TOPIC:

calvinhobbesfan92 wrote: ...PM me and I'll give it to you.

I sent you a PM... not sure if you have notifications turned on...

Can anybody post an email for contacting Kaw with requests for electronic copies of the diagrams? I just noticed the change and I'm bummed! I go there a lot to look up parts and Kaw has always had the best parts diagrams. I sure hope they come back....and hopefully in a similar format.

Bike bandit has all of the diagrams also, but they only list their part numbers, not Kawasaki numbers.

calvinhobbesfan92 wrote: I just received the complete diagram for my bike from the representative at Kawasaki. From what I can tell they're doing what they can to get diagrams to people in a timely manner. Only took him an hour once I told him what model of bike. I've been talking with Mike D'Agata. He's a good guy.

That is awesome! Kawasaki has always had fantastic support for their products, service manuals are some of the best you will find anywhere, open access parts diagrams on their website are something every manufacturer should do. Glad they take this issue seriously, hopefully they get everything back up again.

NOOOOO!!!! i knew someone else had to have started a thread about this already. haha. i will be joining the others who sent feedback via the link provided in this thread. i hope they get it working as good or better then it used to. it was so very useful, that it was one of the few reasons i buy oem parts. i want it back haha.

has someone sent a link to this thread in one of their messages?

and hey, i'm 21 and the old jap bikes are where it's at for me! My daily driver is my '81 550 LTD.

Tyler wrote: open access parts diagrams on their website are something every manufacturer should do.

yes. yes. yes. every ,anufacturer. veryyy useful to not have to visit a dealer every time you want to look up parts. i own an old bmw and realoem.com is pretty useful for bmw parts diagrams and numbers.

sent a message, and linked this thread. hopefully they view it.

also, cool stuff that we have an insider taking part in our forum haha

Just submitted the following:

I recently discovered that Kawasaki.com has dropped all the parts diagrams for bikes older than 1984. This is really disappointing.

I own a 1979 KZ750 and a 2009 Versys. I have to tell you a big part of my decision to buy the Versys as opposed to another brand was what I saw as a long term commitment to support your customers by making the parts diagrams from so many older bikes available freely on your website.

The parts diagrams are a vital resource for thousands of riders who love their vintage Kawasakis. Having access to those diagrams and the what-fits-what parts lookup are essential for those of us who want to keep our vintage bikes on the road.

When people see a 35 year old Kawasaki going down the road it speaks volumes about the reliability of the brand. It gives them confidence that the new bike they're going to pick up at the dealership is built well and will last them a long time.

Please help support the community of riders of vintage Kawasakis and put the parts diagrams back up on the website.

Got a reply today with a PDF of the parts diagrams for my bike and a statement that they're working to restore the old diagrams. At least Kawasaki is responding promptly to this.

Topper wrote: ...At least Kawasaki is responding promptly to this.

I have also been impressed with the quick and friendly response from Kawasaki. I does sound like they plan to restore the missing years and models.

However, I'm more concerned about the missing features, which look to me to be outside of the scope of what they had planned.

The PDF documents they are sending out appear to be direct transcriptions of the original microfilm. The numbers listed are all the original part numbers. They do not show the newer numbers for the many superseded parts.

But the biggest issue is the lack of a way to find out if any given part is still active or if it is no longer available.

If anyone from Kawasaki is reading this, I can give a good example: A simple 6mm lock washer, of which there are probably over 100 on my bike.

The PDF lists the part number as 461F0600. The old online database shows this part is obsolete (I copied some data before it was removed), but was superseded by a newer part that is equivalent and still active. I did not record the newer number.

Partzilla lists 461F0600 as available, even though I am certain it was listed as canceled (not available) in the database. They list a price of $0.28.

It is very common for them to show a part as available that is most definitely not available .

Someone on Ebay is selling one for $8.99 + $6.50 shipping, which is crazy.

If I need one, can I buy it from a dealer? Is it available? Is a newer equivalent with a slightly different part number available? Or do I have to subject myself to highway robbery to get it on Ebay?

I could order it from Partzilla and hope for the best, which I've done in the past. It takes about a week to find out that the part is not available, which can be frustrating and disappointing. I could call my local dealer to ask about the status of each nut and washer that I'm looking for, which I think would get old pretty fast.

This washer isn't the best example, as I can get one at a good hardware store, but it does show how crazy NOS parts can be on the used market . There are many parts that are very specific to each model and must come from the factory, either directly or through the used market. Many are still available, many are not. The ability to quickly find a part's status was really really valuable. Please restore the old database features.

Edit: Nevermind...found the link to the contact form from an earlier post. Thanks

Click here for contact form

[quote="dohc" post=650566........
But the biggest issue is the lack of a way to find out if any given part is still active or if it is no longer available.
[/quote]

Along with that question is this -
How will a Kawasaki dealer know if the part is still available? Will they order it from Kawasaki and wait a week to learn it was discontinued or do they have some other method? Ed

650ed wrote:
Along with that question is this -
How will a Kawasaki dealer know if the part is still available? Will they order it from Kawasaki and wait a week to learn it was discontinued or do they have some other method? Ed

Dealers use a dealer system with Kawasaki. It tells parts status as well as which of the three main warehouses it is stocked in. The dealer will know as soon as they place the order with Mother Kaw about the part(s).

Or at least that's how it was when I worked at a "Big 4" dealership 10 years ago. I think they might have a newer better system in place now.

Later, Doug

Getting the diagrams back would be nice - but.... the bigger issue is Kawasaki USA is going through a concerted effort to discontinue many of the parts for the older bikes.

In just this past 1-2 weeks, we've seen 12-15 parts go discontinued. Some relatively high-volume parts.

What I don't understand is we are able to obtain those parts from Kawasaki in Japan through a dealer in Japan, so this appears to be a Kawasaki USA strategy only at this time.