Motorcycle Repair: arcing points, kawasaki motorcycles, chassis grounds

Question
 81 kawasaki csr 305- new set of points and condensors
 arcing out . old set was doing same thing. condensors
  check out good. what else could cause this problem?
 i know you prefer honda questions,but this is fairly
general.
             thanks for the help!
                                        gary

Answer
Gary, excessive arcing is always a result of either very dirty contact faces (always clean the protectant off the faces) or a disconnected/defective condenser. Just how did you "check out" the condensers? Be sure that the point gap is correct and verify ignition timing after any adjustments or after a short wear in period. Gap should be in the .016" range, at least for Honda twins. Gaps too small or dirt can cause problems.

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Select Kawasaki Motorcycles, KZ305, then 81 CSR305

The condenser pack is a 2 in 1 unit, so one could be bad and that would be associated with the arcing set, if that is the case. If they are original, I would definitely replace them after 26 years of service. I am not quite clear if you did replace them, from the above question or not.

If the new parts are OEM and still causing problems on both sides, then there is too much current coming to and through them, which could be a function of bad spark plug caps, requiring higher voltage output or some kind of overvoltage in the ignition system.

Make sure all of your chassis grounds are good and clean and tight. Check your charging system output readings to see if the output is too high and/or the battery for being fully charged with no dead cells. Defective batteries can pass along extra current from the charging system and/or make the whole electrical system unbalanced.

Bill Silver