New Member: KZ650-B1 Project

Howdy! New member here, I've had my KZ650 since 2013 and I've put some great miles on it in that time. It got me all over the West (put several thousand miles on it in our first summer), but since then it's been a cantankerous little machine. Lately, I'm chasing electrical gremlins, and I'm sure they're incredibly simple to fix for those who are intelligent, but alas! no one has ever accused me of that. Still, looking forward to getting the old fella back on the road soon.

Any KZ guys in Los Angeles that need an extra set of hands? I'm not great with mechanics, but I'd love to learn, so if anyone needs help, I'll bring a sixer of beer or Coke and you can educate me haha.

Welcome. What area is that canyon? I use to ride most of them in my terrible twenties. What gremlins are you talking about?
Steve

swest wrote: Welcome. What area is that canyon? I use to ride most of them in my terrible twenties. What gremlins are you talking about?
Steve

That was Latigo Canyon, right in Malibu. Some pretty amazing hills and scenery up there! Where did you live, Steve?

Currently, it's got a dead battery (easy fix). Battery got drained while riding. I'd be able to kick-start or electric-start it, then ride for just a few feet before it'd totally kill (no IP lights, no headlight, nothing). Then once it died, the main power would kick back on and I could start it. If it died while I was rolling, the inertia of the gears would kick it back on for a few split seconds at a time, then cut off, then kick on, etc., with lots of loud backfiring coming along for the ride.

So, without doing much research yet, my initial thought is that maybe my generator is bad? Or perhaps I just need to learn how to do points.

Just before it started doing all this, I burned through I think ten main 20A fuses in three days, but by going through the wiring harness and wrapping any weak spots with electrical tape, I was able to keep that from happening and got another two weeks of reliable riding out of it. My current thought is that I'd like to maybe just replace the wiring harness altogether and upgrade to either an aftermarket electronic ignition or the electronic ignition from a later-model KZ. Prior to any of the electrical issues, it was a daily rider for about three months, and the first six months I owned it, I rode it probably three or four days a week. I'd love to get back to that, it's a great commuter. Plenty of power, stylish, cool, and good for responsible lane-splitting here in LA.

But all that can wait. For now I'm just stoked to start reading threads and stuff. I'll search/post in Electrical once I gird my loins enough to start taking my bike apart.

Clean your battery connections and the negative to the engine. I'd disconnect the regulator and rectifier to see if it helps. Could be bad. Check the wires going into the headlight. Pics of the bike and wiring will help us help you.
I grew up in Santa Monica and Malibu. When I was a infant, the whole family lived in a trailer untill Grand pa finished the house in Latigo canyon. The story was a log rolled out of the fire place when really he had the propane tank in the kitchen. All the bedroom doors were closed and he went out a window, broke the one in our room with his elbows and my mother handed me out to him. I was covered in blood when she got out, She freaked :ohmy: , my father said he reached up. felt the window sill and pulled himself out. The house went up like match sticks and all 7 of us wound up back in the trailer. I lived at Shermer's Orchids across from Paradise Cove until it too burned down in the Malibu fire of 68. I loved that area and the ocean. Now I'm a desert rat. Who knew? :lol:
Steve

Welcome Brett.

Do you have a service manual to help you diagnose your problems?
If not, a search here should help.
For electrical testing, you will need a simple volt meter.