Kill switch/start button rewiring

A few weeks ago I picked up a rather nice '82 KZ550 LTD for $300 that someone had intended to become a bobber. The problem I'm facing for the moment is pretty straight forward. Rather than replace the starter button on the handle controls that went out they simply cut all the wires to it flush with the handle control, cut a hole in the side cover, and wired in a starter button between the starter solenoid, and the battery.

I haven't been able to dig in behind the headlight to see if anything else was chopped in the rewire, but this is what I know. The ignition switch will not kill the bike when its running, it has to even be choked out one way or another. So far I'm guessing this has ruined the battery, or at least prevents it from holding any sort of charge.

Thankfully I managed to find a used right handle control, and but I'm up for anything useful anyone can tell me beforehand about things I should test or look for while I sort out this electrical mess.

The handlebar control wiring seems to be the same color and function for many years of Kawasaki's. I'm going to use my 1982 GPz 1100's wiring diagram here.

There are four (4) wires in the right control pod, two are BLACK, going to the start buton, and the other two wires are colored. RED goes to the ignition coils, providing the power. The RED with YELLOW stripe is the power from the ignition switch. All of these wires come through a 6 pin electrical connector(probably inside the headlight housing) The connector has two wires going to the front brake switch, so the rear brake light comes on when squeezed.

Some video's on wiring & splices:


(Butt Connectors vs. Bullet Connectors)

Electrical Wires



(Heatshrink Terminals And Connectors, AAA Protection)


(Heatshrinkable Crimpable Terminals)


(How to splice and repair wires, splicing techniques)

I have more, if needed.

I have a bunch of KZ550 info on my site, focusing on the carbs and cam/valve timing and lash.

There are also several manuals, and wiring diagrams you should grab.

The links are in my signature.

I think I've already found the wiring diagrams before while browsing, so thanks for that loudhvx. Also thanks MFolks for the links to the connectors. Originally I was going to solder/shrink the connections, but I believe I'll be going with the crimp connections and shrink tube later.

Tonight I finally got a chance to get a deeper look at the new handlbar control. There are 2 bullet connectors, which are solid yellow and a solid black and then there is a 4 pin with a blue/white, brown, brown/white, and yellow/red. Somewhere down the length of the wrapped wires the yellow/red splits with one of the yellow/red splits going to the run/off switch and the other to the start button. I traced back the yellow bullet to the run/off switch, and the black bullet goes to the start button.

I know from the diagram before the black lead goes to the solenoid, and the yellow/red goes to the ignition coils, and the yellow leads back to 12v to the lights. My best guess so far is the brown leads into connections with the ignition switch, and possibly the regulator/rectifier. The mystery wires now are the brown/white and blue/white.

On my bike's wiring diagram, BLUE with WHITE stripe is an aux power source for heated grips/electric vest.It comes of the main fuse block. The BROWN with WHITE stripe is part of the horn circuit. I'd check the horn button on the LEFT handlebar switch pod, who knows what the previous owner did regarding wiring.

The horn does work, thats one of the things that we checked before picking the bike up. I'll just have to do more research in hopes of finding a very detailed wiring diagram that goes through everything on the C3 model. I hope to get around to opening up the headlight assembly to see how bad things are there. Lucky for me I have some experience tracking down electrical problems thanks to my starter bike that was a Yamaha SR185.

JDShapp21 wrote: ...have to do more research in hopes of finding a very detailed wiring diagram that goes through everything on the C3 model....

If needed, here's the wiring diagram from KZr's FILEBASE.
Click > www.kzrider.com/filebase/doc_download/305-z550c3

Good Fortune!

Thanks Patton, that one is a much better one for my problem. If I'm reading it correctly the brown/white connects to a 10A fuse, and then becomes the red/blue line that goes into the ignition switch and front turn signals. Brown looks like it leads to the horn, front/rear brake light switch, and ignition switch.

Glad I got this info beforehand. Now I know to look into the turn signal and switch wires to make sure there wasn't a butcher job done on those as well. I'd rather be safe than sorry when it comes to an electrical system on a bike that doesn't have a kickstart.

Color Codes On Most Kawasaki’s (written for 1980’s bikes)

HEADLIGHT
RED with BLACK stripe, High Beam.
RED with YELLOW stripe, Low Beam.
BLACK with YELLOW stripe, the ground circuit.

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.

LEFT FRONT TURN SIGNAL Can be an #1157 dual filament bulb
GREEN, Left front turn signal circuit.
BLUE, Left front running light circuit.
BLACK with YELLOW stripe, the ground circuit.

RIGHT FRONT TURN SIGNAL Can be an # 1157 dual filament bulb
GREY, Right front turn signal circuit.
BLUE, Right front running light circuit.
BLACK with YELLOW stripe, the ground circuit.

LEFT REAR TURN SIGNAL Can be an #1156 single filament bulb
GREEN, Left rear turn signal circuit.
BLACK with YELLOW stripe, the ground circuit.

RIGHT REAR TURN SIGNAL Can be an #1156 single filament bulb
GREY, Right rear turn signal circuit.
BLACK with YELLOW stripe, the ground circuit.

I had the time to dig into the wiring tonight and discovered this. So far it looks like the original bullet connections for the front turn signal/running lights are intact. Unfortunately the aftermarkets on the front were wired into the back aftermarket turn signals, and because of the horrible job done they only stay on constantly and don't flash.

When it came to the actual kill switch we discovered the connector on the wiring harness was intact, and that only the lines coming from the old connector were cut and taped together as a bypass for the headlight/rear tail running light. Before we can begin work on the starter button and switch we have to sort out the mess created from the turn signals. We're still not sure if the front brake light switch has been bypassed or not, but we did find out that the handle bar and foot pedal both work for the brakelight.

I'd suggest getting an electronic flasher to replace what came with the bike. It is capable of working with LED turn signals, if you decide later to use them. Most auto part stores have them.