brake light issues... any help appreciated.

Hello all. I recently purchased an 83 kaw 750 ltd shaft drive. KZ750F is what it says by the vin, anyways. First bike. Tail lights seem to come and go. Brake lights not working. I checked the fuses and it was missing one 10amp fuse so i put one in and it blew as soon as I turned the key. Started looking at wires and came across a spot that when wiggled seemed to flicker the tails a bit, so I untaped the wire and found one that was spliced into two wires... there are two connecters that are not plugged into anything, one black w/ yellow trace, the other yellow w/ black trace. stumped.

Hello, hoosierkaw83, and WELCOME to KZrider!

Here's a link to the wiring diagram in KZr's FILEBASE:
Click here > www.kzrider.com/filebase/doc_download/286-kz750f1

Black/yellow wire is "ground."

Good Fortune!

Thnx a bunch patton. Looking at the diagram I do see where the blu wire is supposed to split off. If I cant find any bare spots on the wire, or any place its touching frame etc.. how do I find a short? I keep blowing the fourth fuse down...

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. Just 1, not both!

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.

ok, so ive followed wires everywhere and cant seem to find any bare spots or places a wire is touching etc... however when I turn the key ever so slightly the tail seems to come on and stay on. Is there a possibility there is a problem inside the ignition? Never taken one apart...

The tail, or running light should come on anytime the ignition switch is turned on.

BRAKE/TAIL LIGHT Can be an # 1157 dual filament bulb
RED, Running or Tail Light.
BLUE,(sometimes with a Red stripe) Brake Light Circuit.
BLACK with YELLOW stripe, the ground circuit.

yea it doesnt come on unless you give the key a little jiggle. After I jiggled the key and the tails came on, i put a 10amp fuse in and it didnt blow. Otherwise it usually blows as soon as I turn the key to "on". Must be a short somewhere near the key right?

if your turn signals are not hooked up, make sure the connectors from the wires are not touching anything = blown fuses,just fixed mine.

turns work fine, always have, just blows the same fuse often. I was trying to put off going through all the wires up front, since I only have a problem where the key wiggles a bit, i wonder if there is anything in there I can take apart and clean and check for wire problems...