KZ900 Mechanic?

Hi All,
Does anybody know of a KZ900 mechanic in the New York City area that specializes in electrical?

pm kawsakiman,hes somewhere in rochester area he might know somebody

Kaw900 wrote: Hi All,
Does anybody know of a KZ900 mechanic in the New York City area that specializes in electrical?

Any particular problem KZr members might be able to help diagnose?

Good Fortune!

Tell us if possible,whats happening or not happening.

Battery overcharging/undercharging?
Weak to no spark?
Ignition coil problems/failures?
Turn signal problems?
Instrument problems?

I have a 1976 KZ900A4 that i purchased 3 years ago. I am the 3rd owner. The charging system never worked properly. At idle i am only getting about 12.2 volts to the battery. When i turn on the headlights and turn signals the volts drop below 12. But once i raise the RPM's the volts go up. At 4000 RPM's i am getting about 13.5 to the battery.
I first changed the stock regulator / rectifier with a new combo unit from Z1. That did not do the trick.

Then i installed a new Stator that outputs 10-15% more power and still no luck. Might i mention i have an identical KZ900 with the new regulator / rectifer that charges perfect. I swapped them thinking i had a defective unit in my bike but no luck...Still showing the same readings.

Then i swapped the batteries just for the heck of it and still no luck.
I ran the tests on the stator to see what the output was across the wire combinations and it was producing 53AC volts which tells me its good.
Next i checked all the grounds, connections, split open the wiring harness making sure everthing was connected, cleaned all the connectors, inspected behind the junction panel... and once again still no luck.
Yesterday i bypassed / Jumped the igniton switch thinking it was that... but that didn't do the trick.
Then i bypassed/jumped the Kill Switch by disconnecting it from the harness and sending the power from the Brown wire directly to the coil wire at the harness. Nothing changed. To make matters worse my gas tank took a flop while propped up and hit the concrete...ruined my day.

I don't know what else to do...i disconnected all vital components but no spikes at all in voltage.
Should i just replace the wiring harness... maybe that will do the trick? Again... i don't know what the previous owners did but it looks like they accessed the harness quite a few times.

Other then this electrical problem the bike runs beautiful...i have the DYNA S igniton with 3ohm coils that fires perfect.
Could i be missing a ground somewhere? I am absolutely stumped on this. 3 Years and i'm ready to give up. Your input would be more then helpful...i actually already have a discussion open on this issue in the forum.

You should access the harness where the previous owner(s) did their work. I suspect a bad crimp on a splice causing a power drop. It's possible all they did was twist wires together & wrap with tape.

For a reliable splice, I use either the heatshrinkable crimp type found at local auto parts stores(they come in Red 22-18 gauge,Blue 16-14 gauge & Yellow 12-10 gauge) or non insulated splices I crimp & then cover with heat shrink tubing.


If you need help, I have a list of websites for electrical supplies if and when you decide to tear into the wiring harness.

Thanks MFolks,
I'll keep that in mind. Gonna check the stator again...someone told me that it should be producing up to 70 volts at 4000 RPM. How do you check the coils to see if they are the right ohms?

If not already done, would assure integrity of the ground connection where the negative battery cable attaches to rear of the engine.

And also assure that the rec/reg combo unit has a good ground connection.

Good Fortune!

Do you have a actual kawasaki service manual. If not try and find one try abay etc. I have one for kz 1000 resistance between the three dynamo leads blue pink,blue yel, yel pink at rx1 meter setting should be 0.56~o.84 ohms. Then set meter at highest resistance then check resistance between chasis ground.There should be no reading infinity. Any reading indicates a short means armature replacement Also to test dynamo output warm up engine to obtain actual operating conditions. You need two meters one set at 20 v dc between pos and neg on batt,secound meter set at 20 A DC . if you want i can tell what the manual say step by step let me know.remember this is from 1978 kz1000 manual. dynamo output at 4000 rpm is 13.5 v to 14.8 v 0.8 amps to 1.8 amps. If you only have one meter u can check separately.Let me know. Im from northern jersey where are you from. Ron

Coil check primary winding resistance set meter at Rx1 range connect one lead to red/yel the other to green or black lead from coil should read 3.2 to 4.8 ohms.To check secondary set meter to Rx1K range check between spark plug wires same coi should be 10.4 to 15.6 ohms.To check continuity set meter at highest setting check between red/yel lead to spark plug lead two test per coil there should be no reading if there is it is shorted replace coil.Good luck Ron

Thanks Linsk,
I'm from Staten Island. I was told that the AC Current coming from the stator should be around 60-70 AC Volts at 4000 RPM's. Gonna try and test the coils today.