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Dirt Demon, since the temp has warmed up here in Illinois, my bayou fires right up without warming the CDI unit with a heat gun. So that pretty well rules out pickup coil. Do you know what the RPM range is that actually starts to advance the timing? I am still going to try a Ford CDI unit it just mite work if it dont all it would do is make the bike run retarded. Dave

I believe I would of tried that kit anyway as long as it will take minimum trigger voltage to fire the coil. I am trying to find out if the CDI unit advances timing electronicaly since it dont have a mechanical advanced. If it dont then the Ford CDI unit will work.

Atvertoo, Sounds like you got a hell of a buy for $240. were did you get it at? Kaw dealer told me they were $380 dollars. I am going to do some experimenting by using a CDI unti off of a older Ford pickup truck. A mechanic friend of mine seems to think that it will work since the trigger voltage is the same as on the bike. Will post my results.

Dirt Demon, Thought I would post an update of what I found out about my 2000 Bayou. As I stated before earlier about the theory of temperature sensative CDI box. Well that theory has turned into a provin fact. For me to start my bike I need to warm the the CDI with a heat gun and the bike will fire right up otherwise it just sparks when you let off the the starter button. That tells me that it has a bad solder joint on the printed circut board that is sealed in silicone. dave

Well guys it sounds like we are getting everybody elses bike going, but we havent heard from JamesD. He probably decided the HELL with this and took it to the KAW. shop. I know one thing I would try anything to keep from replacing that HIGH DOLLAR CDI unit. The weather has warmed up here in Illinois and my bike is running great So I am going with temperature sensative CDI box.

DirtDemon I suppose thaat a component could test good under certain test and fail under others. I seen this many times in the electronics field that i worked In for years. I have also seen were they would fail as they reach a certain temperature. The p/u coil being inside the engine is a good example. I bet if its tested again cold it would show voltage. Also being a older bike it might have metal fragments built up around the magnet.

ATVERTOO, Hey before you go thru the trouble of changing the pick up coil I would be sure the plug connection is clean. I think the spades in the plug are made of a brass aloy and can corrode real easy. Also I used a Beckman industrial type meter to take the ohm and ac voltage readings, Some meters arent as sensative and wont give you the readings you are looking for its best to check with others meters to see if you get close to reading the same. My cheap radio shack meter just wouldnt do it. dave

(contnd) 4. I also hooked up an AC volt meter to the pickup coil plug and cranked the engine over it read .90 of a volt AC. 5. Made sure the battery was charged up and putting out a full 12 volts. My experience with automobile system that some will not produce spark unless you do have a fully charged battery. Could be the same with CDI unit on Kaws. 6. I also ohmed out the ignition coil and it checked good. As my Clymer book calls for. 7. I took the CDI from the inside and put it back in the bike and it fired up. and been running good since then. If anybody has any questions you can email me at [email protected] Dave

Well the ole Bayou didnt let me down today it started right up and ran good. Like i said in predviuos post I would explain what I did and my opinion is I think the basic reason it would not start was the the cap on the end of the plug wire must be tight and I think the CDI is getting tenperature sensitive to cold weathe because of its age and my experience with electronic parts such as resistors capacitors do change their values due to age and temperature. I basically done a process of elemination on it. !. Unplug CDI and check its values witha ohm meter as described in a Clymer repair manual. I used 2 different meters a digital and analog with 1000 ohm scale. CDI values were erratic at 20 degree outside temperature. I took the box out and put indoors to warm up at room temp. And check it again and it had changed alot on the reading I was getting. 2. Clean CDI plugs female and male with a good electronic parts cleaner. Making sure it would not hurt plastic type cleaner. Althougn the contacts didnt look corrodid I did it anyway. 3. Check pickup coil at plug end the 2 wire plug with a ohm meter. I got 419 ohms . 350 to 550 is condisered good. (to be contnd)

Well for those who are interested i got my 2000 Bayou running today. It ran so good I plowed snow with it. If it starts tomorrow and doesnt fail me, I will post what I did to get it going. I know one thing the ignition on Kaw are very fickle. I have worked on motorcycle myself for 40 yrs and have never seen anything so big a pain in the A-- as this has been

hey DirtDemon, By chance would you know what the average AC voltage should be that the pick up coil puts out. I am getting .90 of a volt on the my pickup coil while the engine is cranked over. The Clymer doesn't give that only what the ohms should be and they are fine. Dave

Well I contacted kawasaki today and that was a waist of time. I asked them if they could check my cdi box and they said they didnt have away too. They told me I would have to buy another new box for $380.00 and there is no returns on electrical componence. That SUCKS..... Is there any after market boxes that would work.???? Dave

I have the same problem with my 2000 . I have a repair manual and I have been doing resistant checks and so far the ohms I am getting dont match the ones in the manual for the CDI. The pickup coil shows in range it that it should. 419 ohms. I am starting to think the CDI is the problem. Will find out more tomorrow when I go to KAW. shop. Dave