My first bike! 1982 KZ550C LTD, need some electrical (and other) assistance.

Hi all! So I'm a new owner of a KZ550 LTD. I've never ridden a motorcycle nor worked on one before so this is gonna be a real project. A buddy of mine gave it to me after telling me the electrical harness would either need to be repaired or replaced. I guess he'd chopped into it to give it a more minimized electrical system, got a new bike, and it's sat since. It's missing the clutch and brake levers, so I'll need to get new ones (can anyone recommend a good set that won't break the bank?) all of the controls are in a box so the handlebars are bare. The lights are also all in a box.

So unless I'm wrong, the place to start here will be the wiring harness. I found a minimized diagram online that mostly makes sense to me. I'm not familiar with the electrical aspects of how a bike runs, so I'm completely drawing a blank there. My buddy says I'll need to do a custom wiring job as he retrofitted the ignition system, but I'm not completely sure what that entails. Normally he'd be down to help me sort through it but he lives an hour and a half away, so I'm mostly on my own.

Anyway, as you can tell by this post I have no idea what I'm doing and would appreciate some help getting my head around this. I've got some experience with electrical systems in electronics and other smaller systems like 3D printing and such. I've got enough wire to rebuild the harness from scratch, I ordered waterproof connectors, a new H4 connector for the headlight, PTE tape for the harness, and PTE split loom.

Thanks!

Looks like the factory clutch lever is still available.

www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motorcycle/1982/ltd-kz550-c3

The clutch lever assembly, right?

Welcome to the fold. Do yourself a favor and get the factory maintenace manual. Pics. We love pics. It helps to show what you need. Ask away any questions you may have about your bike's needs.

Oh good point. Don't know why I didn't think to take pics. I ordered a Clymer manual as thats the only one I could find. Will that suffice?

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Clymer is better than nothing but, Ma Kaw manuals are best. It is not unusual to build a library of manuals in our hobby of bikes. You should see my library of VW maint manuals! Used manuals show up here , ebay and other places for way less than new.

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Since you [will soon] have a manual, you can use the OEM parts to start mostly fresh with your bike. Good luck!

dthemac wrote: The clutch lever assembly, right?

All you mentioned was the lever, so that is what I looked for.

Here is a copy of the factory service manual. The LTD specific stuff is in the appendix, near the back.

www.kzrider.com/modules/ServiceManuals/Kz400500550_79to83.pdf

Also, look for a post from user Loudhvx. In his signature line are links to his websites where there is a truckload of information specific to the 550.

By dthemac: ... So unless I'm wrong, the place to start here will be the wiring harness. I found a minimized diagram online that mostly makes sense to me. I'm not familiar with the electrical aspects of how a bike runs, so I'm completely drawing a blank there. My buddy says I'll need to do a custom wiring job as he retrofitted the ignition system, but I'm not completely sure what that entails. ....

Simplified wiring diagrams by loudhvx. KZR topic >> bare bones for mattylight >> Pg 1 .
A few of the diagrams may be missing. from pages 11-on most seem to be there.
Pg. 13 has a 550-C3 diagram. There may be other diagrams that would be applicable to your model.

You can check the parts diagrams at Partzilla to see what sort of electrical components the motorcycle should have had stock. You can probably eliminate one or two of them, such as a turn signal operating switch or reserve lighting device. Also, you might be able to find a good used wire harness on EB or with any luck NOS at reasonable cost.