81 Kz750 ltd needs an expert in electrical

Your response is a little bit vague about what you are finding, so I'm not positive on what to suggest.

If it's a mechanical tach, then it is not a factor.


If the ignition is turned on, and the voltage on the red wires at the coils are near 12v, and the voltage on the coils at the green wire and black wire is like 1 volt or less, then the igniters are conducting. When you removed the wires from the G terminals, did the voltage at the green and black wires on the coils jump up to near the same voltage as the red wires on the coils?

If yes, then your pickup wires are crossed somehow with voltage. When the pickups wires are disconnected from the igniters and ground, measure the voltage on each of the pickup wires. They should all have no voltage, and really no connection to anything else on the bike.

(All measurements should be done with the meter's black lead connected to the battery's negative terminal.)

ok after more testing. one thing i do notice is i am getting 10 volts at the coils on a fully charged battery. could this be the problem?

When checking the input voltage to the ignition coils, first have a fully charged battery, and the using a multimeter, set it up to measure VDC(Volts, Direct Current), range of 20.

Put the RED probe from the multimeter on the same terminal that either a RED wire or ones that’s RED with YELLOW stripe, and the BLACK probe on either a good frame/Earth ground or the battery Negative(-) terminal/post.

Depending on the motorcycles current draw(lighting, and other high amp needs) the reading might be 10 volts or more, but if the reading is down around 8 volts or less, this indicates a corrosion or wiring problem needs correcting to improve input voltage to the coils.


Cleaning Motorcycle Electrics

Get some of the De-Oxit electrical contact cleaner and figure on spending a good day going from the front of the bike to the back. It’s a plastic safe cleaner/preservative. www.deoxit.com is their website. Or use any plastic safe electrical contact cleaner(NOT WD-40 !).

On the older Kawasaki's, a majority of electrical connectors are inside the headlight housing requiring removal of the headlight, then the fun begins.

Do one set of electrical connectors at a time to avoid mixing up what connects to where. Usually disconnecting, spraying with De-Oxit and reconnecting is about all you'll need.

However, when encountering the green crud of corrosion, a brass wire brush may be needed on the pins you can reach.
Some 400-600 grit wet and dry sandpaper strips rolled into a tube should reach the male and female pins in the more difficult to clean connectors.

Smoker’s pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and wooden toothpicks work as cleaning aids.

Really small electrical connectors may require the use of a welders tip cleaning tool assortment.

Most pins in the connectors are coated with a thin plating of tin, and others may be nothing more than copper or brass.

If moisture is added, the resulting corrosion lowers the voltage/current being carried causing dim lights, slow engine cranking, slow turn signal responce and lower input voltage to the ignition coils resulting in weak spark.

The left and right handlebar switch pods will need attention too as they have circuit functions like turn, horn, run/stop, and start.

Usually a spritz or two with actuation of the switch is about all needed for these switches unless corrosion is detected and then careful disassembly is required.

The ignition switch may or may be not sealed to allow spraying the internal contacts. I urge caution if attempting to open this up as springs, and ball bearings may fly out never to be seen again!

If your bike has the older style glass tubed fuses, I suggest replacing them as vibration can cause internal failure. AGX is the type used, and most auto parts stores can get them for you.

Clean the fuse holder clips, looking for signs of overheating(discolored insulation, signs of melting).
I use metal polish on a cotton swab, followed by spraying another clean swab with the De-Oxit and then rubbing the inside of the fuse clip.

All battery cables must be clean and tight for maximum current transfer. Check the cables going from the Negative(-) battery terminal/post to the engine mounting bolt

Also the one going from the Positive(+) terminal to the starter solenoid and from there to the starter motor.

If any battery cable feels ”Crunchy” when flexed, replace it as possible corrosion is inside the insulation.

Each "Bullet Connector" will have to be sprayed to ensure good connectivity, especially the ones going to the energizing coil of the starter solenoid.

The alternator output “Bullet Connectors” are usually behind the engine sprocket cover and will need inspecting and cleaning too.

The turn signal light sockets will benefit from a spritz from the contact cleaner along with the tail light/brake light socket.

Some brake light switches can be sprayed on the actuating rod, with the spray running down inside to the electrical contacts, others may be sealed requiring replacement if the switch is intermittent in operation.

Some people put the Di-Electric Grease on cleaned terminations/connectors, I don’t, as I’ve read/heard it can cause problems when it gets hot, actually insulating the connections, so the choice is yours to use or not.

I think I've covered about all of the electrical systems on the bike.........

it has been my experience especially when dealing with electrical issues to back track.You had no problem until you replaced the headlight ring correct? if you are shorting the headlight bucket is the perfect place for this to happen. my eltrical issues all started when I painted mt headlight bucket an reintalled it alot of wires to switxhes old cracked and broke inside the insulation inside the bucket start with the last thing you did before it had a problem (look for the easy stuff first. Quote from my father)

thank you all for the advice. loudvhx was absolutely right. turned out i had 2 diodes on my hei modules facing the wrong way. resoldered them the correct way and a nice fat spark happened. i also learned that my spare igniter was no good either. i owe you guys alot of gratitude. being pointed in the right direction was exactly what i needed. she runs now and the modules are working great.

Great. Glad to hear you got it working!