the bike had only a few hundred miles. The Dyna S is that much better.

[badbrown]

How and why did you go with the 3 ohm coils from the Katana. Does it work better with the Dyna? After reading your post I'm dying to get the dyna and possible the katana coils. My bike is a 78 gs550e.

[Roadwarrior]

How and why did you go with the 3 ohm coils from the Katana. Does it work better with the Dyna? After reading your post I'm dying to get the dyna and possible the katana coils. My bike is a 78 gs550e.

The Dyna S can handle 3 ohm coils, which give a better spark than 5 ohm coils. Points ignitions use 5 ohm coils because the extra current from the 3 ohm coils would wear the points out faster.

I would have bought the Dyna "Green" 3 ohm coils but funds were low. So I kept an eye open on ebay for Bandit, GSXR, or Katana Coils. The Katana coils I got looked brand new, and they were really cheep. They made a HUGE difference for me, even with my points ignition in place, which makes me wonder if my stock coils weren't bad.

I definatly recomend upgrading your coils and ignition. Money is tight for me, but I don't regret it one bit.

One side note, if you do go with Katana coils, the spark plug boots are different and the wires are a bit long. I cut the wires a little shorter, and put my oridginal boots on the Katana wires.

[mlaalm]

Nice thread, thanks for sharing