i'm puzzled

ok i have a 78 kz 650 b2 model and i am having a charging issue that doesn't show right away i may ride a week or two before it shows it ugly face... it does charge the battery but only at about 2800 rpm to 4000 rpm that to me isnt a good range cause to me it should charge at normal cruise rpm which is about 5000 to me i think it should charge between 4000 and 5500 rpm... am i wrong is there a way to adjust it???? i just put the battery in in feburary and i bout a battery charger/maintainer it only puts out 1.5 amps so i know i haven't fried it that way.. any advise would greatly be appreiciated deeply!!!!!

The Kawasaki factory service manual gives a very clear description on how to check the charging circuit to ensure that the voltage regulator functions properly. Ed

Here's a manual on eBay that may cover the KZ650B2. Ask the seller to look at the back of the book and see if it lists the B2 under "model application." If so, maybe offer him $16-20 and see if he bites. Ed

ebay manual

The parts are not adjustable.

I'm kinda cornfused:
"...it does charge the battery but only at about 2800 rpm to 4000 rpm"

No charging above that???? Typically anything above the high end cutoff still charges the battery.

My 76 KZ900 was good until the govnm't mandated a headlight while running, after that I had to charge the battery after every ride.

KZCSI

KZCSI wrote:

I'm kinda cornfused:
"...it does charge the battery but only at about 2800 rpm to 4000 rpm"

KZCSI

I've seen a few regulators fail that way. It's a tricky failure to isolate. I could only find it by attaching a voltage detector permanently and watching it while riding. It fools you if you only take voltage readings while the bike is stopped because a quick rev or two shows the voltage climb to 14v or so. But only at a sustained 5000 RPM or higher, would the voltage slowly drop to 12 or so, then lower as the battery dies. The odd thing is, like Chevyhead says, that it takes a while for the battery to die because in moderate traffic, at midrange RPMs, the regulator works. It only kills the battery rapidly on a sustained highway run.

I'm not sure what causes this, (I suspect a capacitor failure of some sort), but the only remedy was to replace the reg/rec.

ok well thanks for the advice i think i found the problem on mine not too sure yet. the main white wire that comes off the regulator where it connects to the harness was in all the way but it was as if it went in farther than it was supposed to so i pulled it out and squezed it a little and put it back together and it seems to be charging now i dont know the numbers just yet but i have put about 65 miles on it since i did that and it seems to be charging the battery back up i can hit the electric start and it will crank fine as with before really bad idea lol so i'll check my numbers as soon as i find my volt meter lol thanks for the info on all this stuff guys you're all life savers i dont like to do anything to anything until i have an idea what it is supposed to be. things go smoother that way lol :laugh: