New Member '79 KZ1000E-ST project....

For increased electrical reliability, do this:

Cleaning Motorcycle Electrics

1. Get some of the De-Oxit electrical contact cleaner and figure on spending a good day going from the front of the bike to the back. It’s a plastic safe cleaner/preservative. www.deoxit.com is their website. It can be purchased at most Radio Shack Stores or any electronic supply places. Or use any plastic safe electrical contact cleaner(NOT WD-40 !).

2. On the older Kawasaki's, a majority of electrical connectors are inside the headlight housing requiring removal of the headlight, then the fun begins.

3. Do one set of electrical connectors at a time to avoid mixing up what connects to where. Usually disconnecting, spraying with De-Oxit and reconnecting is about all you'll need.

4. However, when encountering the green crud of corrosion, a brass wire brush may be needed on the pins you can reach. Some 400-600 grit wet and dry sandpaper strips rolled into a tube should reach the male and female pins in the more difficult to clean connectors.

5. Smoker’s pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and wooden toothpicks work as cleaning aids.

6. Really small electrical connectors may require the use of a welders tip cleaning tool assortment.

7. Most pins in the connectors are coated with a thin plating of tin, and others may be nothing more than copper or brass.

8. If moisture is added, the resulting corrosion lowers the voltage/current being carried causing dim lights, slow engine cranking, slow turn signal responce and lower input voltage to the ignition coils resulting in weak spark.

9. The left and right handlebar switch pods will need attention too as they have circuit functions like turn, horn, run/stop, and start. The older Kawasaki’s have reports of the soldered connections crumbling, if your bike has this problem, just ask, as I’ve got a repair procedure for this.

10. Usually a spritz or two with actuation of the switch is about all needed for these switches unless corrosion is detected and then careful disassembly is required.

11. The ignition switch may or may be not sealed to allow spraying the internal contacts. I urge caution if attempting to open this up as springs, and ball bearings may fly out never to be seen again!

12. If your bike has the older style glass tubed fuses, I suggest replacing them as vibration can cause internal failure. AGX is the type used, and most auto parts stores can get them for you, along with boating supply stores.

13. Clean the fuse holder clips, looking for signs of overheating(discolored insulation, signs of melting). I use metal polish on a cotton swab, followed by spraying another clean swab with the De-Oxit and then rubbing the inside of the fuse clip.

14. All battery cables must be clean and tight for maximum current transfer. Check the cables going from the Negative(-) battery terminal/post to the engine mounting bolt

15. Also the one going from the Positive(+) terminal to the starter solenoid and from there to the starter motor.

16. If any battery cable feels ”Crunchy” when flexed, replace it as possible corrosion is inside the insulation. Inspect all heavy duty battery cables and the smaller wire terminations(Bullet Connectors), for failed crimps, and those used in the electrical connectors, as they can fail over time.

17. Each "Bullet Connector" will have to be sprayed to ensure good connectivity, especially the ones going to the energizing coil of the starter solenoid.

18. The alternator output “Bullet Connectors” are usually behind the engine sprocket cover and will need inspecting and cleaning too.

20. The turn signal light sockets will benefit from a spritz from the contact cleaner along with the tail light/brake light socket.

21. Some brake light switches can be sprayed on the actuating rod, with the spray running down inside to the electrical contacts, others may be sealed requiring replacement if the switch is intermittent in operation.

22. Some people put the Di-Electric Grease on cleaned terminations/connectors, I don’t, as I’ve read/heard it can cause problems when it gets hot, actually insulating the connections, so the choice is yours to use or not.

I think I've covered about all of the electrical systems on the bike.........

“I spent a weekend going through every electrical connection and switch on the bike with a little scotchbrite pad and DeOxit - what a difference! Everything was brighter, gauge backlights, indicator lights, turn signals, I was getting a nicer spark, it fired up quicker, etc. Well worth my time. WELL worth it! “

From a forum member at www.kzrider.com

Beautiful bike. I am with you,leave it like it is. I would not coat the tank,gasahol would likley destroy the liner if you were to go that route. Get a good gas filter.

Make sure you have 12 volts to the coils. I use Dyna coils on my bikes. Your coils should be good enough to start with unless they are cracked.

The clutch might come unstuck after you get the bike stated just by shifting gears while it is on the center stand. Roy

roy-b-boy-b wrote: Beautiful bike. I am with you,leave it like it is. I would not coat the tank,gasahol would likley destroy the liner if you were to go that route. Get a good gas filter.

Make sure you have 12 volts to the coils. I use Dyna coils on my bikes. Your coils should be good enough to start with unless they are cracked.

The clutch might come unstuck after you get the bike stated just by shifting gears while it is on the center stand. Roy

I've got an inline filter. I also got the clutch unstuck, while on centre stand holding the clutch in I revved it up to about 5'000 rpm then stepped on the brakes after a couple of attemps it let go.
The bike dosen't run too bad with these coils. They are split and cracked though. They are split the lenght and also split around both ends. The plug wires are shot aswell.
I've heard mixed reviews on the Dyna coils. I've heard the Accel coils were better and would fire at a lower voltage. Pricey though.

I've never been around any of these bikes.
How smooth should it run?
It's running decent... but I don't know... there seems to be quite a bit of mechanical noise in the engine. Don't know if its normal or not.
As for a muscle bike, LOL, it doesn't really impress me.
Its been 12-15 years since I was last on a bike. I know this one has sat for quite a while but, I was expecting a bit more. Then again I don't believe I had it much above 5-6k rpm. Cruising around at 3000rpm and rolling into the throttle it seems to pull alright. I don't know what I was expecting.
Its certainly not the R1 I had for a rip back in the day. This bike weights twice as much with half the power.
It rolls along real nice and steady though, holds the road good. Not near as twitchy as the R1 was. I really like the ride, I guess I was thinking it would have more tourque off the bottom.
After I get the new coils, set the valves and sync the carbs it may come around. (My wife claims the bike isn't high on my list of priorities)

nice bike...you will be talking to strangers every time you park it...very nice example of ST...great bike!

trianglelaguna wrote: nice bike...you will be talking to strangers every time you park it...very nice example of ST...great bike!

Thanks

I'm going to change my fork oil. Do I just remove the drain screws in the bottom and pump the forks to get the old oil out?
The manual says to remove the springs to check the fork oil, they are apparently a two piece spring with a washer in between them. Do I just pull them out and refill to proper level then re-install?

NovaNewfie wrote: I've never been around any of these bikes.
How smooth should it run?
It's running decent... but I don't know... there seems to be quite a bit of mechanical noise in the engine. Don't know if its normal or not.
As for a muscle bike, LOL, it doesn't really impress me.
Its been 12-15 years since I was last on a bike. I know this one has sat for quite a while but, I was expecting a bit more. Then again I don't believe I had it much above 5-6k rpm. Cruising around at 3000rpm and rolling into the throttle it seems to pull alright. I don't know what I was expecting.
Its certainly not the R1 I had for a rip back in the day. This bike weights twice as much with half the power.
It rolls along real nice and steady though, holds the road good. Not near as twitchy as the R1 was. I really like the ride, I guess I was thinking it would have more tourque off the bottom.
After I get the new coils, set the valves and sync the carbs it may come around. (My wife claims the bike isn't high on my list of priorities)

It should run quite smooth, smoother than yamaha's of that vintage as a comparison.

It isn't mechanically noisy except when your driving it. When you you are driving it tends to have a whine in the transmission but I like the sound.

If it doesn't impress you perhaps the carbs are not well tuned, valves are off or your engine is tired, but with these bikes it has to be PRETTY tired to be considered tired. I don't know much about the ST's but with all the extra stuff you are a bit heavier as well. You cant compare an ST to an R1 but for example I get wheel hop if I am aggressive with my GPz and the throttle response is surprisingly good for vintage and it pulls strong from idle to red line.

Remove the bottom screws and make sure you pump the forks. I always take the forks apart and clean them. You would not believe the gunk that gets in them. I would refill with the recommended quanity of oil. A good time to replace the seals if you take them apart.

That engine does not really start running until 6000 rpm. You are packing a lot of weight.

There are a lot of coils on eBay but I would order fron Jeff at Z1Enterprises. I know him and a lot of his crew personally and they are good to deal with and ship lighting fast.

Again taht is a awsome bike. I can't believe the condition it is in. I had to look twice to see the windshield.

If this loads its a video of it running with the choke on. I'm playing with the throttle a little.

Here is a video of it running after a two or three minute warm up.

Does this bike have electronic ignition ? I would get the ignition system sorted out. The main reason coils crack is because the ignition was left on. Roy