God i hate this bike

thank you sir. Felt kinda picked on there for a hot minute, but i was just gunna take it. If i dont sell it, ill just buy a new solonoid which is prolly the problem an be on my way. Thx again

Since it is a 550, maybe he should sell it. Maybe in his travels he might end up with another KZ but a bit bigger. He may find that some of his friends have a Dad with a Bitchen old KZ that will rip your arms off!!
So I say sell for now and if it is to happen later be sure that an old KZ can and will be not only a force on the road but a good way to meet like mined friends.

And believe me i dont take this site for granite just as a venting place. I bought this bike a month ago for $600 not running. I skipped 2 months rent to be able to have my first motorcycle and it has been nothing but problems so far. I have gotten it to fun, fixed leaks, all by reading the shop manual. I can damn near build and fix anything that comes in my way but i am not an "electrical" person and so i feel like im super stuck right now, fell cheated out of $600, and have no starting point. But buying new parts can only help being that i guess the right part to buy to fix the problem. Thx for all the imput again, positive or negative.

Your profile doesn't say were you are?
There are some top Blokes on this site from all over the world, someone may be near and willing to have a peek at it or a cold beer?

your on the right path and even if you do decide that maybe the one you have is gonna be too much ongoing work...at least you can in, good faith, pass it on .. and be able to tell the next person what you have fixed and what you think it may need...

the one thing to keep in mind...as already said..is that the simple things can start adding up into the fixed collum really fast,and eventually you may decide that you can get this thing to run good!!!!!...my 900 was "a motorcycle mechanics" and he had it a ll f&*()%D up!!!:huh: it was buring spark plug coils and melting wires and things not tightened left me walking at least five times and had to truck it home 4 times...but one by one i found it...was i frustrated...f$%^ yes i was ,bad!!..but for 2 yrs now not one breakdown...so do not sweat the thing taking some work...you can do it..as you said you know the end of the wrench to hold,it's just getting used to working on these old boogered with by monkeys for decades bikes...i vote that you take a step back , enjoy your weekend, and start agian in week or so early one morning with a cup of coffee and a clear head and see where you get...flip the script and say"what is next to do!!" a few rides later...a few more fixes and you will have really fun bike...these 550's are way cool and worth trying to get reliable...folks here will answer any thing you come up against and keep you on the right track to enjoying a life long hobby........good luck ...Craig

RobQ wrote:

all lights, horn, turn signals work. And like i said it ran fine yesterday. I took off the gas tank last night and rewired the lines because they were wrong and put the tank back on and tried it this morning. Ridiculous. Just put it on craigslist for 500 because im a newbie and want nothing else to do with this bike.

Rewired what lines? Electrical? Did it run before rewire?
Or stop running after. Recheck what you did and look for anything that may have been knock lose from any work performed. GL

Also, check your battery wires and fuses. I helped fix my friends van that way, and 2 days later failed to diagnose a loose cable until about 2 hours into tracking through the harness.

RobQ wrote:

all lights, horn, turn signals work. And like i said it ran fine yesterday. I took off the gas tank last night and rewired the lines because they were wrong and put the tank back on and tried it this morning. Ridiculous. Just put it on craigslist for 500 because im a newbie and want nothing else to do with this bike.

5 seconds of your life with a screwdriver would tell you if the starter solenoid was the problem, another 5 with a multimeter would tell you if it was the starter button.

Owning houses and having careers and money falling out of your pockets can't fix a hot temper and a lack of patients... :silly:

Thanks Craig, i appreciate that and that will prolly be my route for now. What i did before the bike was running and now not running is fixed the fuel lines. There were hooked up to the wrong nipples. maybe maybe maybe in the process of taking the tank off something came a bit loose. I also always lock my handlebars by turning the wheel to the left. Last night i turned it to the right and a cable or cord could have been pulled loose.

Now as im looking through my shop manual, there are a few test i can do before just buying up in the air parts. Either a starter switch test, starter lockout switch test, and the starter relay test. I think in the picutre they are just using a voltage meter to read it and monday i will prolly do all three tests to maybe get an idea of where the problem is. Hows that sound???

RobQ wrote:

And believe me i dont take this site for granite just as a venting place. I bought this bike a month ago for $600 not running. I skipped 2 months rent to be able to have my first motorcycle and it has been nothing but problems so far. I have gotten it to fun, fixed leaks, all by reading the shop manual. I can damn near build and fix anything that comes in my way but i am not an "electrical" person and so i feel like im super stuck right now, fell cheated out of $600, and have no starting point. But buying new parts can only help being that i guess the right part to buy to fix the problem. Thx for all the imput again, positive or negative.

yes, electrical has quite a steep initial learning curve because there is not much to look at... just a bunch of non-moving wires and connectors.

The older bikes have notorious wiring problems in certain places. IT can be at the kill switch, the solenoid, or I found many times it's a wire inside the harness between the headlight and the frame. They all wear out there because the wires have flexed like a milion times there.

I wouldn't feel bad if you sell it. Like you said, it's a time sink. And once you get one thing sorted, ten others are in line to be fixed as well.

It'll take time or money, and if don't have a surplus of either, it'll be frustrating.

Many here will be glad to help all we can, but these things will never be a permanent quick fixes. They take some troubleshooting.

RobQ wrote:

Thanks Craig, i appreciate that and that will prolly be my route for now. What i did before the bike was running and now not running is fixed the fuel lines. There were hooked up to the wrong nipples. maybe maybe maybe in the process of taking the tank off something came a bit loose. I also always lock my handlebars by turning the wheel to the left. Last night i turned it to the right and a cable or cord could have been pulled loose.

Now as im looking through my shop manual, there are a few test i can do before just buying up in the air parts. Either a starter switch test, starter lockout switch test, and the starter relay test. I think in the picutre they are just using a voltage meter to read it and monday i will prolly do all three tests to maybe get an idea of where the problem is. Hows that sound???

If you have a voltmeter, and have some basic knowledge on how to use it, this particular problem won't be too hard to solve.

At this early stage of the problem solving, I suspect this will not cost much, if any money. But may take a few minutes to a few hours to get solved. Don't buy anything yet.

I'm just putting this here as a reminder to me;
1981 KZ550 C2 ltd


You may want to put that model and your general location in your signature in case someone is near you and can help.

Here is a simplified diagram for the start and ignition circuit.