1981 kz550

Hello All-
I'm bike-less right now. I'm thinking of buying an '81 KZ550; the owner says it ran good till someone tried to pick the lock and then they stored it. If the ignition is trashed can I bypass it by jumping wires to see if it'll try to start? That way I can decide if I want to take it on as a project. From the photo it looks to be in decent shape. Going to see it Wed. Any help would be appreciated.

Buy a new ignition switch, install it and check the bike over for problems. To install the switch, remove the headlight to access the wiring, and then lower the headlight housing to remove the ignition switch mounting screws(some bikes are accessed on the top side, others underneath).

I think he doesn't want to tell you and everyone else how to steal one!:laugh:

I just want to make sure I'm not buying someone else's problems.

Just wanted to see if there was a way to jump wires to see if the bike had other issues... I've worked on a couple of KZ's and have a project 650 in the works but I wanted to buy something hopefully cheap to fix so I can ride while I build the new 650.

Can anybody get me a part number for the ignition switch? Thanks

Four places to try:

1. www.kawasaki.com (it might take a bit of digging)

2. www.bikebandit.com

3. www.babbitsonline.com

4. www.z1enterprises.com

I have a manual in my signature that might help.

If the key switch is messed up, the steering may be locked. The ignition switch is also the steering lock. It comes off with two allen bolts (5mm allen wrench, I think), but you have to remove gauges etc to get to it.

If the steering is not locked, you can run a jumper from the white wire to BOTH the yellow wire and the brown wire. The brown is important because it prevents the charging system from over-charging. Do not let that brown wire come loose. Or if you are worried, you can just unplug the rectifier/regulator. On some 550's it's mounted under the battery.

This would be for the 81 gpz (D1) and standard (A2) models. I'm not positive of the wire colors on the C2 LTD model.

To run the jumpers, you could try to poke paper clips into the connector where the wires go in.

Thanks,that helps a lot. The model is not the LTD or the GPZ does that just leave the standard then?

Austinroots wrote:

Thanks,that helps a lot. The model is not the LTD or the GPZ does that just leave the standard then?

Yes. In USA, that is.