Kawasaki 550 LTD Woes

[Hoomgar]

Who can help me with a 1982 Kawasaki LTD 550 problem?

What is going on is this. I bought the bike cheep from a friend. It fired up with the help of a jump and some carb cleaner after sitting 2 years. I rode it all that night after changing the oil, brake fluid, cleaning plugs, ture presures etc... etc... and then took it on a ride the next day with the church riding club. It made it about 50 miles into the ride and then just shut off. I pushed to the side of the rode, looked at it, saw nothing and then tried and it started. We made it about another mile down the road and it shut off again. Tried again, started and made it about 2 blocks then off again. Then I could start it but not get moving without stalling. Got a truck from a friend (The same guy I bought it from) and brought it home lifting it into and out of the bed of the truck all by myself (shameless heman plug).

Now it wont fire at all. I tested what I know how and have figured out that there is no spark. The bike is most likely all stock and here is a picture of the beast.

http://home.ptd.net/~megabyte/ltdc.html

This is the bike I want to fix up for my wife to use this summer and it will also double as my backup bike so I really would like to get it running again. When it ran it seemed to run just fine. It simply shut off and now there is no spark at all.

What do you guys think?



The other thing I want to know is what is the model designation of this bike? I can't find a Clymer manual for it. It is a 1982 550 LTD. Is it also a KZ550??? some other model designation as well?

[nathan600r]

It is very common for something sitting that long not being started for the battery to be bad, and must be replaced because it won't hold a charge. Another cause could be that you have an electrical wire that has been chewed by a mouse, or has become rusted, or come off it's connection. Email me if you have anymore questions, I have had one of these bikes for about 3 years. nathan600r@yahoo.com if the Email is not displayed.

[Hoomgar]

Originally Posted by nathan600r

It is very common for something sitting that long not being started for the battery to be bad, and must be replaced because it won't hold a charge. Another cause could be that you have an electrical wire that has been chewed by a mouse, or has become rusted, or come off it's connection. Email me if you have anymore questions, I have had one of these bikes for about 3 years. nathan600r@yahoo.com if the Email is not displayed.

Thanks Nathan. I am sure it isn't the battery because I put a new one in it here at home while testing. Wires it could be. The bike did exhibit one strange behavior. If you turned the wheel the whole way to the left (left turn posision) while sitting still the engine will shut off. Once moving it isn't an issue because you don't cut the wheel that hard. I checked the wiring harness and cannot find anything in it that alarms me. I am thinking at this point that maybe my igniter went bad? Would it act like that if that had gone out on my slowly? I am reffering to the way it dies on me here not the way it shuts off when you cut the wheel. That I am sure is a switch or bad wire. May also be my culprit.

I need to find a service manual for this beast.

[Hoomgar]

Does anyone else know what may be the case here? I have ruled out the battery, fuses, bad wires (I think) and have pretty much come to the conclusion that it must be the ignitor. If I let the ignitor plugged in I am showing continuity to ground from the coil feed wire. But if I unplug the igniter then I do not. How can I test the ignitor to determine if it is bad or not? Anyone know a way?

If anyone has an ignitor to sell me that would be appreciated too.

Mark

[Hoomgar]

Just in case anyone would read this I don't want you to waist your time posting trouble shooting tips when I got it!

It turned out to just be a broken wire in the small harness going to the kill switch guys