Help I need to put the engine cover back on! Doh!

SO it's sort of a long story, the short version is that I started to take the left engine cover off
my new to me 1978 KZ1000 LTD (B1 I think) without reading my manual first and now it won't go right back on. I unscrewed the philips screws and then the cover started to pull off and it looked like there were wires holding the whole thing from coming off. So I decided to just put it back and read my manual like I should have before starting any of it. After reading my haynes manual I learned that it doesn't really help all that much and I might need more help. The manual covers all of the different models from 900-1000cc and pretty much focuses on 1973-1974 Z1's without saying too much about my model.
a little background- I got the bike given to me by a man who had too many bikes and was trying to make his wife happy by getting rid of one of them. He knew I already had a nice KZ so he knew it would go to a good home. He had left it out in a field for 10 years so it couldn't have gotten any worse. I put a picture of it just mocking it up with yellow paint that was on it and a new seat and grab bar I bought from Z1 just to see what it looked like.
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Sorry I can't help you get that cover back on, but regarding the screws - they are not Phillips. They are Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) and applying any significant torque to them using a standard Phillip tip will bung them up. Here's how to avoid the problem:

kzrider.com/forum/2-engine/452802-loud-c...hile-cranking#452872

The wires are for the charging system Stator. They will route along, then behind the sprocket cover. Where they should have a connector, Bullet probably, and can be un-plugged. Then you can remove the Stator cover. There also might be a bolt/ screw with a wire clip to hold the wires against the engine under the sprocket cover. Probably need to pull the shifter, and maybe the foot peg to get the sprocket cover off.

Depending on how far you pulled it the starter clutch may have pulled the dowel out of the stator cover. Pull the sprocket cover, starter, disconnect thee stator wires, remove the stator cover and reassemble. Being a '78 it's also a B2 not a B1.

650ed -that totally makes sense about the screws. a few of them were already all bunged up. I guess I need to take the covers off to see why I can't get that one back on. thanks for the info guys

Yeah so I pulled the sprocket cover and stator cover and the dowel had come out of the stator cover. I got it all back together and the cover went back on no problem. The good news is that it looked beautiful inside there. Everything looked perfect and shiny. The reason I was taking the cover off in the first place was the guy at the Kawasaki dealer told me to take it off to get to the bolt on the end of the crank to see if the engine was seized. I couldn't get the kickstarter to move at all so I wasn't sure how far I was going to have to get into the engine. After looking at my manual I realized it was the right side cover and I took that one off. Putting a wrench on the end of the crank and pushing that while also pushing the kickstarter with my other hand I was able to cycle the engine. So it's not seized after all. As soon as I was able to move it a little, I stopped and drained the 10 year old oil and put in new stuff. Now on to everything else that's not working.
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I think the dealer told you the wrong side. Under the points cover there is a 17mm hex that it used to turn the crank. Just don't try to turn it using the little bolt on the end. Ed

650ed wrote: I think the dealer told you the wrong side. Under the points cover there is a 17mm hex that it used to turn the crank. Just don't try to turn it using the little bolt on the end. Ed

And thats why forums like this one exist ..............because most dealer and bike shops know next to nothing about these bikes