starting issues, diagnosis, your opinion ?

Hi guys
Need your opinion on the following:
- Drove the bike last Saturday, very satisfying. No starting issues.
- Needed her (definitely a she!) this morning
- Turned ignition, the green and the red light came on (as standard). Pressed the starting button. Nothing. Not even a "clack" from the relays. Took the car, grumbling to myself.
- This afternoon I loosened the 2 screws to throw a look inside the starting-switch. You can not really look into it, yet tried it. She came on immediately.
- I had suspected the starter-button, yet I am now thinking about the kill switch.

What do you guys think ?

Thx, Holger

This afternoon I loosened the 2 screws to throw a look inside the starting-switch. You can not really look into it, yet tried it. She came on immediately.

Something came to my mind. When repairing my switches, which came in a really bad shape, I had a couple wires coming out of the switch stripped from the insulation - due to rubbing against the switch housing over many years. They are squashed between the switch and the housing, and the protective plastic sheath slid off. The cores were exposed so I had to insulate them again. I'd imagine they would short randomly if on the bike.

You might have the same issue and loosening the screws let these wires away from touching anything and work as it should.

If you don't find anything at the starter button, I would rethink this. It's possible when you lifted the side stand that the starter interlock switch wasn't made? That would give a no relay indication. If everything was fine the night before and you have power to the lights then if the starter circuit should have enough power to pull in the starter relay and give you clicking sounds.
If this was to happen to me, the first thing I would do is put the side stand down and back up just to see if it made a difference. You have to figure, that switch is down low and susceptible to grime. Could be when you loosened the screws on the handle bar switch, you sat on the bike and raised the side stand again then tried to start it and it turned over because the interlock switch was made?
Back in the day when I was an auto mechanic, the hardest thing to sort out was intermittent electrical problems. When you go messing around trying to find the problem, you inadvertently "move" something and the problem went away. Diagnosing electrical for me now starts with reviewing the electrical schematic and deciding what the most likely thing could be and testing one item at a time without disturbing as much as possible until the culprit rears its ugly head. Then fix the problem.
If you're out on the road and stuck, then you do what you have to to get back on the road but this usually leads to the problem showing up again when you don't want it to.
My 2 cents.
KB

What model year did they start putting the interlock on the KZ1300's neither of my 79's have that switch on them.

Stocktoy:

What model year did they start putting the interlock on the KZ1300's neither of my 79's have that switch on them.

Re: Kawboy:

first thing I would do is put the side stand down and back up just to see if it made a difference. You have to figure, that switch is down low and susceptible to grime.

I wasn't going to comment on this thinking it will resolve itself, but since it's been spotted.. As far as I know these bike didn't have the side stand switch until at least 1982, mine, and no idea about later years. I have a bike of a different brand which want start sitting on a side stand unless in neutral or clutch pulled, and similarly, will shut down if in gear I put it on a side stand.

My 1982 A4 KZ1300 doesn't have any side stand switch, by design. 0nly the clutch lever pull needed to start. Maybe other years and models? Touring?

Hi Kawboy

I basically can exclude the side stand, it works properly and when I had the issue the side-stand has not been used. I tend to StanG's opinion that there is something wrong with the wires from the kill-switch. It would explain some issued I used to have when riding and the bike suddenly stopping without electrical power.
Will need to dig further.
Holger