Topic: Need help with my 1973' k3

[ckreb]

Picked up a k3. Think the guy fried the martek ignition with a set of accel super coils. What do I have to do to change the ignition system? Did the martek unit use the original timing advancer or it's own?

[Tews19]

What makes you think it is fried?

Btw welcome to the site and we love pics!

[ckreb]

I picked the bike up rode it home. It ran fine.(9 miles) Drove to work the next day (20 miles) and I could hear the bike dropping 2 cylinders and picking back up. On my way home after work the bike just shut down 4 times. First time shut off key turned it back on and away I went. Got worse every time it died had to turn switch on and off repeatedly before it would fire. So got home turned it off and now no fire at all. Eliminated the emergency stop on the bars first,no change. Ran and got a new ignition switch, still no spark. Pulled the points cover low and behold a martek 440. I had to look that up I was expecting points. So I look up the martek and it says not to use accel super coils with it or they'll fry the system.I knew the wires were accel so I pulled the tank and bingo accel coils. I didn't test the martek but the new accel coils the guy put on it before I bought it are fried. Voltage to em but not through em.

[ckreb]

So after reading everything I could find about martek the conclusion is yes it does use the original timing advancer. And YES Accel coils DO in fact fry these ignitions. Ohms are to low for them. Found a set of coils and I think for now the bike will go old school. Back to a points system that I can service. Mabey give hondamans system a try after I catch up on some highway miles. BTW my first post was a lot longer the first three times I wrote it but I missed the fact that letters are case sensitive in verification.So by the fourth time it was short and to the point. I will post pics when I get them loaded to my kindle. But a belated hello to everyone anyway.

[ckreb]

Changed my mind. Installed a dyna s. Need to fine tune the timing but she's alive.

[Old Scrambler]

Welcome aboard...........and from the sound of another fine running K3 you may already know more than some on this board. One or two more posts and pics will be required for further reading.

[ckreb]

Thank you. Finished timing and took a fifty mile put. Runs like a champ. Now on to a fender,  and gotta do something with the grips and drag bars. Need a riser or a different set of bars. And these grips are too big and too hard for a long ride my hand was cramping after 40 miles or so. Here's a first pic anyways. This is the day it came home has new pods since then. Couple dings from the previous owner dumping it but I can live with them for now. Gonna need a headlight bucket though its cracked. I have an air ride front end with 37 mm tubes and dual disks I'm considering swapping onto it.