Need help in Cincinnati

I bought this bike a few weeks ago and had problems immediately. Thought I would post what I found:

It was a couple different things, the diagram Patton pointed should have got him there. I didn't see this thread or know Grubdog was on here until today, so I'll explain how I fixed it.
First, it fouled the plugs FAST, in 6 miles... Read around here a bit, check coil voltage to ground: 8.2 volts at coils.
Here's a point, my auto mech friend was caught on the "just look for 12v" that you can get without an understanding of why you don't have 12v. You lose v when you have resistance and/or load. So try to check it that way. If you can test pins in a connector initially from the back where the wire enters and leave the connector together, you will get a better troubleshoot because when you seperate that connector you are not testing through the same resistance the circuit is seeing anymore. Next break a connection at coil and read amperage through: you may show full voltage when you are checking pins in a connector, but load testing through a connector may show a drop when compared to another point on the same circuit. If you have a sensitive meter you can check same stuff with resistance readings (power off) and find where your circuit loses juice, whether in switches, splices, wire corrosion, voltage drop, etc. do same at various points. Note slight and varied corrosion at terminals and same inside crimps... this bike has a new main harness, but not all new wire.
Clean every connector (without going into the bar switch). Got it up to 10.8 volts which got me running but I didn't like it. Read more. Study WG relay mod. I understand why some don't care for it, but this isn't a stock bike anymore, and I'm a master electrician, so it's no brainer to me. Every splice is resistance and potential failure, every wire has a little corrosion, length adds resistance, I did some measuring and figuring and it just seemed best to have a short strong power wire to the coils. crimped, soldered, and heatshrunk what I did, and I ended up modding the coil mod by running TWO completely seperate high temp wires from the relay to the coils because as the engine got hot I would lose a couple tenths (I said I was an electrician...) "teeing" near the coils. Two wires netted me less than .1v voltage drop, battery to coil, all lights on engine off; that's good, check your stocker. Big fat spark now. Reliable.
Here are my opinions:
If you aren't staying stock, if you don't need a blade or bullet connector, to remove a part for replacement or maint., get rid of it. If you need a connector, use waterproof. When you strip the wire, it should be shiny like a new penny. If it's not, softly wipe it with steel wool until it is. Corrosion=resistance. Resistance=power loss.
Crimp and solder when possible, but don't let the solder wick up the wire as this creates a point where the connector has leverage and the mass will vibrate and that leverage will make the wire fail where the solder stops.
Heat is bad, route wire to avoid heat. Double-sided velcro is awesome instead of wire ties, for accesibility and cleaning.

Also, the idle was way to rich. Like 3 turns. I think Grubdog you had weak spark at idle due to corrosion, and kept adding fuel to run it. The biggest "wiring bad spot" was off the kill switch in the headlight connector, on a male pin. I cleaned it, used antiox and then did the coil mod for reliability, too many point to fail in OEM wiring. It will last forever with the load removed, as a control circuit. I can bypass the key under my seat, if the harness does fail on the road.
I think the mains are set perfect because you were making good electric power when you revved and would overcome the resistance a bit.
Now that spark and mix fixed=BAD mother.
Found many things to do this winter!
Will keep you posted.

Deek

I've posted this quite a few times for owners of these older bikes:

Cleaning Motorcycle Electrics

1. 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. It can be purchased at most Radio Shack Stores or any electronic supply places. Or use any plastic safe electrical contact cleaner(NOT WD-40 !).

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

3. 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.

4. 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.

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

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

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

8. 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.

9. The left and right handlebar switch pods will need attention too as they have circuit functions like turn, horn, run/stop, and start. The older Kawasaki’s have reports of the soldered connections crumbling, if your bike has this problem, just ask, as I’ve got a repair procedure for this.

10. 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.

11. 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!

12. 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, along with boating supply stores.

13. 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.

14. 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

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

16. If any battery cable feels ”Crunchy” when flexed, replace it as possible corrosion is inside the insulation. Inspect all heavy duty battery cables and the smaller wire terminations(Bullet Connectors), for failed crimps, and those used in the electrical connectors, as they can fail over time.

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

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

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

21. 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.

22. 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.........

“I spent a weekend going through every electrical connection and switch on the bike with a little scotchbrite pad and DeOxit - what a difference! Everything was brighter, gauge backlights, indicator lights, turn signals, I was getting a nicer spark, it fired up quicker, etc. Well worth my time. WELL worth it! “

From a forum member at www.kzrider.com

Agree 1000%, worth it, as a point of maintainance at minimum. I have 2 60's honda's that have 6v systems and points, believe me, it's worth it.

In my case I had high resistance inside the factory crimps on the wire. When I stripped the wire back, even a couple inches back, there was still surface corrosion. so I gave up on the crimps and redid them back to source. This winter I will probably clean up the harness a bit more, and what's left, I really want some led's on those chrome rims at night... and some front signals... and different bars...

Deek