Recommended battery for 1974 KZ400 with wonky electrical

  • coranmbeck73
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Recommended battery for 1974 KZ400 with wonky electrical

17 Jan 2026 13:02
#920726
Hello y'all, I'm hoping someone can recommend a battery for my 1974 Kawasaki KZ400, please? I currently have a Yuasa (flooded) and the type I need is yb12aa 12 volt battery. This has worked well and I was just going to buy the same one, but I was wondering if anyone felt there was a better option? My bike has some kind of lame issue with the electrical that drains the battery - a LOT. I would put it on the tender at night, only I live in an apartment and there's no outlet in my carport. So unless I ride the bike every other day at LEAST I have to take the battery out, charge it in my apartment, and put it back in. Which as you can imagine, SUCKS. A lot. Thank you!
(Is there something I can attach to my battery that will keep it from dying without having to take it out? I imagine there must be something, no? Thanks again!)

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  • Wookie58
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Re: Recommended battery for 1974 KZ400 with wonky electrical

17 Jan 2026 15:01
#920727
Just disconnect the ground terminal from the battery when not in use until you can get it sorted

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Re: Recommended battery for 1974 KZ400 with wonky electrical

17 Jan 2026 16:35
#920728
Oh, great - I'll try that! I'm not sure it's something that's ever going to be sorted - my mechanic didn't think it was that big a deal, but he was unaware of the fact that I can't just use the tender at night. Thank you!

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  • H1Vindicator
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Re: Recommended battery for 1974 KZ400 with wonky electrical

18 Jan 2026 06:49
#920736
in my book. a draining battery is a big deal. I hate having a dead battery. for electrical troubleshooting the first thing you do is make darn sure the battery is good and holding a charge. so a draining battery defeats that.

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  • gd4now
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Re: Recommended battery for 1974 KZ400 with wonky electrical

18 Jan 2026 07:40
#920737
My first question is how old is the current battery? Second question is do you have access to a VOM or someother way to test the system?
1977 KZ650 B1
Pods and Denco header


OLD KAW OWNERS SMILE ALOT

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