Headlight bulbs blowing regularly

Ok, didn't need to do the school run in the end.

I ran the bike and measured again

Full beam engine on 16.0 volts
Dipped beam engine on 16.2volts

So if I'm reading your kind advice correctly this is down to the voltage regulator over charging the system?

For sure, that is far too high. What year Z650 is the bike? Ed

650ed wrote: For sure, that is far too high. What year Z650 is the bike? Ed

Its a 1978 KZ650-C2. The current regulator is Shindengen SH221-12 with 4 wires (2 Yellow) coming out.

These folks sell very high quality parts for charging systems. I've been using one of their rectifiers for several years; it works perfectly and it was plug & play. You should contact them to make sure you get exactly the correct regulator for your year KZ650 because there were several different charging systems used on KZ650's over the years. Ed

www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/index.html

650ed wrote: These folks sell very high quality parts for charging systems. I've been using one of their rectifiers for several years; it works perfectly and it was plug & play. You should contact them to make sure you get exactly the correct regulator for your year KZ650 because there were several different charging systems used on KZ650's over the years. Ed

www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/index.html

I've had a look there already, but as I'm in the UK shipping and import duties are going to make it super expensive sadly.

I was thinking of going down the route of the SH775 as mentioned in here. www.kzrider.com/forum/4-electrical/59907...ctifier?limitstart=0 As it seems to be a much more modern route to go down. If anyone has fitted one that would be lovely to hear about.

Gordy wrote:

650ed wrote: These folks sell very high quality parts for charging systems. I've been using one of their rectifiers for several years; it works perfectly and it was plug & play. You should contact them to make sure you get exactly the correct regulator for your year KZ650 because there were several different charging systems used on KZ650's over the years. Ed

www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/index.html

I've had a look there already, but as I'm in the UK shipping and import duties are going to make it super expensive sadly.

I was thinking of going down the route of the SH775 as mentioned in here. www.kzrider.com/forum/4-electrical/59907...ctifier?limitstart=0 As it seems to be a much more modern route to go down. If anyone has fitted one that would be lovely to hear about.

The SH-775 is a superior unit compared to common shunting R/R's. I've got one on my 750 after trialing it on my GS1000 Suzuki. Series R/R's protect your stator from frying from excessive current returning to the windings and overheating it. Triumph is providing these units in service kits for certain bikes that have a habit of frying their stators. Polaris specs it as OEM on some vehicles (PN 4012941) . And speaking of frying stators, never purchase a stator that is reputed to add charging system capacity since that just means there will be more excess current than necessary for the bike, and this excess power will have to go somewhere, where it typically adds stress on the electrical system (stator and/or the R/R itself). BTW, there are some cheap aftermarket units being touted as SH775 replacements, but they aren't. Try ebay and look for photos of the actual unit so you can verify the numbers are printed directly on the unit (at the top).

Before ordering up the new R/R you may want to double check your charging system grounds. Many times the grounds get corroded which leads to overcharging. I'm not familiar with your particular bikes charging system, doubly so since it seems you only have a two phase charging system (??), but sometimes cleaning the grounds fixes the charging system right up.

Overcharging could also be a poor connection on the +ve, the 5 wire units take it straight from the battery, the 6 wire units also sense the voltage from the ignition switch IIRC.

Nessism wrote:
The SH-775 is a superior unit compared to common shunting R/R's. I've got one on my 750 after trialing it on my GS1000 Suzuki. Series R/R's protect your stator from frying from excessive current returning to the windings and overheating it. Triumph is providing these units in service kits for certain bikes that have a habit of frying their stators. Polaris specs it as OEM on some vehicles (PN 4012941) . And speaking of frying stators, never purchase a stator that is reputed to add charging system capacity since that just means there will be more excess current than necessary for the bike, and this excess power will have to go somewhere, where it typically adds stress on the electrical system (stator and/or the R/R itself). BTW, there are some cheap aftermarket units being touted as SH775 replacements, but they aren't. Try ebay and look for photos of the actual unit so you can verify the numbers are printed directly on the unit (at the top).

Before ordering up the new R/R you may want to double check your charging system grounds. Many times the grounds get corroded which leads to overcharging. I'm not familiar with your particular bikes charging system, doubly so since it seems you only have a two phase charging system (??), but sometimes cleaning the grounds fixes the charging system right up.

Yeah I saw quite a few iffy ones on ebay. I think I've managed to get a legitmate one with the connectors so fingers crossed it will arrived shortly and be ok.

I will double check the ground, but I know the battery end is good as I replaced that when replacing the battery.

www.electrosport.com has a good troubleshooting page.

Well the SH775 has arrived



Now to wire it up this week.

Do you have a link to the one you bought?
Steve

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configuration

swest wrote: Do you have a link to the one you bought?
Steve

It's from a company called MTP Racing in Germany, but I bought it on their ebay store.

No where in the UK seems to stock them it seems.