TOPIC:

The diagram you linked to, the black and white one, shows the regulator and rectifier separate. The regulator is shown between the A.C. Generator and the starter relay and the rectifier is shown between the battery and color code box. I'm talking location on the drawing, not between as in how the wiring is shown or physical location on the bike. But actually where on the page the components are shown.

Not trying to argue...but I'm looking at it right now. The 1977 KZ1000LTD has the separate regulator and rectifier. I promise.

I have the same setup as in the pics posted by the guy who hooked his battery up backwards and fried the wires. His 7th pic shows the rectifier, it says Mitsubishi on the side of it. Exact same as mine, only mine isn't all burned up. The regulator is under the right side cover. It's just a plain looking silver metal pot.

I can post some pics tomorrow.

OK sorry I see it over to the right farther. My bad.
Getting to really need the glasses, and to enlarge the diagram so much on the screen, that I have to scroll around to see sections of the diagram. The rectifier is way on the right, compared to the rest of the charging system. I fixed my post.
Sorry again about the F up.

Got it fixed! Took it for a 50 mile ride today and it's running great!

Finally had some time over the weekend to work on the bike more. Got the new set of points/condensers installed, cleaned and lubed the advancer and most importantly redid all the bad butt splices from a PO when he installed an aftermarket right side control switch. I redid them with bullet connectors, the kind with shrink tubing. Now the wires from the control switches have male bullet connectors so they plug right into the original female bullets on the harness.

I am now getting 12 volts to the coils on the red/yellow wire! That leaves a .5 volt drop from the battery but I'll call that good. When I started I had a 4.5 volt drop to the coils!

All the lights on the bike are much brighter, especially the headlight. I rode tonight and could actually see the road! Blinkers blink faster and they will even blink with the engine off and headlight on high beam.

To top it all off the bike is running great! Finally I think I know how a KZ is supposed to run. Acceleration is smooth and strong now. I can now roll into WOT from cruising at a steady 50mph in 5th gear @ 3,000RPM and it will not bog down. It will just go. Before it would completely bog down and never work thru it.

So I can use WOT at any speed now without it bogging down! It also runs much better at slow speeds. There is a section of town I rode thru today with a 20mph speed limit. Before fixing it riding at 20mph was rough, bike would spit and sputter and not like it, but today it was just fine at 20 mph at 2,000RPM. Very smooth.

It's running great and I still haven't vacuum synced the carbs (just a bench synch) or set the fuel screws for max rpm at idle (they are all set to 1 turn out by the book).

Once I do those two things I guess it can only get better.

Setting up the points is a bit of a pita, I'll admit that! I'm planning to get a Dyna-S ignition and coils by next year, but for now it's good.

The bike hit 12,000 miles today on my test ride. I hate seeing the miles add up but I sure do enjoy riding it.

Glad to hear you got it straightened out.

"The bike hit 12,000 miles today on my test ride. I hate seeing the miles add up ....

Are you kidding? 12k miles is just breaking the bike in. You can go many times that before you need to be concerned. Ed

650ed wrote: 12k miles is just breaking the bike in. You can go many times that before you need to be concerned. Ed

I know...but its still hard for me to see the miles add up on it. It had 10,300 when I bought it a few years ago. I just wonder what adding miles does to the value. But, then again, everyone knows that a well maintained machine with higher miles is better than a neglected low mileage machine.

It's nice to know that the bike is sorted now and running well. The only thing I need to do now is change the front fork seals and ride it. Can the seals be changed without pulling the forks apart?

Ed, is your bike still on points? Oh ya....you need to change your sig line to reflect you non-stock horn configuration.

74ullc wrote:

650ed wrote: 12k miles is just breaking the bike in. You can go many times that before you need to be concerned. Ed

I know...but its still hard for me to see the miles add up on it. It had 10,300 when I bought it a few years ago. I just wonder what adding miles does to the value. But, then again, everyone knows that a well maintained machine with higher miles is better than a neglected low mileage machine.

It's nice to know that the bike is sorted now and running well. The only thing I need to do now is change the front fork seals and ride it. Can the seals be changed without pulling the forks apart?

Ed, is your bike still on points? Oh ya....you need to change your sig line to reflect you non-stock horn configuration.

I have around 16,000 miles on my 80 KZ1000 Ltd. I too need fork seals, but my fork tubes are a little pitted. I have everything to do it so far except still needing one new fork tube. I already bid and won one new in box fork tube for $100 on Ebay. I will pick up another one soon and do it this winter when I pull the front end off.

I haven't changed fork seals without pulling them apart, but I don't see why you couldn't do it that way.

74ullc wrote:

650ed wrote: 12k miles is just breaking the bike in. You can go many times that before you need to be concerned. Ed

I know...but its still hard for me to see the miles add up on it. It had 10,300 when I bought it a few years ago. I just wonder what adding miles does to the value. But, then again, everyone knows that a well maintained machine with higher miles is better than a neglected low mileage machine.

It's nice to know that the bike is sorted now and running well. The only thing I need to do now is change the front fork seals and ride it. Can the seals be changed without pulling the forks apart?

Ed, is your bike still on points? Oh ya....you need to change your sig line to reflect you non-stock horn configuration.

I still use points - they work fine but should be dressed about every 5,000 miles and replaced about every 8-10,000 miles. When I replaced my fork seals I pulled my forks apart, but I was installing NOS outer fork legs at the time, so I needed to anyway. I suspect you can do it without pulling the forks apart if you're careful not to scratch the fork legs. Signature fixed Ed

Great to hear it's running so good!

BTW, I added a colorized factory wiring diagram for the 77 kz1000B1 ltd. As you said,I think it's basically identical to the A1.

kzrider.com/filebase/cat_view/95-1977/110-kawasaki-kz-1000-b1