I assume it's electrical

Oh man. There is a new level to my density. I just now realized the 3 yellow wires hanging from my alternator were cut off of the white 6 pin plug. I'll have to use flat pin connectors and join them back together and heat shrink them.

I'll have to use flat pin connectors and join them back together and heat shrink them.

That's better than what I'd do. I'm a caveman, I just crimp 'em and connect, don't bother with the heat shrink.
You've been very busy I see, taking lots of pictures and replacing that harness.

I started taking the wiring off the bike to replace it and boy do I have a mess on my hands. This is turning into a mess.

I see what you mean now, somebody really butchered that wiring. Hope you got a great deal on the bike. It sure is pretty. Wish my bike was that clean. Paint is good, no dents or scratches, shaft drive, Kerker header (mounted on the left!), looks sweet. Motor looks clean, no scratches as far as I can tell, a little corrosion but should clean up well. But what is that black stuff on there? Is that an oil leak? If it is, it looks minor, probably no big deal, might stop it by tightening up the cylinder bolts.

Keep at it man. As long as you've got the bike torn down you might as well fix the wiring up right. It's gonna be one sick, fast bike once you get 'er going, almost as fast as my Magna. :evil:

I've sent you a picture of my project 'Z, a '77 KZ650 with a '78 motor and electronic ignition that I bought for $100 and was little more than a complete non-running basket case. It had sat outdoors in the Tahoe area for the last 4 years without being started. As you can imagine, it was quite a mess. It took me a couple weeks and numerous posts on this forum and KZ650.info before I figured out my ignition and charging issues (replaced the rec/reg and electronic ignition) and got it running. Even after fixing those electrical problems, I still had electrical issues: my blinkers were all screwed up, and because the '78 motor uses a different alternator than the original motor and it has been upgraded to electronic ignition (originally had points), the wiring has been seriously altered, which makes it even harder to troubleshoot. Plus I had installed a new blinker which had an extra wire the original didn't. Today I went through the blinker wiring, saw that the blinkers had been hooked up incorrectly, changed the wiring, and now everything that I need to be legal is working: horn, headlight (on/off, high/low), blinkers, and taillight/brakelight. It's time to register this bad boy.

Before I got this bike I knew next to nothing about electrical systems and was hella intimidated every time I had an electrical problem. I didn't even know how to use a multimeter. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to brag or anything, learning how to troubleshoot and fix these electrical problems was a long, frustrating PITA process for me, and there were times I just wanted to quit trying and sell the S.O.B, yet my point is that if you're willing to be patient and approach it like you would a mechanical problem with logic and reason, you will succeed and have learned something in the process.Looks like you're well on your way. Although sometimes, the inexplicable happens (look at seanof30306's post "That @#^%$@!!! KZ650!", that's freaking amazingly bad juju, sure hope you or I don't go through that with our bikes).

I've got about $360 invested in my 'Z right now, just ordered a new (used) gas tank and rear cowling off ebay. I intend to restore this bike, including recovering the seat, painting the frame, wheels, header and sidecovers, and polishing the motor, etc. This is my first time I've ever attempted this much of a restoration, but so far it's been rewarding.
It's ugly as hell right now, but it runs strong and sounds incredible, fits me so right. Although my Magna is loads faster (god that bike is a rocket), I like riding the 'Z better. It has more of a cafe racer stance, which I like better than the cruiser style Magna. I see the potential this old bike has.

Good luck with your 'Z, hope she's up and running soon. Keep us posted.
Chris

you have quite a mountain to climb, but trust me she's worth it! i love my old spectre, if you need pics or have other questions, just let me know! 99% of her is bone stock

You've been very busy I see, taking lots of pictures and replacing that harness.

Yeah, I take lots of pictures. I think it's important to document things, especially when I'm treading into waters unknown.

Kerker header (mounted on the left!)

How can you tell it's a Kerker header? I have exhaust on both sides. The PO said the paint was recently redone but my wife thinks it's rattle can. I'm inclined to agree but first thing is to get it running.

But what is that black stuff on there? Is that an oil leak?

What black stuff where? There's a lot of crap on the bike. I'm under the impression the PO wasn't careful filling fluids. The bike was also kept outside. There are spots of grease from who knows what.

There are some spots on the frame that I want to clean up and I wanted to paint it with truck bed liner but I really don't want to take the motor and drive shaft parts off for fear of messing them up.

As I was taking the battery box apart I went over those parts with a wire wheel and stripped the surface rust off and then hit them with rust converter then hi-temp primer and then some flat engine enamel.

As for a good deal on it, yeah I only paid $250 for it.

$250 seems like a damn solid deal. You could part her out and make a lot more than that, although I know a lot of people on here would cringe :blink: at the thought of doing that. The black stuff I'm referring to is at the top and bottom of the cylinder jug where it meets the head and crankcase respectively. It could be a trick of the lighting, or it looks like you could have a black spacer at the bottom of the jug where it meets the crankcase. Hard to tell from the photo's. I got a slight head gasket leak on my 'Z, and so far it doesn't seem too bad, hasn't started to drip yet, just kind of oozes a little, so hopefully I can live with it for a while until I can take it apart to fix it properly. Don't know for sure yet because it isn't legal yet and I've only taken it for short rides.

My bad about mis-identifying your exhaust. Thought I saw the Kerker logo on it and it was a left-side header. Should look more closely before I type.


Even if it's been rattle-canned, it looks decent to my eye and (from what I can tell) everything's there and dent free. Compared to my raunchy, roached 'Z, it looks great.
As far as painting the frame, I can relate. There's some rust spots on my frame but now that I've finally got her running I don't want to take her completely apart for fear she might not run when I put her together. Plus, if I'm going to go that far, I might as well replace the head gasket. I wonder if there's a way I can mask it so I can spot paint it without removing the motor? I think I'm just going to get her roadworthy for the summer so I can go riding, and worry about making her look pretty when the weather gets bad. I'd do the same if I was you, just get 'er running first and worry about beautification later.

aussie1's got a really nice looking Spectre there, I bet he's the MAN you want to talk to about fixing your bike.

Good luck, I hope she's up and running soon.

I have a shop manual w/wiring diagrams I can send you, if you like.

Thanks. I managed to get a pdf of the manual with wiring diagrams. The only thing that's not so great is whenever I print out the wiring diagrams to take to the garage the print is so small I can't read them and if I enlarge the diagrams it gets fuzzy.

Get your self a good magnifing glass. I use two different ones, the regular hand held with the stem/handle and the other with a 4 1/4" clear round base that really makes wiring diagrams easy to see. The former I bought at a hardware store, and the latter I purchased at a Grizzly tool store(I'd imagine that Harbor Freight would have something similar).

I need one of those nifty head mounted ones that my wife calls dorky.

So here's the plan for this weekend. I'm going to try to get the bike started. Since I need to fix a few other things, I just want to wire up the bare minimum needed to start the bike. Can you guys tell me what that is? I just want to get it wired up, put the gas tank back on, and then try to get it to turn over.

Dude, keep picking at your Spectre. I have two of them. One I have had for 15 years. The other was picked up for parts and after I got it home, I realized it was in better shape than the one I have. Both are daily riders. Both were trailered home not running.

There is no kick stand safety switch. That is new school bike stuff. If the plug from the rectifier is missing, I think you said that, a replacement rectifier is reasonable on ebay. The rectifier is a PITA to get to. You have to remove the battery box. Good luck...chris3

Looks like you could get by hooking up the engine run/kill switch, starter safety switch, ignition switch, starter relay, fusebox, ic igniter, and if you've got fuel injection, you'll need to get that all wired up too. Can always shoot a little fuel down the injectors, or directly into the cylinders by shooting fuel down the spark plug holes, although it will only run for a few seconds that way if the fuel system is disconnected. Damn Steve, carburetors are so much easier to deal with. Your wiring looks a bit more complicated than my KZ650, but if you're patient and think things through you'll eventually get it fixed.

Here's a link to a great website that teaches you how to fix motorcycles, I can't recommend him highly enough, I learned a lot from this guy: www.dansmc.com/ Follow these links and this'll get you pointed in the right direction:Index/online motorcycle repair course/troubleshooting a bike that will not start. Let us know how it goes...