Unused Wires?

In taking my bike apart for cleaning & maint, I noticed in the headlight bucket there are 4 wires that ain't connected to anything. They have female connectors on them. One is black w/ yellow stripe, which I confirmed with the ohmmeter is a ground wire. The others are: Green, brown with either a white or grey stripe (too dirty to tell!), and a solid grey one.

Anyone know why these would be there, but not used? Everything works on the bike (OK, well, it did *before* I started tearing it apart!)

I believe every single KZ that hit the roads had a few of those, usually located in the headlight housing like you've found, and sometimes behind the side cover(s).

IIRC, they were designed to be used for accessories. Stuff like the turn signals, headlight, radio, cig lighter, etc. in the Vetter fairings that were offered by Kawi.
I'd imagine you could probably use the "spare" wiring to tie in a set of running lights, an alarm, etc. if you really wanted to.
Otherwise it's just loose wiring with no purpose right now, but won't harm anything to just leave there.

Post edited by: RetroRiceRocketRider, at: 2007/01/10 20:16

Hmmm.. Might have to play with those. I would like to mount my little GPS on the bars, between the tach and speedo, and was wondering where I could tap 12v from....

Thanks for the insight.

The color codes are pretty standard across the board on a Kaw. A black/yellow is always a ground. A solid green wire is generally a turn signal wire. A brown wire is part of the brown circuit which is switched 12VDC coming off the ignition switch... the other wire? Not sure since you are not sure what color. If it is solid white, it is either coming direct from the fuse box and NOT switched (but it is fused) so it is hot all the time OR comes off the ignition switch. To test, check it with a multimeter. Test to see if it is hot with the key off then with the key on.

I can imagine that you would want to be able to read a GPS whether the bike is on or off. This means you will have to run a wire directly from the battery or fuse area so it doesn't run through the ignition switch. You would have to rely on the device switch to turn the gizmo on/off. If you forgot to turn it off, the battery would drain. If you decide to operate the gizmo ONLY when the bike is turned on, use the brown wire to power and the black/yellow to ground. Test brown wire to ensure it is indeed switched in the same manner as you tested the white or unclear color wire.

Thanks for the info wg! If I do it, it would be switched, as the unit has about a 4-hour battery in it also. Still not sure I want it at all - might simply become a distraction.