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PJGACO · 08-12-2008

Hi. Hope all is well.... I bought a 1978 KZ 650 a few months back and have slowly gotten from having a bike that would not run to being able to ride to work.... I have to say that the bike would not be on the road without the help and advice that I received from the members of this web site.... THANK YOU!
Like I said, I am riding to work daily....2 weeks ago I had a problem, the bike died while I was riding at lunch, I took StarGate's advice and had the battery tested at NAPA, they said that it was bad.... I purchased a new battery, charged it for 10 hours, put it in and the bike has been running great for the past 3 days.... until this morning.... the bike stalled at a light, I pulled the clutch and hit the starter and got nothing.... I kicked it and it started right up... When I got to work I turned the bike off, then tried to start it, I could hear a faint click and the lights are dim, I assume the battery is dead.... I am guessing that either that charging system is not working or I have some fault in the electrical system....A few weeks back I purchased a box of misc 1978 KZ650 electrical parts from ebay, in the box was a single regulator/rectifier. I was hoping I could change up the regulator/rectifier with the one I purchased but it looks like my bike has 2 seperate components.... The wiring has been modified so I don't know if this is stock or if someone changed things up a bit...Do some bikes have seperate components and some have combined?????
Also: If I start the bike and disconnect the neg terminal the bike runs, if I disconnect the pos terminal in stalls, does this make sense? I have a few troubleshooting guides but they are a little involved, I am hoping that there is something I can check or something in my description that at least narrows down the possibilities...
Any advise is greatly appreciated!!!!!

08-12-2008	#1 (permalink)
PJGACO 1978KZ650B Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 39	regulator rectifier 1978 KZ650B Hi. Hope all is well.... I bought a 1978 KZ 650 a few months back and have slowly gotten from having a bike that would not run to being able to ride to work.... I have to say that the bike would not be on the road without the help and advice that I received from the members of this web site.... THANK YOU! Like I said, I am riding to work daily....2 weeks ago I had a problem, the bike died while I was riding at lunch, I took StarGate's advice and had the battery tested at NAPA, they said that it was bad.... I purchased a new battery, charged it for 10 hours, put it in and the bike has been running great for the past 3 days.... until this morning.... the bike stalled at a light, I pulled the clutch and hit the starter and got nothing.... I kicked it and it started right up... When I got to work I turned the bike off, then tried to start it, I could hear a faint click and the lights are dim, I assume the battery is dead.... I am guessing that either that charging system is not working or I have some fault in the electrical system....A few weeks back I purchased a box of misc 1978 KZ650 electrical parts from ebay, in the box was a single regulator/rectifier. I was hoping I could change up the regulator/rectifier with the one I purchased but it looks like my bike has 2 seperate components.... The wiring has been modified so I don't know if this is stock or if someone changed things up a bit...Do some bikes have seperate components and some have combined????? Also: If I start the bike and disconnect the neg terminal the bike runs, if I disconnect the pos terminal in stalls, does this make sense? I have a few troubleshooting guides but they are a little involved, I am hoping that there is something I can check or something in my description that at least narrows down the possibilities... Any advise is greatly appreciated!!!!! Last edited by PJGACO : 08-12-2008 at 12:08 PM.