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Ignition switch. Kz1000k 1981 17 Feb 2020 16:28 #819509

  • jdsteph0897
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I bought an 81 kz1000k basket case. The wiring harness is a rats nest. It has a six plug connector from the switch to the harness. Problem is the colors do not match at all. I think someone put a different year switch in it. I believe the harness is correct. Problem is that I have searched the internet for days and cannot find a switch with the same wiring colors as the harness. The wiring diagrams I found online for the year and model show a switch with the same wiring colors as the harness so no switching of colors. The switch has the following colors: separate brown not in connector , blue, red, green, white, white/black and yellow in the connector. The harness has : white,brown,orange,orange/green,white/black and a red all in the connector. Is the harness correct and switch wrong and if so where do I get the correct ignition switch.

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Ignition switch. Kz1000k 1981 18 Feb 2020 07:46 #819524

  • martin_csr
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There's an 81-83 KZ1000 chain drive pdf manual available with color wiring diagrams. It may be in the Filebase here on KZR.
From the wiring diagram your motorcycle should have a 7-wire ignition switch, so the one you have will probably work. Stock, the brown wire is routed thru the 6-pin connector & there's a yellow-red that's outside the connector, so you could swap the Brown wire into the ignition switch connector with whatever wire corresponds to yellow-red, probably Yellow. an unused yellow-red for the kill switch may be inside the headlight bucket.

Here's what I'd try. Wire colors with capital letters are the ignition switch wires.
Swap the Brown & Yellow wires >> Brown is now routed to the connector & Yellow is separate from the connector.
Match up the White, White-Black, Red, and Brown wires.
Match up Blue to orange & Green to orange-green (or vice versa, if appropriate).
Connect the Yellow wire to yellow-red inside the headlight bucket.

White should be the main power wire & Red should be for the tail light. Assuming you have battery power, turn the ignition switch to Park to see if the tail light comes one. If so, this confirms that Red is the tail light wire. Before installing the ignition switch, you could test it with a digital multimeter. There's an ignition switch chart on the wiring diagram which should help in figuring out the wire colors by testing for continuity. Turn the key to Park & test for continuity between White and Red >> this would confirm Red is for the tail light. With ignition switch ON test for continuity between the other wires. see chart on wiring diagram.

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Ignition switch. Kz1000k 1981 18 Feb 2020 09:36 #819531

  • jdsteph0897
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Thanks for the info. Last night I found a diagram for the switch and compared it to the diagram for the harness and traced the wires to see what each runs. I came up with a little different combo than you did. What do you think?
White harness to white switch. Goes to fuse block and positive side of battery
Orange harness to white switch. Meets up with white to white and goes to fuse block and positive side of battery
Brown harness to separate brown wire outside connector. Power to fuse block then regulator/ rectifier etc.
Yellow/red harness to yellow switch. On off switch
Red harness to red switch. Rear tail light
White/black harness to blue switch. Front instrument lights, rear lights etc
Orange/green harness to green switch. Turn signal relay, hazard relay and hazard switch

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Ignition switch. Kz1000k 1981 18 Feb 2020 12:11 #819534

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You've probably figured it out. Using a meter you can use the ignition switch chart on the wiring diagram to verify some stuff. If I'm reading it right, the way you now have it, Blue = white-black in the ignition switch chart, White/Black = orange, Green = orange/green, Yellow = yellow/red, and White, Brown & Red are the same as the stock ignition switch. With the ignition switch ON, there should be continuity between the White & Blue wires, between the White/Black & Green wires, and between the Brown & Yellow wires of the ignition switch. In Park there should be continuity between White & Red, and between White/Black & Green.

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Last edit: by martin_csr.

Ignition switch. Kz1000k 1981 18 Feb 2020 16:35 #819549

  • jdsteph0897
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I didn’t see the ignition switch chart the first time I looked. Thanks for the help.

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Ignition switch. Kz1000k 1981 19 Feb 2020 06:11 #819568

  • martin_csr
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I took a stab at it without really knowing how the aftermarket ignition switches should be wired up. I didn't have any luck finding an Emgo wiring diagram. I think the continuity checks will suss out most of the wires & I think some of the wire colors are kind of universal. loudhvx probably has a couple of replies here on KZR about wiring up aftermarket ignition switches, but I figured it probably isn't too terribly complicated. hee.

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Last edit: by martin_csr.
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