PMC Hybrid Z1/Z2 wiring harness install and review

So I'd been planning on eventually replacing the wiring in my Z1 with a reproduction harness. Between the roadside fixes of myself and the previous owner, the original harness was pretty tired.
I made the mistake of browsing japan.webike.net one night and decided to go on a shopping spree.

I figured that for about twice the price of a nice reproduction harness, I could have a wiring harness where everything was on its own separate circuit with blade fuses. I'd also take the time to upgrade the charging system and replace the rear brake switch which was on its last legs.

I'd eyeballed the PMC Hybrid harness before, but cursory searches hadn't revealed any english speakers who'd installed it themselves.
The order took about 2 days to ship, and 4 days to get to my door.

Here's what I bought:







It included directions in japanese as well as a really nice wiring diagram in japanese:

Here's a look at the wiring harness laid out:



Old electrics:





The key cylinder wiring had been soldered to the main harness:

The fuse panel mounts up fairly easily, just be cognoscente of your wire routing and don't pinch any wires.
I used a nut on the top AND bottom mounting bolts to space it out a bit from the battery box so that I could be sure there'd be no pinched wires. Probably not necessary but it doesn't hurt.



Also, you'll need to re-use this connector clamp from the old panel:



The PMC wiring harness and PMC rear brake switch have different colored wires, but the connectors make it so you have only one possible way to hook it up:



The best thing about the wiring harness is that it's already got a hot wire (red/yellow) for an electronic ignition. No need to splice into the harness.

Here's most of the old wiring harness that was removed:



Overall the installation was pretty straightforward.

HOWEVER.

FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE WIRING DIAGRAM.

I was running into the issue where only 11.1v was getting to the coils and the bike didn't want to start. It would sometimes catch as I let my finger off the starter button.

I replaced the vintage AGM battery (from JAN 2011, reduced to 130CCA from age) and still had the same issue.

This is the issue:



Those two additional wires, the Hot and the Ground to the battery.
CONNECT THEM TO THE BATTERY, NOT THE STARTER SOLENOID

NO:



YES:



Doing that allows the bike to start immediately upon pressing the start button.


I highly recommend this harness. I believe it's well worth the money and peace of mind.

One final note, I did order a new starter solenoid from Ricks. I can't have an antique sitting in the middle of a fancy new harness now can I.

Also, before anyone says anything, yes, the wires from the ignition to the coils are switched in the picture. I fixed them and wound up doing a slight adjustment on the ignition timing.

I installed the Ricks starter solenoid on the Z1 today, a couple notes:

There's not really a way to use the stock mounting bracket as it's tack welded to the solenoid. I drilled out the tack welds on the bracket and was able to separate them, but the fit isn't quite right for everything to line up using the old bracket and the new solenoid.

I did a quick search to see how other people mounted this but there wasn't a clear/simple solution. I wound up using a hanger strap to mount the solenoid to the bike in essentially the same manner as the stock setup:



You can't see it in the picture, but I used a nut and allen bolt to clamp the strap around the stator. Make sure you use a short enough allen bolt so you can still get a socket onto the mounting bolts.

That's a nice review Move0ver. Thanks.


Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

thanks for the review.
what did the harness set you back $$$$????

leon

Thanks for the nice write up.
I wonder how that compares to the Motogadget M-unit setup?

531blackbanshee wrote: thanks for the review.
what did the harness set you back $$$$????

leon

Looks like just under $300

Here's one for about 1/2 that, when in stock. :whistle:
www.z1enterprises.com/wiring-harness-set-z1.html


japan.webike.net/products/1523082.html

Yea or was about $300.

For me the benefits of this harness were worth the price when compared to a stock reproduction

Could any member tell me what the connectors are for from the brown green etc on the panel kz1000A I guess they only fit certain circuits but I am starting from scratch