headlight always on??

My 1982 KZ750-4 has the headlight on any time I turn the key on. It also has the reserve lighting device. On another forum a poster wrote that the reserve lighting device, aside from changing the beam if one goes out, is also designed to turn on the headlight after the engine is running.

Really? I have the reserve lighting device in my '82 KZ750-4, but the headlight is always on when I turn the key on, before starting the engine. Before now I thought that was normal, but, should the headlight actually be off until after the engine starts? And if so, is it a bad reserve device??

correct me if i'm wrong but i think from 78 or 80 i'm not sure which the bikes are designed to have the headlight on whenever the igntion switch is turned on do you have a headlight shut off switch on your bike. the reserve light device is designed to switch the elements in case one blows.

timebomb33 wrote:

correct me if i'm wrong but i think from 78 or 80 i'm not sure which the bikes are designed to have the headlight on whenever the igntion switch is turned on

My '79 has the key on lights on (no switch).

My 79 controls has a headling On/Off switch and my 81 controls has a spot for it with no actual control. The low beam comes on when the ignition is turned on.

HTH

Brian

Same with my '80. There is a place with "on" and "off" but it's plugged. Lights on for safety!!

Isn't there a cutout so that when the starter is engaged the headlight cuts out to deliver more power to starting?

Locozuna wrote:

Isn't there a cutout so that when the starter is engaged the headlight cuts out to deliver more power to starting?

No, but I added one to mine after it ate the first two batteries in about 12 months each.

Now the batteries last about 5 years or more.

On my 1980 KZ750/4 the headlight is also on once I turn on the ignition.
I had'nt heard of a reserve lighting device. :huh: I wonder if I have one. How would I know ?

Bountyhunter, How did you install the cutout? Is it a manual switch or does it turn the headlight off automatically when the starter is engaged?

I thought it was kind of dumb to have the Headlight ON while I was trying to start the engine. :dry:

For that reason I added a relay to disconnect the power to the Headlight whenever I press the Start button. Works fine for me.

See the circuit I used:



For more electrical mods I've done see here:

Photobucket


Hope you find some of these useful.

Best of success.
Bill

JR, I don't think that the reserve device started until '81 or '82. My '83 has it. It's an interesting idea, but in my opinion, just another item and more wiring to go bad. Most of us can tell pretty quick when a headlight filiment burns out.

Seems the simplest way to do it is run the blue wire that feeds the hi/lo switch through the closed terminals of a relay. Then tap into the black wire that runs from the starter button to the selonoid. Run this wire into the relay coil and run the other side to ground. Every time you hit the starter button, the headlight will shut off until you release it and the relay coil shouldn't draw anywhere near as much as the headlight does.

With the headlight on, starting places the strongest draw on the battery, and this should ease it considerable.

This may be in fact what Bill is showing, and sorry Bill if it is, but the pic is a little fuzzy on my computer.

KYKZ1100 wrote:

Bountyhunter, How did you install the cutout? Is it a manual switch or does it turn the headlight off automatically when the starter is engaged?

Automatic. I got a pair of normally closed 10A relays and installed them in each line coming off the two 8A fuses that serve nearly all the electrics on the bike (except the ignition coils). I use the 12V feed to the starter solenoid to drive the relay coils so that the normally closed contacts feeding the bikes lights open anytime the starter engages. That cuts off not only the headlights but also the tail light/running lights and speedo lights when startingb which is about another 50W total.