1978 KZ1000A

Hello all , I am having some electrical issues with my bike. I recently bought a new battery thinking my old battery had gone bad, now after about 20 days, this one is loosing charge and had to recharge it. Something is pulling the battery down and if there are some tests I can do on my own to narrow it down would be great so I dont have to pay a bike shop to find it for me , if its a simple fix.

Mykuh, there are numerous tests outlined in the service manual that can be preformed using a multimeter. The main test will be to start the bike and turn off all the lights. With the bike held at a steady 4000rpm measure the voltage across the two battery terminals. You should measure 14-15 VDC. Outside of this, either high or low there are additional tests to conduct.

The Dreaded Shorting/Intermittent Electrical Problem!


Here is the most basic method I know(Taken from www.kzrider.com by member Patton)

1. Charge your battery and have it load tested if you can. The floating ball hydrometer can be used to check the specific gravity of the charged cells in the battery.

2. Disconnect the Black lead from the (-) Battery terminal... or Red from the (+) Battery terminal, it does not matter which one.

3. Connect one of the following test setups in series with the Battery terminal and lead:
3.1 A 12 V light bulb,
3.2 A 12 V test light,
3.3 A 12 V test buzzer or,
3.4 A 12 V horn... you get the idea.

4. With the Ignition Switch OFF, go through your harness and wiggle the wires while looking/listening for the test setup to go on/start buzzing.

5.With the Ignition Switch ON, repeat the test except this time the looking/listening for the test setup to go off/stop buzzing.

6. Be prepared to open the Ignition switch and check/test for solder joint failure and or circuit board micro breaks (don't ask how I know this ).

7. Be prepared to pull the wires out of the Head Light to test for failures at or near the grommet.

8. Be prepared to open the harness at or near the Steering Neck for failures. This is where wires tend to exhibit fatigue due to repetitive movement.

9. Be prepared to open the left and right switch gear to search for rust and or broken parts. CAUTION: watch out for flying springs, ball bearings and stuff. Do indoors on White sheet (again don't ask ).

10. Be prepared to follow the heavy gauge wire from the Starter Solenoid (Relay) to the starter for bare wire exposure. Especially near bends and grommets.

11. If you can reproduce the fault symptom your are pretty much home free. Be prepare to find and repair/replace any internal wire breaks, insulation break downs, exposed wires, rubber grommet failures, etc. Often, shrink tubing will solve the problem temporarily until something better can be done.

12. I use a very good electrical contact cleaner/preservative called De-oxit made by Caig Labs in San Diego Ca. Their website is www.deoxit.com It can be purchased at Radio Shack and any other electronic supply store. I use it on all of my motorcycle’s electrical connectors , in my home entertainment center’s stereo patch cords and cordless phones charging cradles.

Thanks for all the information - seems I will have lots to do while the cold weather is setting in.I have put 3000 miles on this bike so far only riding in and around our little city here,but man this thing is a blast.After this fix I would like to change over to mag wheels (if I can go from spoke to mag ?)

Also if you could give me a heads up for basic tune-up servicing tools,gadgets,etc... I also was told I have a electronic ignition which is supposed to be a good thing.

To verify if your bike has electronic ignition, remove the CD sized cover on the right side of the crankshaft. Inside will be either a Dyna system, points, or a Kawasaki supplied ignition with pick up coils(sometimes called pulsing coils).

Mykuh wrote:

Thanks for all the information - seems I will have lots to do while the cold weather is setting in.I have put 3000 miles on this bike so far only riding in and around our little city here,but man this thing is a blast.After this fix I would like to change over to mag wheels (if I can go from spoke to mag ?)

Also if you could give me a heads up for basic tune-up servicing tools,gadgets,etc... I also was told I have a electronic ignition which is supposed to be a good thing.

I got the desired result from my post. Mfolks is the man when it comes to the electrical aspect of you're KZ.

Basic tools include multimeter, feeler gauges, carb sync vacuum gauges, metric sockets, metric combination wrenches, metric allen wrenches, and inch/pound torque wrenches. It also helps to have a clear tube float bowl measuring device. The most important tool is a Factory Service Manual, or FSM. Maybe a compression tester and a leakdown tester.

BTW I have the Enkei Mag wheels that you need. PM me if you are interested.