Starter Button, Turn Signals, and Headlight stopped working 1977 KZ1000 A

Many thanks to all prior to writing this.  I checked the forum for my particular issue...if it has already been covered, please point me in that direction.

OK, this is my first KZ1000A, and it is one of the first/early ones.  It has a 1080 overbore kit, Mikuni VM29 carbs and a 4 into 1 exhaust, with necessities like K&N pod air cleaners ect...

I rebuilt the carbs, and got it to run, no problem, but had to play with the electrical connections, cleaning all of the connectors with DeOxit-D5 and scruff pads where I could.
When I first received the bike the start button did not work, I trouble shot the starter, solenoid, and push button, to finally get it to start...just by what I thought my efforts of cleaning the contacts.

I have had the wiring loom somewhat laying free, while I got all of the electrical stuff working and getting the bike to run.  Yet when I organize the loom either with panduit or cable ties, the start button will stop working along with the headlight, and now turn signal dash indicators....I take everything apart, re-check the connectors, play with the wiring...checking the solenoid, starter ect...all the electrics magically come back to life, I try again to organize the wiring, just to get the gas tank back on, and then the start button and other items stop working....this will be my third time.

I understand it is a wiring loom issue, since it is the original loom.  I have checked the ground, and used many of the wiring diagrams to see what I could be missing...but this is frustrating.

Any ideas?  Typically grounding problems are tough to diagnose, likewise a broken wire that may/may not be covered are tough to check.  But the common issue is that the headlight, starter button, and turn signal dash lights stop working.  Any common items that I should be looking for?

Thank you again, I appreciate any/all feedback.

Welcome from the UK, if you look in my signature there is a link to an electrical fault finding guide which I wrote, you may find useful
PS: if the link doesn't work look the filebase - "General" - "General electrical" page 2

   Where the harnesses flex around the steering head every time the handlebars are rotated lock-to-lock is fairly notorious for developing breaks in the conductors, inside the insulation that can't be seen.  The color codes on the wiring for each load component would help to focus on the exact wiring to test with a meter or test light.  Intermittent electrical issues can be a PITA to find.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Thank you very much for your response.  I'm in the process now of using your recommended document and testing.  

I should take a picture, I now (for the 4th) time have the wiring loom apart, and everything works perfect....Once I start organizing the loom, with tape, panduit, and cable ties...it stops working.

I can see why just re-doing the loom with a MotoGadget or similar device is well worth the time and dollars spent...(mental note to myself for future projects)

I'm determined to get to the bottom of this, and will let you know what I find.

Again, many many thanks!

Thank you for taking the time to reply.  Many thanks.

I'm in the process of unwrapping all of the loom and testing wire by wire.  One of the additional problems with this is that someone else has been in this loom and used different wire colors to jump, link other wires.

I am specifically focusing on the loom/covering of the loom and wires near the steering head.  I took off some tape and have found the factory rubberized wiring covering to have a hole worn through it, again that someone taped over it.  As you say it almost looks like the wiring harness was pinched at the steering stops....probably multiple times.

I will let you know what I find, as usual keep the faith, and process a difficult situation in an organized timely matter.

The moto that you find on a many of the customized T-shirts around is "Work hard, make cool Sh*t", had to start somewhere...possibly the "Work Hard" portion of the quote!

Only my opinion but I would suggest you take a "pragmatic" approach to this type of fault. Electricity follows logic (although it doesn't always appear thy way) I would start by running through every system on the bike (dash lights, warning lights, turn signals, brake light etc) and make a list of what does and doesn't work. Then grab a coffee and look at the wiring diagram, you are looking for common denominators (multiple faults like this normally lead back to a common point) Once you know what you are looking for it will be much easier to pin-point the cause of the problem - generally speaking ripping into the loom as a starting point will lead to frustration and "sticky fingers" but more often than not it won't provide a conclusive answer until you go back to the diagram

Great advice, thank you all for taking the time to respond.

After working with the main loom, I've decided to cut my loss, (of wasted time), and have ordered a main loom, and dash loom from Z1 Enterprises.  Since I can get different light/electrical results from "organizing" the wiring to be able to then put the gas tank back on, my thinking is to replace the wiring rather than to chase down individual wires.  

The only questionable item on this process would be able to tie in the Dyna-S electronic ignition system.  I could follow whomever put in this system's wiring - although I'm not sure this is wired correctly, since at times, I can just turn on the key and one of the plugs will fire....somewhat like a "burp" back through the carbs...without me pushing the starter button, again just by me turning on the key.

The bike will start right up and seem to run fine on the bike stand...so the ignition system seems to work fine, but the "pop/burp" when turning the key on raises a concern.

Who ever worked on the bike before wired the three wires coming from the Dyna-S modules, one wire going to the bikes kill switch, and then the additional two wires one each, to an ignition coil.  

The kill switch connector also gets it's power from the ignition switch, once the kill switch is in the proper "run" mode.  So....I'm assuming this is correct (for the Dyna-S modules)...please let me know if not.

Again thanks for all of your help.

Now would be a good time to add a relay to the ignition circuit.  
There are several posts here on kzrider with a diagram and instructions, it's an easy upgrade.
Search "ignition by-pass relay W" or "wired george relay"

Don't discard the old harnesses.  Sometimes having spare wiring available of the correct color codes can be very handy.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE 

Thank you all for your responses you all have been very helpful.

Well 10 days after I placed an order with Z1Enterprises, I received the new loom, as well as a loom for the instrument cluster.  And....none of the connectors match, nor for that matter wiring colors match.  What I thought would be a plug and play effort has forced me to take apart the old wiring loom, (still on the bike), and I found out that there are thirteen wire splices...all crimped none of them soldered, with different wire colors being spiced into various other wire colors.

Yes, I could see that for the three wires that come from the electronic ignition module, I would kind of expect this....but I'm at thirteen, and counting  Now I know why the wiring sometimes works and other times it does not.

Regarding the Z1Enterprises loom...I ordered the loom for a 1977 "early model KZ1000", hoping that the early model category would get me an exact replica.

Supposedly this bike was manufactured in 1976, but sold in 1977....and again reading up on the history of these bikes, various articles state that to be true.  I cannot buy anything for a KZ1000 if I state that it was a 1976 model.

On the steering head I have what I believe to be the following "Z1F-106692"  The engine has Z1E-121393 stamped on it.  Yes, perhaps the lower portion of the steering head "F" had the bottom line rubbed off by the wiring loom, but it looks clear as day, I rub welders chalk on the number and the F appears.

Someone had an intent of making the wiring changes, I'm (guessing) that this would not be a factory released modification, even if the bike was one of the first to be manufactured.

Now, where do I go from here.  My thought is to not change any of the wiring, but go back and solder all of the existing crimped splices and see if I get any stability out of the wiring.

Or, bite the bullet, and just get a modern MotoGadget and simplify the wiring with all new wires + all of the bells, and whistles that the MotoGadget gear provides....but I am trying to stay on a specific budget

Thoughts?  

Any other gear besides the MotoGadget stuff?

mikedemo wrote:

Thank you all for your responses you all have been very helpful.

 I found out that there are thirteen wire splices...all crimped none of them soldered, with different wire colors being spiced into various other wire colors. - you will find many more. Every car and bike manufactured has dozens of these "node" connections (crimped splices) throughout the loom. This is how the factory build them to reduce production costs and to avoid having a loom "as thick as a baby's arm". I have attached a diagram to demonstrate how these are shown on the diagram (the red circles)

Yes, I could see that for the three wires that come from the electronic ignition module, I would kind of expect this....but I'm at thirteen, and counting  Now I know why the wiring sometimes works and other times it does not. A "red herring" !!

Supposedly this bike was manufactured in 1976, but sold in 1977....and again reading up on the history of these bikes, various articles state that to be true.  I cannot buy anything for a KZ1000 if I state that it was a 1976 model. throughout the automotive industry (car and bike) factory's have a summer shut-down normally between June and August. After the shut-down they start building the next "model year" so an August 76 build is a 77 "model year" vehicle.

Someone had an intent of making the wiring changes, I'm (guessing) that this would not be a factory released modification, even if the bike was one of the first to be manufactured. Replacement looms are often a challenge due to changes between model years (remember parts go by model year not build date generally).

Now, where do I go from here.  My thought is to not change any of the wiring, but go back and solder all of the existing crimped splices and see if I get any stability out of the wiring. I would repeat my suggestion that you take a structured approach to "diagnosing" the issue. I suspect if you follow the process this will bring you back to possibly a "single point of failure" (one bad connector effecting everything) there is nothing wrong with soldering the splices however bear in mind, these crimped joints are nearly 50 years old and there will be corrosion build up within the crimps and cables themselves - you can't solder corroded wires (you can stick a dollop of solder to them but there will be no penetration or flow into the joint)

Or, bite the bullet, and just get a modern MotoGadget and simplify the wiring with all new wires + all of the bells, and whistles that the MotoGadget gear provides....but I am trying to stay on a specific budget This approach really is "cracking a nut with a sledgehammer" throwing money at the problem in the hope of a "miracle" rarely works out as expected

Thoughts?  

Any other gear besides the MotoGadget stuff?