95KZ1000P, no running light

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post here. I have been reading these forums since I picked up my 95KZ1000P a few months ago. I must admit, it is very much a wealth of knowledge. I seem to be having an issue with my running lights. A little background on my set up.

When I picked up the bike, pretty much all of the electrical (headlight, front and rear turn signals) were removed. It didn't look like there was any chopping to the wiring harness that I could tell at first glance. Ditching the police set up, I opted to go with more subtle indicators. I put a 7 inch round headlight in the front with Emgo Mk 2 smoked indicators and the rear has an all in one LED brake light and turn signals. I know, that it may not be strictly legal but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. I know that LED and old thermal flashers don't play well together and I picked up an electronic flashing unit. My front and rear turn signals, and brake lights and head light work fine. The bike will turn over as well. The issue is I don't have hazzards, and I don't have a running light. My light does come on when the key is placed in "park" but naturally at that point, I don't have turn signals or anything else as I am sure it was originally intended.

I have already looked through the wiring diagram, I have pulled all the electrical connectors and bullet connectors apart and cleaned them with electrical cleaner (that is how I got my brake lights to work when using the front and rear brake pedals). I replaced the fuses with new ones. And I know that the light does work (as indicated putting the key in park). I am just not sure where else to go. Do I just run a parallel wire from the red wire coming from the ignition and run it to the running wire on the brake light? I did test the brake light with the original OEM brake light and I am still getting the same issue so I think its safe to say its not the aftermarket tail light. Short of chasing down broken or shorted wires, whats next? I very much appreciate your help.

Hello, nlwatkin, and WELCOME to KZr!

If not already done, would assure there's voltage at the bullet connector from the harness that feeds wire to the rear bulb's tail light filament.

The bullet connector is probably under the seat, over the rear fender.





Good Fortune!

Hello there!

I appreciate the response. I definitely pulled all those connectors apart and cleaned them. I had to go out and get a new meter. I will start the not fun task of chasing wires down. I appreciate the response again and when I find something, Ill be sure to post it here.

Take care

Do this too, as this will make your bike more reliable:

Cleaning Motorcycle Electrics

Get some of the De-Oxit DN5 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, and can be purchased at most electronic supply stores.

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 DN5 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 response 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. If you discover crumbled soldered connections inside the switches, I've got a repair procedure,just ask.

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 DN5 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.........


“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


Re: Cleaning the many and various Motorcycle electrics.
I used the De-oxit D-5 spray on all the electrical connections of my 78 Kz1000 that had sat for twenty years .

When I parked the bike in 92 I was starting to have troubles with some of the electrical system, but after pulling everything apart and giving it a spray , reconnecting the connectors and working them back and forth a few times, then gave them another shot of spray to wash them off before the final reconnection.

Everything still works perfectly and has for over 7000 miles this year.

I am extremely happy with the results , a lot of the connectors were green when I started and after the cleaning they looked new ( shiny gold )

I found the Deoxit D-series, D-5 spray in a 4 oz can at a big electronics store called Frys in Illinois, don't get the small cans at Radio Shack , they are different and meant for computer type stuff.

store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f

Trust MFolks , the guy's a true rocket scientist and really knows what he's talking about.
JD


Why WD-40 Should Not Be Used On Motorcycle Electrical Items.

For many years, I was proponent of the use of WD-40 on fuse clips, fuses, switches and connectors. After hearing of other peoples experience with intermittent and sporadic activity, I shrugged it off as maybe they did something wrong in the application of the product.


It wasn’t until the time I rode my 1982 GPz1100 B2 model to downtown San Diego that I encountered the problems others had gone through.

After concluding my business downtown, I walked to where my bike was parked, turned the key to unlock the forks, and prepared to start the engine. The key was in the "On" position, yet I had no lights in the dash panel, the fuel pump was not running(I have FI), and the horn and tail light were not working.


Puzzled as to why nothing electrical was happening, I remember my earlier conversations about how WD-40 will over time become a non-conductor(more like an insulator). I had some pieces of 400 and 600 grit sandpaper in my tool kit and with them was able to scratch away the coating from the WD-40 on the fuses and clips.

After removing the insulating film, the bike started and ran like it should. Since that time, I’ve told people about the problem with WD-40. If you must use a contact cleaner, I recommend getting some "De-oxit" DN5 from Radio Shack Stores or any good electronic supply store.

I went through with a meter after I tried cleaning the contacts again with electrical cleaner. Granted it was not the deoxit that you suggested but was an electrical contact cleaner I got at Ace hardware. I went straight from the solder point for the red wire on the ignition. If in park, I read 12 volts, if I am in regular "on"...I read nothing. A nice flat 0. Does this mean I have a bad ignition? I already pulled the ignition apart and cleaned the copper contacts. Still reads nothing if the key is in the "on" position. Thoughts? Anyone else have problems with this?

It might be time for a new ignition switch, especially if this is what came with the bike. They do wear out, from vibration, and the off-on cycles.

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.

I think you are right. Oh "darn" I guess I have to buy new parts for the bike again! If it fixes the problem or not, I will report back.

Hello again, its been a while since I posted. I figured out the running light issue. Pretty much on the right side control, the previous owner had cut the switch off and tried to run a "slimmer" switch. Well, I just replaced the switch he cut off and now running light is fine. I finally got that, the brake lights and the front turn signals flash fine but the rear turn signals simply stay on. When I actuate the turn signal switch, I can here it clicking and the front is fine, but rear lights with running light stay on. Is there another short somewhere? I rechecked the wires and it all looks to be in order in regards to being plugged in correctly. I already pulled the hazard control apart and cleaned it and that is how I got the front turn signals to work. Any ideas? Thanks again.

Disregard, I disabled the Hazzard switch by unplugging the two red wires from the O/G bullet connector and now the blinkers work fine. Looks like I have some additional cleaning to do on that circuit.

It's a violation of federal law to have amber(yellow) rear running lights. Only front ones are permitted. Rear running lights can be RED, but not yellow. I'd ask the local cops, or your state drivers license dept. about the regs.

It is NOT a violation (at least in Nebraska) to simply not have running lights. Brake light, tail light (license place light) and headlights are all that are required.

While I personally recommend against not having all the safety gear you can find, you might be better off pulling some of this until you can figure out what it supposed to be happening.

Mike is absolutely right, by the way. If you do have running lights, the rears cannot be any color but red.

The issue I had was the Hazard circuit was preventing my rear blinkers from working. They would both stay on solid but the front would blink. When I disconnected the two Red wires plugging into the O/G, that seemed to disable it and I got all four signal lights to blink again. Its not a permanent fix as I don't have hazards but at least puts me in the right direction. So now, all my indicators work fine. All others electrics work fine, high beams, horn (I am totally leaving the air horn installed. That will get someones attention!).

The issue I have now is carb related. It is leaking gas out of the #2 bowl. I really don't want to pull the carb bank off as it is a pain to get back on and mount the airbox again. The rubber on both sides is soft with no cracks or tears its just it is very difficult for me to get my hands in there and push the rubber boots on the airbox side. Does anyone know of a special tool to make it easier or something anyone fashioned? For now, I am going to try and tighten the screws on the bowl while leaving the carbs mounted to see if that at least stops it from leaking. I know that the petcock is leaking too. I have a brand new gravity fed petcock that will fit from Acerbis. Is it going to matter that it isn't vacuum actuated? I still need to pull the plugs, put a new air filter in but I got her started last night. She raced up to 4000rpm and if I try to gas it, it just sputters and dies and there is smoking coming from the right side exhaust. But, when she did run, I DID NOT hear any weird metal noises to suggest internal motor issues. So that has to be a good sign right?