Interchangeablity of wiring harness

I recently got a 1977 kz650c1 in trade. It is not running, apparently a previous owner had done a rebuild and when first starting it had a fuel leak which turned into a fire that melted the main harness next to the carbs. I am fairly experienced at automotive electrical, but after seeing the damage it would be much easier to buy a replacement than splice all the wires.

I know the wiring digrams changed some between years, but how close would a different year harness be. Are the connectors the same?

If the connectors are the same, maybe just moved some or a wire missing that can be fixed easily, or is it going to be something very different?

Thanks

Sorry for the bad news but the 77 650 harness is one of a kind because of the charging system. They do come up for sale I just got two. I'm making 1 good one out of the two. There was also a new on for about $300 out there. OR I'm sure if you are good with electricals you could take another years and modify it. So if you can I'd say splice it. GLuck!

If you decide to repair what you've got or make a new one up,here are some websites for wire,connectors,splices and tools:

1. www.easternbeaver.com
2. www.vintageconnections.com
3. www.electricalconnection.com
4. www.terminalsupplyco.com
5. www.waytekwire.com
6. www.delcity.net

I'd recommend using the crimp heatshrinkable spices that when heated after crimping will melt sealing the electrical joints. Another website to visit is www.eastwood.com and order the non-adhesive harness tape(it won't get hot and sticky like black electrical tape will).

I have a D (SR) model wiring harness on my 77 B model. IIRC the charging system had me worried, but didn't turn out to be a problem because the stator plugs into the reg or rec which then cycles through the other and into the battery. The charging system plugged right into harness and works perfectly. The harness I got had an extra wire for the fuel sending light (which my 77 doesn't have) and there were a couple of spots that I had to figure it out. All it took was a couple of nights, some soldering/heat shrinking, and a case of beer and it's, as the kids say today, gravy. Of course it's been a couple of years since I did it and I may have just forgotten the multitude of cursing and throwing sh*t as I tried to figure it out...but long story short, it's close enough to make it work without too much effort!!

Thanks for the help.

I wire up emergency lights for FD vehicles quite a bit and have wired a few other cars and trucks from scratch, this shouldn't be too bad, I would rather not create a whole new harness, at least not for what they go for on ebay.

78 and 79 harnesses seem to be the most common, so right now I am printing out the wiring diagrams for those and going through them.

I pulled the damaged harness out, all of the non-bullet connectors seem to have survived so I have them if needed.

You'll need to check on wiring for the hazard switch. The KZ650C has it the KZ650B does not. Ed

For the charging system:
The 77 will have 3 white or yellow wires from the stator to the rectifier, and one green wire from the field coil to the regulator.

The 78/79 will only have two yellow wires from the stator to the reg/rec combo unit.

You'll have to run an extra stator wire to the rectifier, and a field coil wire to the regulator.

Also, the 77 uses seperate rectifier and regulator where the 78/79 uses a single combo unit.

The 77 regulator has a brown wire on it. This is where it gets power to control the alternator field coil. The 78/79 won't have a brown wire to the reg/rec. This brown wire has to have battery voltage on it when the bike is turned on. You will have to add this wire to the 78/79 harness.

The rectifier of the 77 can use the wires on the 78/79 harness (with the addition of the mentioned stator wire), but the connectors will be different.

The regulator of the 77 will need all 3 of its wires added on:
The green from the regulator to the field coil (as was mentioned).
The brown from a switched battery source to the regulator (as was mentioned).
Lastly a good solid ground wire to the regulator.

I need to throw in my two cents worth here as well. In addition to what has already been mentioned, in 77 and 78 Kaw ran the wires for the handlebar switches through the bars so all of these wires terminate in bullet connector type wires. These plug into the harness under the tank. Starting in 79 the wiring runs outside the bars and IIRC plugs in inside the headlight bucket. So I guess your first choice in harnesses would be a 77 followed by the 78.