[VIDEO/PICTURES] KZ 650 - Electrical Start Problem

Hi KZRiders,

I am having some electrical problems with my KZ 650 - 1980. I have an idea but before I order any part and/or do the service, I would like your help to find out exactly what is going on. I am not any expert, so expect to I ask dumb question as well :silly:

Here is the scenario:

Essentially it don't start by 'electric start', only by kick start. After I ride it for while, park and than try to start again the bike, it won't start - electric start do not work and kick start do not work as well, only if I bump/push start down the hill.

• I only use the bike on weekends - So it is most of the time siting on the garage
• This is a problem that suddenly happened - Isn't something that was giving signs of fault over time.
• Battery is brand new, bough it like 6 months ago.
• The previous owner had a charger for the bike - that is why I put a new battery and I was running just fine.

I think the issue is one of the 3 things: Starter Motor OR Charging System OR Battery.

The only thing that I am sure, is that the battery is way low than normal

Here is some pictures of the over all situation of the bike to help out:



Even after the battery been charged, as you can see in the picrures, it won't start.

Trying electric start - You can hear a 'click' noise but the engine do not even turn.




Kick starting it with cold engine



If I try to kickstart when the engine it hot, after a ride... it will not start! I tried so MANY times but not even I sight of start.


Any clear idea of what is going on?

Thank you!

What is the voltage while running?
Steve

zell wrote: . . . If I try to kickstart when the engine it hot, after a ride... it will not start! I tried so MANY times but not even I sight of start. . . .

Too tight valve clearance can allow cold start but prevent hot start.

Good Fortune!

Patton wrote: Too tight valve clearance can allow cold start but prevent hot start.

Good Fortune!

Very true! Which is why every new (used) bike purchase should go straight into the garage for the full range of maintenance to be performed before trying to put the bike on the road. Not only do tight valves make the bike hard to start they can also destroy the engine.

Most Irish kawasaki`s have built in safety not allowing engine start with flip flops

What type of battery is it & did you follow the instructions before installing it on the motorcycle?
Make certain the battery is good & fully charged using a motorcycle trickle charger. a good smart charger would be best.
Load test the battery to be certain it is good. check that the voltage regulator is working:
the voltage should rise to about 14.5 VDC @ 4000 rpms. clean the voltage regulator terminal pins.
sometimes simply disconnecting & reconnecting a few times can help.

There you go JMK I'd charge it more and have it load tested..... mine was at 12.2 (approx 50%) after charging for 3 or 4 hours so it was in the 11 volt range or less when I started (pretty much dead) ...... it wouldn't turn it over and after 8 hours more on a 1 amp charger it was at 12.37 and still not turning it over. Got a new battery and voltage is at 12.75 (100%) after charging and sitting over night.

SWest - Good point! I didnt test it yet, because I wanted the engine to be cold today to do the Valve clearance test. I want to get valve thing out of the way first before jump into conclusions. Battery test is my next step. Thank you.

peter1958 - Haha.. it so hot here! It is a must for motorbikers

JMKZHI - This is a Yuasa 4E19A 12V 10AH. At the time I bought it an charged, it was more than 12v as far as I can remember. I was thinking in put another battery in and run a test and see. About the Regulator, thevoltage should be when the bike is running, right? I will add this test in my list to run when I have the Valve thing done. I agree with you, sometime it is just a bad connection. Even more in my bike where you can see some rust arouns the bike.

KZB2 650 - Nice! I am putting the idea of buying a new battery as a plan B. I just want to make sure all the other elements of the eletrical sistem is running properly.

Patton and Nessism - Thank guys. You're all right! it is really tight. I made a video and took few picrures to you guys have a sense of what is going on here. By the manual, it should be between 0.8 ~ 0.18. But is tighter than that. In the video you can see more details.



Any idea how to fix it? A link or tips to untighten those guys are more than welcome

And few other details about the points.



Somehow, I thing something wrong went here, dont you guys thing?


I will continue checking the eletrical sistem but first, let get those valves right before I jump to next part.

Thank guys

Hello zell

The screw heads at your pick up plate are called TORX



It looks like the PO or something else had had broke some parts of your timing advancer unit.



Michael

Zell, you mentioned points and provided a picture; BUT those are not Kawasaki points. In fact, I don't believe that ignition is any kind of points. It appears to be a Boyer - Bransden electronic ignition. Consequently, you will need the instructions for that Boyer - Bransden if you plan to make any adjustments to it. Also, it looks like it may be damaged, but I cannot say for sure if it is or is not. Ed

Here's what the original KZ650 Kawasaki points assembly looks like:

BREAKER ASSEMBLY


IGNITION ADVANCER


Ed

Here's what you got or should in now