Headlight does no always work- now fixed. Thanks

I am hoping everyone here will have some ideas on how to help my husband.
He owns a 1976 KZ 900. He bought it 4 years ago and it had been in an accident. A friend of ours had T-boned a state truck. The front was pretty badly damaged and needed lots of repair. He has repaired everything and is having one last problem. The headlight does not always work. Sometimes when he starts it the headlight comes on, but most times it doesn't. Her has changed the bulb, replaced the headlight, changed the fuses and unplug the wires and plugged them back in. He continues to have the same problem. Any ideas? We are currently in desperate of the bike. Both of our cars are out of commission dxue to having bad transmissions. He needs this bike to get him back and forth to work and he works at night, so the headlight is a must and he has to be able to rely on the fact that it will always come on. Thanks for any help in advance.

I suspect an electronic system Kawasaki designed called the "Reserve Lighting Device" is the cause of your problem.

It's designed to turn on the headlight after the engine is started and to automatically switch from high or low beam if the beam burns out. If you were driving at night and the low beam went out, it would turn on the high beam at lower voltage to avoid blinding on coming drivers.

On my bike it is in a black box about 1 1/2"x2" with a six pin electrical plug on the left side beneath the seat.It will have stamped on it "Reserve Lighting Device".

It can be bypassed but you will need the wiring diagram to figure out which wires to cut and splice as each bike's wiring may be different.

Thank you. I will tell my husband when he comes home from work tonight. I appreciate the response.

If not a loose or corroded connector somewhere along the line in the wiring to the headlight, there may be an issue in the right-hand handlebar switch itself, and which might or might not be repairable. Perhaps a shot of WD40 into the switch might help.

If the switch is the problem and is damaged beyond repair, a new switch is available from Z1E.

Click here > r/h handlebar switch

Am thinking the reserve lighting system was later introduced on the 1978 KZ1000-D cafe racer model.

Good Luck!

Goodwife, Many Kaw's had a 2 function starter switch (in r/h h.bar switch) when starter button was pushed, it broke contact w/headlight ckt for better cranking current, when released, headlight was resumed.since problem is intermittant, try flicking starter button a couple times when h/l's fail. if this helps, try a dis-assemble/clean. a word of caution, these bits are old and can be fragile... they were never intended to be serviced and no replacement bits were offerd,, New OE switches are pricy. luck G

if all else fails wire headlight to a hot wire on accesory side of ignition switch till you can sort it out.you should be able to find a wire in headlight bucket thats hot only when ignition is on.

The oem 1976 KZ900 has a simple on-off switch for the headlight. And did not have a lights-always-on system, or a reserve headlight system, or an off-while-cranking system. And there is also the standard lefthand dimmer switch.

If the headlight is not burnt out on both filaments, it is supposed to burn when the headlight switch is moved into the ON position. May require switching the dimmer if either filament is blown. (Ignition switch should be ON for the headlight to burn.)

Good Luck!

Thank you very much for all of the great responses. It is suppose to be super nice here in Pa. this weekend so he will be spending it outside trying to get that headlight working. I have read to him every one's response and he says thanks a lot he now has somewhere to start looking. He sure was getting really frustrated. After 4 years of working on this bike little by little he is very anxious to ride it. I will let all of you know how he makes out. Thanks again.

I had the exact same problem this week on the same bike. The main light was intermittent and the highbeam would work. Then they both went out. Most likely due to driving it around after it had been sitting. It uses a standard headlight found at any auto store so I changed it and problem solved. Try cleaning the fuse box also...Russ

I wanted to let everyone know that my husband has fixed the headlight. He sprayed some liquid wrench into the ignition switch and wiggled the key around and that took care of the problem. It now works every time. Thank you so much for all of the help. He is building new brackets for the faring and putting on the turn signals and then he is ready to go. Thank so much for the help.