TOPIC:

Worth waiting for zero10 !

zero10 what are you going to do all winter?!? you can get this stuff at any reputable industrial electronics store in town. here in BC we have RP Electronics, checking online there is B&E Electronics and I think MRO is also in Calgary. If they don't have Deoxit they will carry the MG Chemicals line. Which is better is a topic for the Oil thread!!!

www.mgchemicals.com/distributors/canada/ab/

I have a can of Electrosolve no residue contact cleaner by MG chemicals already and I have used it in a few places with mixed success, it does seem to leave a white chalky residue on everything despite the name but that residue mostly scrubs off and the contacts seem to work better than when I started. I picked that up at Active a few years back but I was hoping that deoxit would do a better job.

It seems no local shops carry Deoxit, I've tried calling B&E, MRO and Active before and they told me they don't carry it, I forget which shop said they could order it but they also suggested it would be north of $40/can.

As for what I'll do all winter - I only got my class 6 a few weeks ago, I don't have any safety gear yet and the bike still needs new tires (they are 8 years old and hard as a rock), rear shocks (leaking BADLY), fork seals and a few other minor things (gas cap seal, fuel petcock O-rings, plugs, wires, etc.) until it'll pass an inspection and be safe to ride. I'm going to spend the winter saving up money for gear and parts and in the spring I'll finish fixing the bike then ride it all summer

I've got enough other electronics and car projects to fill my schedule until then!

I have both the Super Contact Cleaner and the DeoxIT. I save the DeoxIT for my audio stuff (as well s the D5, gold, etc) as it's really expensive. I haven't used Supersolve, but the Super Contact Cleaner I have no problems with on bikes.

On power and signal connectors on the KZ, it would probably be cheaper for you to convert the connections to something more modern, reliable and sealed. Mate-N-Lok now has a seals now for their Universal series which are very affordable, or if you want to spend a bit more there are Deutsch and Molex MX150Ls. You could buy a handful of sealed connectors for your $20 bottle of Deoxit.... and have no more contact cleaning!

BTW, didn't winter start a couple weeks ago in AB?

inline79 wrote: BTW, didn't winter start a couple weeks ago in AB?

We're back to summer for now but things aren't looking so good in the coming weeks
I suspect I'll be putting on the winter tires soon so I need to hurry up and sync the carbs on my bike so I can check the last thing off this year's list.


As for the connector swapping, I totally agree, I was thinking of swapping to weatherpack connectors, they are cheap and plentiful however that leaves a big issue: There are a number of connectors in the headlight housing that are physically identical that differ only by housing colour, it would be nice to have a connector set that is available in different colours to preserve that.

zero10 - cycleterminal.com - New Jersey.

zero10 wrote: As for the connector swapping, I totally agree, I was thinking of swapping to weatherpack connectors, they are cheap and plentiful however that leaves a big issue: There are a number of connectors in the headlight housing that are physically identical that differ only by housing colour, it would be nice to have a connector set that is available in different colours to preserve that.

I'm with you here. I installed a Deutsch 8-pin or maybe it was bigger in the headlight connections - FUGLY!

14 - 15 Volts @4000 RPM / Currently 14.8 - 15 @ 4000 RPM.[/quote]
It's too high at 4000 rpm.
You should measure the voltage on the brown wire at the reg/rec. at 4000 rpm.[/quote]

Loudhvx what do you reckon the measurement should be at 4000 ?
Thanks.

You may want to take a look in your Kawasaki Service Manual for the specs. Depending on the model, 14.8-15v is fine. The KZ650 manual calls for 14-15 volts, and the table shows the spec to be "about 15v" @ 4000 rpm (see images below). Ed

15v is too high. Kawasaki's were notorious for boiling out the batteries in the summer. That is likely why. In the winter, 15 would probably be ok, but when do you put the most miles on?

In the KZ550 factory manual, it says the battery should be at "about 14.5v". In my opinion, through 20 years of monitoring liquid lead-acid batteries, I've found you want the voltage to be even lower on hot day. Like about 14.3v. But 14.5 is a good compromise for liquid acid batteries.

I haven't found AGM batteries to have a preference one way or the other, voltage-wise, relative to the liquid acid batteries.

The brown wire on the regulator should be about the same as you measure on the battery, or within a few tenths (it will usually be slightly lower).

I understand. I thought the concern was about the charging system not working as designed. I agree that the charging system is such that it is important to check the battery's fluid level on a regular basis. Otherwise, as you say, the battery can run low on fluid. and that is a battery killer. Ed

Yes, I realize I was being vague.

While 15v would be too high for what the battery wants, 15.0v would not be too high in regards to whether a charging system with mechanical regulator was functioning properly or not. If it only topped out at 15.0v, per FSM, the system is not malfunctioning. That is, assuming it is the '77 650, Or was that FSM page for the 78 650 system with the solid state regulator?

Either way, I believe his more modern system would call for 14.5v as the target voltage for the battery.

And, 15v may be ok for short periods, especially in winter on bigger batteries. Cars will sometimes hold 15v for several minutes in the winter after a cold start. But in the summer, I've never seen one hold a sustained 15v on the battery for any significant length of time. They usually have a much more sophisticated regulator sometimes controlled by the engine computer.