KZ550 and KZ1100 front turn sig relocate

I changed the handle bars on my 550 and 1100 recently and there was not enough room to mount the front turn signals. So I came up with this idea to move them to the headlight mount ears. Simple quick and easy. Only had to drill one hole per "ear".

I'm sure I'm not the first one to think of this but I don't remember seeing it done before.

In case anyone is interested what I did was to loosen the bucket bolts and moved it out of the way. The ears will swivel easily. I removed the rectangular reflector, only held on with one stud and nut. Temporarily mounted the turn signal to that hole and put the other end of the turn signal clamp on the inside of the ear. Then I marked and drilled a hole for the second mounting bolt and fastened the turn signal to the ear. Afterward I loosened the turn signal clamping bolt and swiveled the turn signal vertically. That's all. Took about 10 min per side and since I had the headlight out, to replace the gauges it was even easier.

Ouch! I wouldn't have drilled any holes in the headlight ears. I would simply have mounted the turn signals the normal way using the stalks that go into the headlight module. Ed

I like that the turn signals are offset behind the headlight, similar to the 750E.
I've been thinking of doing the same thing but have never seen it done. I guess it was pretty easy to drill the holes?

For an even cleaner look, you might be able to install turn signal stems in place of the handlebar clamp brackets. This may not work if your headlight ears aren't perpendicular to the headlight, though. I used aftermarket KZ stems from Z1Enterprises.com in place of the big headlight bolts. Probably a better install would be to use KZ400 stems or Honda CB stems --- the 400 & CB stems are very similar to each other. The K&S stems I used have a diamond flange that looks weird, even though the flange is covered by a rubber damper.

It was easy to drill the holes and this entire mod cost $0. Also has the benefit of being able to go back to OEM on handle bars if me or next owner wants to. I kept the entire mount intact and mounted on the bike. The other half of the mount is just moved to the inside of the ears. That way I was able to re-use the bolts and washers.

As for rotating the light to vertical, all you have to do is to remove the nut and bolt from the stalk and spin the light up or down as needed.

650ed wrote: Ouch! I wouldn't have drilled any holes in the headlight ears. I would simply have mounted the turn signals the normal way using the stalks that go into the headlight module. Ed

Not sure where you got those stalks. My headlights are mounted with chrome bolts and nuts on the inside of the bucket. Those stalks look like ones on the rear. But I left my rear signals OEM.

Thanks. As for the perpendicular comment, I was thinking if the fork ears are kinda angled inwards, the turn signal stem idea won't work as the turn signals would be kind of askew, pointing inwards, instead of forwards.

650ed's bike is stock. quite a few KZ models cam stock with the turn signals at the headlight bucket or fork ears.
Turn signal stems could have been installed on your 1100 in place of the big headlight bolts as they are both 10mm. It's what I did.

Not to threadjack too bad, but were there any times when the front turn signals were mounted to the handlebars? My 79 KZ650SR, which I got recently, has them mounted on knurlings on the handlebars, not on the headlight bucket sides.

-John

drakhen99 wrote: Not to threadjack too bad, but were there any times when the front turn signals were mounted to the handlebars? My 79 KZ650SR, which I got recently, has them mounted on knurlings on the handlebars, not on the headlight bucket sides.

-John

Yes, several models had them mounted on the bars.

The 650-SR came stock with the turn signals on the handlebars, as did my 81 650-CSR. I moved them to the headlight bucket by installing aftermarket stems in place of the big headlight bolts. they are both 10mm. very easy. click link in my signature for pics.

ps: the handlebar turn signals have tiny grounding rings, so I cut those off & installed 10mm ring terminals. At the time I didn't have a proper crimper, so I did mash crimps & sealed the joint w Permatex liquid metal --- the epoxy dries like a hard plastic & has held up well.

martin_csr wrote: Thanks. As for the perpendicular comment, I was thinking if the fork ears are kinda angled inwards, the turn signal stem idea won't work as the turn signals would be kind of askew, pointing inwards, instead of forwards.

650ed's bike is stock. quite a few KZ models cam stock with the turn signals at the headlight bucket or fork ears.
Turn signal stems could have been installed on your 1100 in place of the big headlight bolts as they are both 10mm. It's what I did.

Where I have mine mounted the ears are perpendicular, or nearly so, to the headlight so they pretty much point straight ahead.

Thanks. I couldn't tell from the photo. I think some fork ears are angled.