Finding the right replacement for left hand switchgear

Hi all. This is my first post here. I hope nobody minds if I skip the lurking process and just dive right in.

I've got a 78 KZ650 in my garage right now that belongs to a friend. A few weeks ago the bike was towed for a parking violation, and while it was in impound, some parts disappeared off of the bike. Oddly, when those parts disappeared, wires were also cut and screws were unscrewed. The impound people know nothing about this, especially the guy who worked there and owned a KZ. I'm sure he had nothing to do with it.

What they took was the entire contents of the left handgrip. The grip's gone, the entire clutch lever assembly is gone (they left the cable intact) and the switchgear has had some parts removed, wires yanked loose from the switches, basicly it's trashed.

So here's what I need to know. There are different versions of this bike listed, like B1, B2, B2A, B3. How do I tell which version I have. The switchgear is different for the various versions, so I need to get the right one.

This bike's VIN is KZ650B-040004, which doesn't show up on Kawasaki's website as one of their bikes. The wires for the switchgear run through the handlebar, and from looking at the parts diagrams, this makes me think that the bike is either a B1, B2 or B2A. How can I tell for sure?

Second question: Anyone got any used parts that'll fit? Ugly is OK so long as they're functional.

. The impound people know nothing about this, especially the guy who worked there and owned a KZ. I'm sure he had nothing to do with it.



Second question: Anyone got any used parts that'll fit? Ugly is OK so long as they're functional.[/quote]

I would go to the impound guy's house- sounds like he has parts that would fit perfectly!

damn i tried to give some zx-10 controls away last week but nobody wanted them,allready pitched em sorry!

Welcome to KZr, fscott.

No need to lurk, jump right on in!

Sorry to hear what happened to you at the tow yard.
Some of those people that work at tow yards need a good 2x4 up side their head for doing crap like that!

The easiest way to tell is to look at the vin tag on the front of the frame for the production date.
Generally, anything manufactured after June would be the following years model (ie: 05/77='77 model...06/77='78 model).
Of course mid years changes can throw this off sometimes, like the KZ650 B2A for instance. Which was a mid-year production model in '78 that had some changes (I'm not exactely sure what kind, other than paint/stripes) to it.

Original spoked wheels - B model.
Original cast (mag) wheels - C model.

'77 models had a 3-piece generator (yoke/stator, rotor, field coil) and is easily verified by the outer cover having 3 pan-head screws near the center which hold the field coil to it.
The '78~ models had a 2-piece generator (stator and rotor only), and lacked the 3 pan-head center screws. '77 models also had a round shaped front master cylinder reservoir, the '78~ was rectangular in shape.

OK, I checked it out. The date on the bike is March, 1978. It's got the spoked wheels, so it's pretty clearly a B model.

I've tried to remove the wiring from inside the bars, but the insides of the handlebars has built up some rust and so the wiring loom is stuck in place. So it looks like I'll be getting a replacement switch cluster and using it to repair the existing one.

Time to shop. Thanks for all the help!