TOPIC:

Have had to replace water in 4 cells twice, and now battery is dead. How do I test regulator as I was told it may be allowing battery to over charge and dry out..and Is this a true statement?

Yes, if the regulator is overcharging the water in the battery will evaporate rather quickly. Some evaporation is normal though, so plan on checking and topping off a bit every month or so.

To check the regulator output on the KZ650 I do the following; I suspect this will also work for your bike. Make sure the battery is charged (this won't work with a discharged battery). Turn off (or disconnect) the headlight and other lights. Attach the voltmeter to the positive and negative battery terminals. Start the bike and let it idle - the voltage should be between 12 -14 volts. Gradually bring the engine speed up. At about 1600 rpm the voltage should reach between 14-15 volts. Bring the engine speed up to 4000 rpm. The voltage should remain within 14-15 volts. If the voltage exceeds 15 volts the regulator needs to be adjusted or replaced. If the voltage at 4000 rpm is less than 14 volts there is a problem with the regulator or charging system. Ed

That's right. If your lighting is drawing too much power and is taxing the battery at low RPM, the battery will lose water. Too bad Kawasaki buried the batteries in some of these bikes. The dealer will cheerfully sell you a new one every year at $150 a pop. MARKETING AGAIN.
Steve

AGM batteries don't have this problem. Just sayin

They won't fix the problem, but at least it won't go dry.

Thanks for the advice, I will do testing on the regulator. Only light on is headlight, taillight...not sure yhat draws alot of power. Thanks again.

Another thing that can cause water loss is if one or more of the cells are just bad. The regulator has to keep charging the hell out of the battery to get it up to correct voltage and that cooks the water out of the cells.

oldsguy wrote: Thanks for the advice, I will do testing on the regulator. Only light on is headlight, taillight...not sure yhat draws alot of power. Thanks again.

The headlight is the largest draw on these bikes. At idle the battery is discharging.

Bypassing the reserve lighting unit and adding a headlight switch does wonders for the charging system.

That was the case until I installed LED's for the running lights. The headlight does draw a lot of power but the charging system is able to keep up with it at idle. I have a switch and use to turn it off before starting. It would start but the battery would have to work too hard. Not good for it.
Steve

My GPz 1100 B2, was initially set up like this, with the headlight coming on when the key was turned, so I wired up a bypass switch, so once the engine was running, I'd flip the switch, and get the headlight on. Maybe not to DOT specs, but it saved on batteries.

I wonder if his bike was modified to keep the headlight on? If it's a 1976 KZ900 I would expect there to be an ON/OFF headlight switch on the handlebar controls. The 1977 KZ650's all came with a switch. I believe it wasn't until1978 that the headlight switch was eliminated. Ed

You're right.
Steve

I do have a switch, but lately ive been leaving it on, as light goes off when key is off. Thought it was better than remembering to turn it on..however, now I will just turn it on after bike is running.