kz750 ltd 1981 - switch off main lights

hi kzr's

my bike has another fault. it's an
electrical one. the head & tail light
are hard wired and sapping a lot of power from the bikes
ignition system and this in turn, this makes it
sluggish to start. the battery is new.

like the usa, the uk road laws advise
that you need to have your lights switched
on all the time.

i've seen over here in uk, bikes
whose lights have to switched
on.

has anyone ever done this modification
please?
i don't know which wire to cut/
bridge to install a handlebar switch?

is a fuse necessary?

after initial ignition start up (without main lights on)
i would then switch the lights on.

any advice on what i need and how to
do this useful mod!

many thanks ya'all!

kind regards

angie

Does your bike have Kawasaki's system, that will turn on either the high or low beam when one of the other burns out? It's usually behind a body side cover with a small connector that plugs into the main harness with the words "Reserve Lighting System" printed on the unit.

If so, I believe "Loudhvx" here on the forum, has information about how to bypass it & add a toggle switch to turn off the headlight untill the engine is running.

hi mfolks

happy new year!

yes, my kz750 ltd h2 1981 does
have a reserve lighting system.

i will have a look at the information
posted by the other member.

what i've discovered is by using
a relay and this is piggy backed
to the coils. should it fail everything
stops!

many thanks for your help!

regards

angel

steelhorseangel wrote: hi kzr's

my bike has another fault. it's an
electrical one. the head & tail light
are hard wired and sapping a lot of power from the bikes
ignition system and this in turn, this makes it
sluggish to start. the battery is new.

The easiest way to fix this is to install a normally closed relay that opens when the starter relay is energized, and the relay cuts off all the lights. I did this to my 750 twin back in 1981 and it triples the average battery life.

On mine, there are two main "circuit branches of about 8A each, fed by each 8A fuse. One branch is the headlight and some small lights. The other is the tails, turn signals, dash lights, horn and other stuff. I put a 10A relay into each line.

steelhorseangel wrote: hi mfolks

happy new year!

yes, my kz750 ltd h2 1981 does
have a reserve lighting system.

i will have a look at the information
posted by the other member.

what i've discovered is by using
a relay and this is piggy backed
to the coils. should it fail everything
stops!

On mine: the main battery power from the ignition switch runs through a big 20A fuse and feeds the ignition coils, then after that it goes to a pair of 8A fuses for the lights and accessories. Don't change the wiring to the coils, change it after the coils in the light branches.

MFolks wrote: Does your bike have Kawasaki's system, that will turn on either the high or low beam when one of the other burns out? It's usually behind a body side cover with a small connector that plugs into the main harness with the words "Reserve Lighting System" printed on the unit.

If so, I believe "Loudhvx" here on the forum, has information about how to bypass it & add a toggle switch to turn off the headlight untill the engine is running.

Cutting off the headlight is a big help, but also getting the tail light, running lights, dash lights will cut off an additional power load of about 40W. That's a lot.

hi. bountyhunter!

many thanks for your technical
imput. i don't know anything about
relays and i was interested to know
about a possible schematic for refining
our kaws!
did you draw one for your wiring?

these old kaws are great bikes.
i was commenting on here this
week about our kaws are better than the
plastic rockets, with many plastic parts.
i bought a brit biker magazine called
motorcycle news today, it had a front page
item advising 'old air bikes are nearly
extinct, this is why we love them!'
roll on the kaws we all say!

i wonder why mr kawasaki's r & d
dept. designed our brilliant kz's
that was badly let down with the lights on
scenario sapping most of the starting power away!

what you've advised about power saving
through technical electrical wizardry,
would benefit all our starting problems.

you could design it and help most of us!
we would all be very grateful in
getting our bikes starting up with
gusto, rather than sometime next week!

many thanks bh!

angel what a star* you be!

Think of a relay as a remote controlled switch, designed to carry higher currents(Amps) than smaller switches could.

Some relay information:

Relay Types & Wiring Information
www.the12volt.com/relays/relays.asp
www.2carpros.com/how_to/how_do_i_check_a_relay.htm
www.summitracing.com/parts/PCO-5591PT/
www.mcmelectronics.com/product/26-1942
www.wiringproducts.com/contents/en-us/d3...3v8rECFYleTAodyg8AbQ
www.delcity.net/store/Pre!Wired-Relay-Socket-Harness/p_72562

sorry I did not draw it out. However, I followed the Kaw schematic and followed the wires to the fuse box and opened them going into each 8A fuse.

I used a male-female connector set on each power line to mate up with lines I connected into the relay contacts, so if the relay failed I could jump the wires back together.

here is a relay:

hi bh

thanks you for your image of the relay.
i wouldn't know how to integrate this into my main harness!
it's one for the tech guys, like my starter clutch!
i simply don't know how to change/refine mr kaws wiring
safely!..

i need to see a diagram, what i need to do the job!.
i can only work from a to b, c to d etc, no quesswork or
it will blow components!..

the wiring is too technical for me.
i'd to re wire the whole bike as the original harness was
a 1980 one and damaged by accident, diff. gauges etc.
Oh what fun we'd trying to find an 1981 harness. i've now three oem ones in stock!
if anyone needs one!.. just make me an offer on one!..

many thanks bh!

regards

angel