all of a sudden no start?

there is voltage going into the ignition switch from the orange wire and the white wire with the stripe. with the switch on or off, there is nothing on the brown wire. also the yellow and red (maybe orange) striped wire that has a separate connector next to the 6 pin connector had maybe .5 volts at one point, really nothing there. anything?

I'd pull the tank and start checking the main harness connections. Some wire(s) may be damaged by flexing(usually where the harness goes up toward the headlight housing).

Having a mutimeter helps in figuring out where the voltage is and isn't. If the battery connections are good and the battery puts out volts and current, it will just a matter of finding out where it stops.

Fuses can look good, but I like doing a physical inspection:
Is the metal end cap tight? will it pull off? Does the fuse element look bent?

You've probably seen this guide I made, but here it is again:

Fuse And Fuse Holder Designations

1. The older Kawasaki’s use a glass tubed fuse with the designation of AGX 1” long. Most good auto parts stores can get them for you. They are ¼” in diameter.

2. The more common AGC is 1 ¼” long and may not fit the smaller fuse clips. Again, ¼” in diameter.

3. To clean and polish the fuse clips, I use a cotton swab(Q- Tip) and some Brasso metal cleaner or Turtle Wax Chrome Polish. I suppose any good metal polish would work.

4. These fuses can fail internally but look good, only by removing them from the clip and electrically continuity checking with either a self powered test light, or a multimeter set on OHMS can they be determined to be in good shape.

5. A physical inspection of the metal endcaps for tightness will tell you if the fuse is serviceable.

6. Most modern motorcycles are now using the automobile “Blade” style fuse with the designation of ATC or ATO.

7. The reduced sized “Mini” Blade style fuse holder uses the ATM size of fuses.

8. A list of where to purchase “Blade” style fuses and holders:
www.waytekwire.com
www.rallylights.com
www.delcity.net

all the fuses have been checked and rechecked and have continuity and voltage consistent on the metal clips before and after the fuses. Thank you though I do know how much those fuses can be a pain!

Is the brown wire that connects the horn, neutral indicator, oil indicator.... supposed to have power or be a ground? It just seems to me to be the common link between everything and it is acting like a ground right now.

I just can't pin this damn thing down its driving me absolutely crazy. Could my pickups or some kind of electrical element be dead? (regulator. etc)

I don't know what to do next.

How do I test the regulator/rectifier? I'm just curious, I may check that out...

Based on the wiring diagrams it looks like the brown wire coming out of the RR feeds the items that are notworking on my bike. Could this be true, does that brown wire feed power out from the RR?

freebyrd24 wrote:

...Is the brown wire that connects the horn, neutral indicator, oil indicator.... supposed to have power or be a ground? It just seems to me to be the common link between everything and it is acting like a ground right now....

The brown wire is NOT a ground.

For example, my Z1 ign switch has only 4 wires. Blue, red, white and brown.

The horn has 2 wires. Brown and black.

With ign switch ON, brown wire feeds bat+ to horn.

Black wire from horn goes to horn button. Pushing the horn button allows the black wire to reach ground.

With ign switch OFF, there's no bat+ in brown wire to horn , so horn won't blow regardless of black wire being grounded by pushing the horn button.

See image below for the switch connections as described in the wiring diagram of 1981 KZ1000-K1 LTD.

Good Luck!


[Click on image to enhance view]

Hmmm, so the brown wire allows voltage to travel to horn, neutral indicator, oil indicator... and travels TO the R/R?

So based on your diagram there Patton, the yellow/red wire should feed power into the ignition switch and when i turn the key on, it should feed the power down the brown wire??

If so this is exactly the kind of info I needed, I need to find how everything travels and activates to try and narrow things down, I partialy understand the wiring diagrams, but struggle a little with it. I'll check to find where I am losing power

freebyrd24 wrote:

Hmmm, so the brown wire allows voltage to travel to horn, neutral indicator, oil indicator... and travels TO the R/R?

So based on your diagram there Patton, the yellow/red wire should feed power into the ignition switch and when i turn the key on, it should feed the power down the brown wire??

If so this is exactly the kind of info I needed, I need to find how everything travels and activates to try and narrow things down, I partialy understand the wiring diagrams, but struggle a little with it. I'll check to find where I am losing power

Here's my partial interpretation of the wiring diagram for the 1981 KZ1000-K1 LTD.
And comes without warranty. :lol:

Red/white from bat+ terminal goes to 30 amp fuse.
White from the 30 amp fuse carries bat+ to ign switch.

Switch ON connects white to white/black (feeds bat+ from white to white/black).

White/black (now carrying bat+ because switch is ON) goes to 10 amp fuse.
Brown from the 10 amp fuse carries bat+ to ign switch.

Switch ON connects brown to yellow/red (feeds bat+ from brown to y/r).

Y/r from ign switch feeds bat+ to OFF-RUN-OFF switch. When in RUN position, red wire feeds both ignition coils and also feeds the igniter (red into connector and y/r out of connector into igniter).

Hope this makes sense.

Good Luck!

Patton and MFolks thank you VERY much! I really needed to trace everything back, and in doing so, i found that between the fuse block and the connector coming right off of it, i had some kind of connection issue. I just used some WD40 because I suspected maybe water had gotten in there and all of a sudden power came back! i can't believe it, just simple connections cause so many issues. thanks everyone! i feel so dumb haha

I'd be cautious in using WD-40 on electrical connections especially fuse blocks. Many years ago I rode my bike to downtown San Digeo, parked it and upon returning, I put the key in,turned it and nothing! no lights,fuel pump sound,headlight nor horn.

The battery cables were clean and tight, the Negative(-)to the engine was clean and tight, so there I am with no test equipment to see where the power was and wasn't.

That very day a man mentioned to me about how WD-40 had caused him similar problems.I had some fine sandpaper in my bikes tool kit,roughed up the glass tubed fuse ends and their clips, turned the key and everything worked!

After that experiance,I've never used WD-40 on any electrical connection. I use instead a brand of electrical contact cleaner/preservative called De-oxit D5 made by Caig Labs in San Diego Ca. Their website is www.deoxit.com

It can be purchased at Radio Shack and any electronic supply store.

Use WD-40 carefully as after a while it becomes a non-conductor and can have you scratching your head much like you just did on the electrical problem.