Breaker Points or Dyna Innition

[Mike Ski]

I must start off with saying that i am new to the site and i am obsessed!!! i have had my bike for about 3 months and thats how long it took me to find you guys. I can't believe how much info on the GS is in here. well anyway, i got my 79 gs850 for free around three months ago. i got it running in about 45 minutes with a can of carb cleaner. all was well for around 800 miles, and all of a sudden she started to bog. the inside of the tank was covered in rust. i took it to a rad shop and had it boiled, treated, and coated. i replaced the fuel line and filter, and the plugs. i started the bike and it seemed to run a little better, but still boged down with a load on it. i checked the breaker points and the right side did not have any spark. it was getting power, but no spark. my friend said that it is the condenser that is shot......does that sound right? also what i would like to know is.....is it better to switch over to the dyna? if so do i need to change the coils? and where do i go to get all of these parts? thank you all for your patience and knowledge.

[Nessism]

The archives is full of details on installing a Dyna S in your bike and the search function will turn up all the details. Bottom line is that Z1 Enterprises has the parts and your stock coils are fine to use. Z1 also sells points which work fine as long as they are fresh and properly set.

[rapidray]

If you switch to the Dyna S & the Dyna 3.0 ohm coils & wires you will pretty much ELIMINATE ignition maintenance! No points to wear & need adjustment, no condensers to fail when you are in the middle of NO WHERE! Bring your bike into the 21st century with an electronic ignition, set it, & FORGET IT!!! LOL!! Good luck with whatever you decide & I am a Dynatek dealer if you want help with the parts. Ray.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Some will disagree but I see nothing wrong with the points. I still have them in my 850. Dyna is nice, it would need a coil upgrade. I have one on my parts shelf that I bought 4 years ago, stock coils would work if money is short I have yet to install mine..
First Check the coils for 12V (may need to block the points open) Then check for 12V at the points. Check the point gap. Open the points manually you should get a spark at the points. No spark I would replace the condensers If ok then suspect a bad coil

[Nessism]

Not to disagree but the Dyna S works fine with the stock coils. The instructions say it was designed to work with any coils with at least 3 ohms resistance so the stock coils are fine since they are about 4 ohms.

[rapidray]

Maybe so Ed but if you are replacing a 30 year old ignition, why not the 30 year old coils & wires all at the same time instead of one at a time as they fail? Ray.

[crapwacker]

Yes you can use stock coils. But whit a stock coil rated at, what 25,000v and dyna coils at 45,000v min, better spark is a good thing. I didn't want to do this upgrade this year, but when one of my 30 year old coils burnt TFU 30 miles out, I wasn't about to go schlepping about trying to find a used coil. And yes, it's not even about JUMPING into the 21st century; face it, if you still had points on your auto in say a 1990 vehicle, you'd want to see any maker of such vehicles fail. "Wow, I can't wait to give my (car, bike ) it's (fall, spring )tune up! I just have nothing better to do than tinker !!!"
Now if I can find an exact replacement platinum plug for my bike, one less thing to be 'retro' about. I don't mind retro style, but technological advancements are great. or else everyone on here would replace fork springs with OEM, and not something better

[Nessism]

Just my view of course but I think the stock ignition parts used by Suzuki, and built by Nippondenso, are pretty good stuff. I've read about Dyna coils falling apart before which is something that just plain doesn't happen with the Denso stuff until it's 25+ years old.

[SqDancerLynn1]

I have the dyna coils installed, just not the ign

[TheCafeKid]

Ive yet to have a STOCK GS coil go bad. The only BONUS to the Dyna stuff, in a STOCK application of course (hopped up motors generally call for hopped up spark) is the ability to use standard spark plug wires, which is nice. It would be cool if someone who's skill in such things far surpasses mine could come up with a way to use standard spark plugs wires on the stock GS coils...hrmmmmm...

[Mike Ski]

Thank you all.....i see there are two different sides to this. I guess my first thing to do is make sure that this is the problem first. is it possible that the points need to be adjusted? could that be the reason for no spark?

[don_gibb6512]

I've had two sets of stock coils and one set of practically new Accel coils go bad so it does happen. Of course, mostly to me but I've learned to live under that black cloud.

[Mike Ski]

Hey Ray.....i would like to run some part #'s by you. when you get a chance could you tell me if i got them right, or if i wasted my afternoon searching....lol the bike is a 1979 gs850 w/a ND ignition and i would like to switch to the dyna. the part #'s I came up with are as follows:

DYNA-S ELECTRONIC IGNITION ........part # DYDS3-2

DUAL OUTPUT 5.0 ohm COILS...........part # DYDC8-1

YELLOW WIRES..............................part # DYDW500

I think this is all i will need, if not could you please let me know if i am missing anything. My friend said not to bother with the coils, but i already lost most of the season and i need to get up and running so i can try to salvage what is left. Thank you for your time and patience.

[chef1366]

Get the three ohm green coils with dual outputs.

[Mike Ski]

Chef, would the 3ohm green coils work better with the dyna than the black dual output 5 ohm ones. i thought the bigger....the better.