[IanDMacDonald]

These bikes don't have a mechanical advance. Inside the ignition cover you'll just find a plate with a coil and a rotor on the end of the crank. The rotor doesn't have any moving parts; all of the magic for the advance curve happens in the black box.
It is, however, worth ringing the coil wires while giving them a gentle jiggle.

Gotcha. Timing curve controlled by TCI. Well, one of two possibilities.

[OkiePokie]

Okay, Problem Solved!!! (spoiler alert: it was the air filter)

Checked the silver barrels under the main jet holder. They had the right orientation.

Checked the signal generator at the CDI connector. It was good.

I was "cleaning" the air filter with some compressed air, and thought the paper looked kinda yellowed or something. Got to thinking maybe it was the problem. Well, let me say here and now that the AIR FILTER was it. I don't have a new air filter to test my theory, but I did drill four small holes in the pleated paper part of the filter with a 1/8 inch drill bit. Small holes, right? Put it all back together and had just enough time between thundershowers to run down the street and back. Revs great! Runs just like it is supposed to. Pulled strong up past 8 and 9K rpm. Sweet!

I'm kinda feeling like an idiot with a latent streak of genius for finally figuring this out, testing it, and to my mind proving it. Broke my own first rule of troubleshooting, which is to check the easy things first. But, with less than 2000 miles on the bike when I got it I never thought the filter would be dirty. But, but, (yes I said but twice), I don't think it's dirty in the usual sense. I'm thinking years of gasoline vapor from leaky carbs and probably lots of starting fluid at different times have kind of sealed up the filter element enough to cause problems with the air flow.

So, the real test will be how it runs with a new air filter. If it hadn't been raining when I finished up with a chance of even more showers tonight and tomorrow, I'd probably be out right now doing a victory lap across the state.

I want to thank those that replied in this thread to my request for help. Also want to thank the KatRiders forum for all the help and information I found here. I'd never have made it this far without Carbs 102 and all the other troubleshooting and how to information I found in Mechanics 101.

Best thing? After doing all the maintenance and repairs to get my Kat running right, I really own this bike. Own it in a way someone who just rides will never understand.

[magman]

Okay, Problem Solved!!! (spoiler alert: it was the air filter)

Checked the silver barrels under the main jet holder. They had the right orientation.

Checked the signal generator at the CDI connector. It was good.

I was "cleaning" the air filter with some compressed air, and thought the paper looked kinda yellowed or something. Got to thinking maybe it was the problem. Well, let me say here and now that the AIR FILTER was it. I don't have a new air filter to test my theory, but I did drill four small holes in the pleated paper part of the filter with a 1/8 inch drill bit. Small holes, right? Put it all back together and had just enough time between thundershowers to run down the street and back. Revs great! Runs just like it is supposed to. Pulled strong up past 8 and 9K rpm. Sweet!

I'm kinda feeling like an idiot with a latent streak of genius for finally figuring this out, testing it, and to my mind proving it. Broke my own first rule of troubleshooting, which is to check the easy things first. But, with less than 2000 miles on the bike when I got it I never thought the filter would be dirty. But, but, (yes I said but twice), I don't think it's dirty in the usual sense. I'm thinking years of gasoline vapor from leaky carbs and probably lots of starting fluid at different times have kind of sealed up the filter element enough to cause problems with the air flow.

So, the real test will be how it runs with a new air filter. If it hadn't been raining when I finished up with a chance of even more showers tonight and tomorrow, I'd probably be out right now doing a victory lap across the state.

I want to thank those that replied in this thread to my request for help. Also want to thank the KatRiders forum for all the help and information I found here. I'd never have made it this far without Carbs 102 and all the other troubleshooting and how to information I found in Mechanics 101.

Best thing? After doing all the maintenance and repairs to get my Kat running right, I really own this bike. Own it in a way someone who just rides will never understand.

I'm glad you got it man.

[Molochnik]