TOPIC:

Just so you guys know what i'm dealing with, this is what my KZ is in


It's a very poorly put together off-road buggy that i'm trying to fix to my standards. And know it's time to tackle this wiring nightmare. To say this wiring was chincy would be giving it way to much credit. So basically i want to rewire everything which shouldn't be too hard. I printed out the wiring diagram which is very nice and detailed, but i don't think many of my wires were the stock wires, so trying to trace wire colors has become impossible. So there are a few things i need help with
I'm guessing this is the starter relay

I have no clue what these items are though on the diagram.


If i can figure out what these are i should be able to rewire it myself. Any help would be greatly aprreciated. Jay

first one looks like a starter solenoid,last one looks like a regulater.if you arent running any lights id just make a simple charging system to charge battery and an ignition circuit and a toggle switch for starter and a way to kill it;)

There are lights on it and i'd like to keep them, i will be doing some night riding. The more and more i stare at this diagram and my wiring i'm getting more and more confused. So know one knows what that small middle one is. It has 4 wires going to it which are comming from the generator with a plug. And going though the whole thing is a bolt that has 2 wires attached, and one i believe goes to the + terminal. I wanna find who wired this thing up and punch him in the face. I gotta get this thing going by Tuesday.

One thing i can't figure out is where do i connect the 2 red/yellow wires from the coils. In the diagram it looks like it goes htrough 2 relays and ends up at the starter relay. Are the red/yellows the coil grounds, can i just connect it to the black wire at the starter relay. Sorry guys i'm not a wiring guru.

What year and model wiring system are you using? What engine and model?

The red/yellow are power wires to the coils. They go from the coils to the kill switch, and then into the ignition switch.

Post edited by: OKC_Kent, at: 2007/06/07 23:54

It's a 78 KZ 650

From the diagram the Yel/Red wire goes through 2 relays and connects at the - battery terminal and the black wire on the starter relay. That's why i thought it was -. i still don't see where the 12v coming from if it is the power for the coils. God i hate wiring.

Pull off the left engine cover and tell us how many yellow wires you have coming off the stator.
A '77 has 3 yellow and a green; the '78 and later have 2 yellow only.

If it's a '78 then God only knows why you have that style of regulator on it; that regulator belongs on the '77 engines.

OK never mind, I think I figured something out; you said that object in the middle picture had 4 wires coming from the generator (stator) so you have a '77 charging system, I don't know if the '77 system could be installed on a '78 engine, but that's what you have. That makes the middle object a rectifier.

Go to the filebase and print off a copy of the '77 wiring diagram and see if it starts to make more sense.

Post edited by: OKC_Kent, at: 2007/06/08 00:13

If you don't have a kill switch rewire the yellow/red wires to the coils directly to your own relay (see WiredGeorge coil mod threads or his website). Wire the relay right to the ignition. If you do have a kill switch then just follow his instructions/diagram. The factory wiring usually causes low voltage to the coils anyway so you might as well save yourself the trouble now and bypass it

That's the wrong regulator for a 78 650.

You don't have to pull off the alternator cover. Just look at it, or show us a photo. If it has 3 screws in a triangle pattern, then it's a 77 650, or at least the charging system is a 77 650. The 77 650 charge system uses 3 yellow wires, and a green (as OKC Kent mentioned), whereas the 78 uses only 2 yellow wires.

That heat-sinked rectifier looks like it's from a different KZ, like a z1 or KZ900 or KZ1000.

Depending on what motor you have, I probably have a bare-bones diagram for you.

Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2007/06/08 01:51

The thing that you are calling a "heat sink rectifier" is not a rectifier bridge from a Z1/KZ900/Kz1000... it looks more like the gizmo the reserve lighting circuit goes through... the rectifier bridge is two 1.5" plates that face each other with thin wires going back and forth between the plates.

I understand motorcycle wiring fairly well but when you use non-standard components to wire to... like the solenoid, regulator and the possible rectifier, it really will complicate things as it isn't really possible to guess how to wire to them. I suggest you figure out what type alternator you have and buy regulator/rectifier from the same year so the wiring will be "plug and play"... the solenoid can probably be kept as they all work pretty much the same way.

The next largest issue is whether there is an on/off switch for the headlight. This complicates the wiring.

Does this thing use an OEM ignition switch?

If you can answer these questions, we can probably come up with a wiring diagram...

You won't have blinkers or aux lighting system but do you have a tail light/brake light?

The wiring colors on almost every Kaw of this vintage are about the same so it won't be all that hard to work you through it.

Wow i think i'm a complete retard i believe i have a 77 KZ. A few weeks ago though a made a thread about the engine #'s and someone told me i had a 78 KZ 650 so i took that as fact. The # is KZ650BE033905. I'm curious if i have a 77 or a 78 with a 77 charging system like someone mentioned earlier. I just printed out the 77 wiring diagram and that makes a whooooooole lot more sense. This diagram i should be able to follow. You guys are great.

From a list I have that number is in the range of a 1977 C model 650. Anyway, lets hope Lou has a diagram for a 77 650 you can use.