Kawazaki z400 1981 spark not enough,wiring a mess

rectifier replace check earth wires

KICK HARDER TRY PULL STARTING IT..IN SECOND GEAR..DOES IT HAVE ENOUGH COMPRESSION TO START?IT SHOULD START PULLING IT...START OFF WITH NO THROTTLE THAN IF NOT STARTING CRACK THE THROTTLE SO LIGHTLY AND SHE SHOULD FIRE OFF WHILE IN GEAR BEING PULLED OF COURSE BE CARE FUL NOT TO RUN INTO. WHO EVERS PULLING YOU..USE A LONG TOW ROPE..IF YOUR NOT A SEASONDED RIDER AND KNOW YOUR BIKE VERY WELL I WOULD NOT ATTEMPT THE PULL START...IF NOT CHECK YOUR COMPRESSION AND TIMING..MAJOR VACUUM LEAK MAYBE AT BASE GASKET..IS ENGINE SUCKING TO MUCH AIR? GOOD LUCK..

sounds to me as if the switch on the clutch lever is faulty. to check this locate the switch, disconnect the spade connectors, and use a paper clip to join the two wires together you should then be able to start with bike in gear if so then replace clutch lever switch.

You didn't say what type of bike you were having a problem with but it sounds like a classic case of "fuel percolation". When the engine is hot and you shut it down, the lack of air flowing by the carb allows the fuel in the float bowl to boil. This floods the engine and it won't start.

Now, to determine exactly what's going on, The next time it does it, have a spare set of spark plugs with you. Pull the spark plug wires off the plugs in the heads and put the spare set in the wires. Ground them good on the engine and press the start button. Watch for the plugs to fire. If you see spark, then you know your problem is fuel related. If not, it's ignition related. Then we can go from there.

Tell me what type of bike we're messing with here?

I had the same bike once. You need to ge the shop manual $15 once you get into all this.

Make sure you are checking your oil with bike level on level ground. Then check it at that location everytime...if you have a centerstand use it...Now the diptick shoul be unscrewed ,wiped clean and when reinserted DON"T screw it back down, check oil level w/ dipstick threads showing...i think your high/low ghost will disappear !....Good Luck to you friend...Tim

Moisture is not likely to be the problem. Though trying to help, your friend made problems worse by messing with the carbs. The backfire is caused by incorrect carb balancing and incorrect carb synchronization. Your bike is 27 years old. The Honda shop probably will not work on it but you could ask. If the shop won't fix it then ask if any of the mechanics work on bikes at home. Any chance your friend messed with the spark plug wires?

what you what to do is clean your grounds if you can take off the wireing and clean evrey thing one by one

Hi and welcome to FixYa,

Offhand a couple of possibilities considering it is a 1981 model:

• check the usual, if it is not cranking, either weak battery or starter relay/solenoid. Another to consider is the starter motor or more specifically the carbon brushes;
• ignition switch - check if the coils are getting +12 even when cranking;
• CDI - check if the electronic ignition is getting +12 even when cranking;
• if it is still a point type ignition, check the contact points, gap, dwell and the condenser;
  
• compression test - worn out rings and/or intake valves would cause low compression making the bike hard if not impossible to start.
  

Good luck and Thank you for using FixYa. Happy New Year.

sounds like a battery issue