78 KZ650 B2 Charging/ignition system upgrades

Riding in the city, most people quickly realize they don't have enough time to look down, and it becomes a distraction to have gauges. Everyone in a car is looking at their phone, and not at you, so you have to spot them first. I rarely find anyone who actually has working gauges in the city (usually that indicates a tourist ).[/quote]

My friends and I have ran our bikes quite a few times through our home made 1/4 mile black top and I often think to myself damn I was really watching the tack a lot and need to pay more attention to whats in front of me (I seemed to have always got the right lane so that helped too) ......

And one of the first things I took off was my turn signals (for looks and weight control... not saying it was smart) and never had a problem........ seen and turned in front of cops quite a few times using the old hand signals..... thinking I read one time hand signals are ok in Illinois but that was a very long time ago and I could just have been lucky too.

As far as I know, signals are not required equipment in Illinois. From what I've been told, but never confirmed, you need one mirror, brake light, head light, tail light, and a rear brake. In Chicago, in the hood, I see guys riding minibikes with none of the above (maybe a rear brake), they also ride dirt bikes with no lights, and even go karts are pretty common. Obviously, none of these have plates or stickers.

The loop-hole in NC is the "antique" clause. If a vehicle is over 35 years old then state inspections are waived.

Upon initial issuance of the antique plate and registration, they visually validate VIN's to confirm the the vehicle and its age, then it never gets checked again. If horns, blinkers, etc. are installed then they must be functional, otherwise they aren't required. And you're off....

And a horn........ bought a new IT175 Yamaha in 78 that I had to put a mirror and a horn on it to get plated and a bicycle squeeze bulb was good...... :ohmy: I swear I can't remember doing lights on it...... maybe before the head light on at all times law ??

Sorry to Hy jack this so I'll say this to make up for it.......my stock single phase charging set up has never gave me a problem or a dead or weak battery and I've had the Dyna set up since 83.

Just heard back from the customer support folks at Shorai. Here's the discussion:

Me: Hello, your website recommends a LFX14L2, but a retailer recommended a 07L2. If the only difference is AH (or CCA) am I OK if I only need the battery for a kickstart motorcycle, where CCA isn't too important?
... ok going with the 07L2 that is?

Shorai: The retailer has recommended the incorrect battery. If the battery is incorrect it will not be warrantied for free replacement. If it is kick only the most important factor will be the amperage/voltage output of the charging system on the bike. If it is more than 7A, it will damage the battery.

Please be sure that the bike has a regulator so that the battery does not get exposed to more than 15.2V and no less than 13.1V with the headlight on. The specs are:

At least 13.1V at idle, with headlight on, although 13.3V is ideal.
Between 13.6 - 14.4V at 2000 rpm
No more than 15.2V at any time.

... I'm going to stick with the AGM, but thought I'd throw this in here for completeness sake.

KZB2 650 wrote: And a horn........ bought a new IT175 Yamaha in 78 that I had to put a mirror and a horn on it to get plated and a bicycle squeeze bulb was good...... :ohmy: I swear I can't remember doing lights on it...... maybe before the head light on at all times law ??

Sorry to Hy jack this so I'll say this to make up for it.......my stock single phase charging set up has never gave me a problem or a dead or weak battery and I've had the Dyna set up since 83.

Yup, forgot, horn too.

Now to return to the regularly scheduled thread.

QCkaw wrote: Just heard back from the customer support folks at Shorai. Here's the discussion:

Me: Hello, your website recommends a LFX14L2, but a retailer recommended a 07L2. If the only difference is AH (or CCA) am I OK if I only need the battery for a kickstart motorcycle, where CCA isn't too important?
... ok going with the 07L2 that is?

Shorai: The retailer has recommended the incorrect battery. If the battery is incorrect it will not be warrantied for free replacement. If it is kick only the most important factor will be the amperage/voltage output of the charging system on the bike. If it is more than 7A, it will damage the battery.

Please be sure that the bike has a regulator so that the battery does not get exposed to more than 15.2V and no less than 13.1V with the headlight on. The specs are:

At least 13.1V at idle, with headlight on, although 13.3V is ideal.
Between 13.6 - 14.4V at 2000 rpm
No more than 15.2V at any time.

... I'm going to stick with the AGM, but thought I'd throw this in here for completeness sake.

Sounds like lawyer-driven BS. We have voltage regulators which control the power by controlling the voltage... big surprise there. If the voltage is regulated, the amperage is determined by the resistance of the load. There is not much leeway in terms of getting around ohms law. Any decent, modern, regulator on a Kz will maintain far below 15.2. Even 14.7 would be considered high for Kz's built around 78 or later. I prefer to see about 14.5 on cold days, and maybe 14.2 or 14.3 on hot days, but a few tenths higher is not usually a problem. If a Kz was regulating higher than 14.7, I would start troubleshooting the sense circuit and/or the regulator.

Glad to hear you are going with a small AGM instead.

The SH775 is hands down the best R/R available this side of a (more expensive) Compufire.

I'm not an expert on the matter but if you go three phase doesn't that suggest the need for a new rotor? I've got a 750 parts engine and could look for a rotor if you indeed need one.

I thought I read somewhere that the 650 rotor will work, seeing as it and the 750 both use permanent (or solid-state) magnets. I think the difference in form and function is only in the stator/fieild, when comparing single-phase and 3-phase.

But like you, I wouldn't mind some confirmation on this....?

QCkaw wrote: I thought I read somewhere that the 650 rotor will work, seeing as it and the 750 both use permanent (or solid-state) magnets. I think the difference in form and function is only in the stator/fieild, when comparing single-phase and 3-phase.

But like you, I wouldn't mind some confirmation on this....?

I'm watching this thread with interest as I'm not 100% confident that my sh775 will work with single phase. I've 90% completed the rewire so I will find out soon enough!

Gordy wrote:

QCkaw wrote: I thought I read somewhere that the 650 rotor will work, seeing as it and the 750 both use permanent (or solid-state) magnets. I think the difference in form and function is only in the stator/fieild, when comparing single-phase and 3-phase.

But like you, I wouldn't mind some confirmation on this....?

I'm watching this thread with interest as I'm not 100% confident that my sh775 will work with single phase. I've 90% completed the rewire so I will find out soon enough!

I'd upgrade the system to 3 phase for sure. More charging system power. The advantage of the SH775 is that it won't stress out your stator and cause it to fail. Rewring the charging system is easy so no worry with bypassing the stock harness in this regard.

Nessism wrote: The SH775 is hands down the best R/R available this side of a (more expensive) Compufire.

I'm not an expert on the matter but if you go three phase doesn't that suggest the need for a new rotor? I've got a 750 parts engine and could look for a rotor if you indeed need one.

Kawasaki very cleverly figured out a good ratio between rotor poles and stator poles so the same rotor can be used with 12-pole stators (1-phase) and 18-pole stators (3-phase).

EDIT: But the physical dimensions should be checked for clearance and alignment so there is about the same gap between rotor and stator, and they are centered on each other, as much as the 1-phase was.