First Ride on the KZ, First Wreck on the KZ!! HELP

I'm fine but shes seen better days!
Today I took out my KZ for the first time, legally. She ran good for a bit, then shut off at a light after bsome sputtering. When I went to restart it was like the battery was dead. I wait like five minutes and it starts but is running weird, like cutting out and not responding to the throttle. Then I turn around and head home, bike shuts of going round a turn I guess, and we both hit the ground. I feel so bad cause this is a one owner bike and I trashed it the first day. anyhow, I pickm up the bike and check it out. but it like the battery is dead again, I wait like a half hour while I call my brother and tend my wounds. after pushing that big bitch about three blocks, I decide to try it again, and it starts but after a few feet starts running shitty again. after some pushing and some really slow riding we make it home in one piece.
I got a big bruise on my elbow, a gash I glued shut on my knee and some sore ribs, I weigh like 290 so when I hit the ground I usually hit pretty hard. Lol. shes got a scaped up clutch cover, brand new and newly bent superbike bars and the new grip is all chewed up, the way I got the turn signals on the bars made them hit the tank and theres a big ass dent now, but I think we'll be ok.
I think its the stator, What do you guys think???Felt like when the alternator went bad on my car.
any suggestions???

What a bummer, I'm glad you'll be OK. Sorry to hear about the bike. I'm not sure what your problem is but it does sound like a charging problem. Was the battery fully charged when you left the house?
Mark

glad your o k.....somethings up with electrical system
....keith

My first thought was loose or corroded wires. Start with the simple stuff and work your way up.

Thanks guys, I'm gonna have to check all the connections good and go from there.

You might consider instaling a monitor (LED type) to check the battery condition. The 82 KZ's had (I believe) an electric tach that when a button was pushed to check battery voltages. I've seen the LED monitors at either dennis kirk or JP cycles website.

You might have lost at least one of the three phases from the stator or the regulator/rectifier has died.

o.k ...first off ...always list the bikes injuries first....after all that was what scared me most...poor bike.....as for you..i'm 300(on atkins diet 2 days now)..you floated like a feather.....did you hurt the ground?
But seriously all that matters is that you're o.k.....folks have got dead or worse doing simple spills so each time we dodge the bummer train ...all is well....plus the folks that care about us,more than we can imagine ..it would tear them up if you got hurt bad ...So you just had a 100% good day.....a bike is a bike...not flesh and blood and nerves......
there is a white wire/wires under the left side cover one is white and red usually and they merge at a connector..if they are not secure...tehy mimic your symptoms often.....see if they are plugged in tight ...they work free and are a common start /ride/die/start/die//ride/stall cuase.....if it was your battery dying down or losing charge you would have a hard time pulling revs and sputter when gaining speed /revs...and it would crank way weak and be really noticable...or just go chunr chug churn churn dead when you hit the starter button.........just some ideas and issues i've had that were similair.....good luck.....now you get do some crash repairs when you get it running beats .......being in intensive care...any day..and good luck bro....peace craig

Sorry about the crash. It's very easy to tell if the alternator is charging: measure the batt voltage and rev the engine. It will go up to about 14V if it's charging. It will sit at 12V if not. You can usually see the headlight brighten from idle speed as you rev the engine up.

Like bountyhunter said-check the voltage at the battery. I doubt it's the stator it's more than likely the regulator. Now you have an excuse to get one of the reg/rec combo units from Jeff.

Had a similar situation on a Suzuki I restored way back when.... 25 years ago....

Starts & runs fine for ~ 15-30 minutes or less pending if you have your lights on, hitting the horn, revving the engine etc....

Mine turned out to be this one little SOB grounding wire wasn't grounded to the frame properly.... I had painted the frame thinking the bold threads being non painted would be a good enough ground... Well I was wrong!

Took me awhile, ok days and many more trips and pushing that friggin bike back home until I figured it out. SO here I am, checking the carbs, the head/valves, the electrical, the regulators, the stator etc.... What a PITA!

My buddy who was more electrical than I at the time, says "Scrap that ground point paint off the frame, re-charge the battery and re-connect that ground"... problem went away...

I was happy it was fixed but pissed at the same time for I did something so stupid... Ok, it happens.... :laugh:

OMR

BTW, other than being sore, glad to hear nothing too serious happened to you or your bike...

Glad you are ok for the most part, parts can be replaced,, body parts cannot.
what seems strange is that it starts after sitting a while.
It does sound like a charging/battery issue.
step one, check the battery to make sure it is good
two fully charge the battery
three, check the voltage going to the battery when the bike is running.

after that, then the chasing down the problem can begin

Been down myself and know how you feel. Glad you and bike will be OK. Yea, definitaly sounds like running straight off the battery with nothing going in. After you wait a bit the battery recovers a little just enough to start. You need to check your charging system like the guys say.