TOPIC:

Hi folks. Just got the bike running, and took it around the neighborhood for a little joyride. About ten minutes in, the bike began to sputter and gurgle. Eventually, it died. It had enough charge for me to use electric start and get on the road again, but rode real rough for the next several minutes. Died in my driveway. Battery voltage was ~8v, which led me to believe that some part of the charging system was defective.

I just had a new Rick's Electric regulator/rectifer installed, so I decided to test the dynamo first. I unplugged the three yellow wires coming from the stator, and tested their resistance. ~1ohm between all three. I then fired the bike up, let it idle, and checked AC output from these wires. ~0v from all three.

If I'm interpreting this correctly (which I MIGHT NOT BE DOING), I take it to mean that the stator (not the rotor) is defective. Am I correct?

I posted in your other thread, but will copy it here so you can keep the charging issues in this thread.

loudhvx wrote: Don't jump to that conclusion based on a single stator voltage test. If you look in the manual it will detail how to do the test properly.

You have to disconnect the regulator and jumper the connections to apply voltage to the field coil. I *think* you jumper the brown wire to the green wire. That applies full voltage to the field coil. But verify that with the manual.
Then you can measure the AC coming from the stator.

The stator windings and field coil are two separate things.

alinaaseh wrote: .....................I just had a new Rick's Electric regulator/rectifer installed, so I decided to test the dynamo first................

Are you saying you bought a combination regulator/rectifer unit from Rick's Electric? If so, are you POSITIVE it was designed to work on your model KZ400? The reason I question this is the fact that the 1976 KZ400 did not come equipped with a combo unit. Instead, it came with a separate regulator and rectifier. Since you did not replicate the original equipment it's quite possible you bought the wrong unit. Ed

Quick update:

Ed,
Yes, I'm positive I purchased the correct reg/rec. Rick's team is pretty good at ensuring that they sell products that work on peoples' bikes. But it turns out that the reg/rec wasn't a problem (nor was the stator, as loudhvx correctly assumed).

I had a shop in my city build a battery box and custom harness for the bike back when it wasn't running. Turns out they wired it incorrectly.

They had the brown wire from the reg/rec (which I understand to be Kawasaki's designation for switched hot 12v) plugged into the lead for the oil pressure switch, so the regulator wasn't getting power, and neither was the field coil (via green wire). Furthermore, the reg/rec has two ground wires, and one was grounded correctly, while the other was connected directly to the ground wire for the field coil...

I've ordered some connectors from Cycle Terminal, but won't have access to the bike for about a month. When I do have access, here's my plan of action:

- Properly ground the field coil
- Properly ground the two reg/rec grounds (one wire is already done, I must complete the other)
- Attach brown lead from reg/rec to switched hot 12v
- Cap off oil pressure switch lead until needed in the future

Best,
A

Sounds like you have it.

If I recall, the Kz400 field coil will need its own ground (unlike the 77 Kz650 which has the field grounded in the motor). So you might be able to use that second ground wire from the reg/rec, assuming they are both directly connected to each other inside the reg/rec.

Of course, it's also fine to just connect the field coil ground to any other good ground wire. Since all of the alternator wires go to the reg/rec it may simply look neater to have them all run together... basically just for aesthetic reasons.

Nice job troubleshooting!