Category Archives: Kawasaki KZ550 LTD

Swap to 46T rear sprocket, June 5, 2021

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So looking to improve on the off-the-mark performance (the 10 T front to 40 T rear was pretty good but the chain kept impacting the swing arm) I swapped out the front sprocket to a 16 T and then replaced the rear sprocket with a 46 T as the 16:40 ratio was just too slow at start.

Seems a bit faster off the mark but I think i need to reprogram the throttle control again and start with the default (linear) curve to see how the throttle responds when riding. I feel like i’m getting a bit of herky jerky motion on start just with a basic throttle twist.

40T sprocket mounted
46T over the 40T for size differential
46T mounted before reinstall
46T mounted on bike with cover in picture

Gas Tank Mod, Registered, May 15, 2021

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Finally got it re-registered and insured. Street legal now. Just need to finish some optics (wrap gas tank & other side panel i think), add a clip to pull the charging cable out through the gas tank lid, and install a chain slide and it is good to go. Actually the only real thing is to add the chain slide as I am using a smaller than stock sprocket so it will rub on the swing arm. Or i could just increase the front sprocket size, lengthen the chain, and get on with life also.

Side view at night with side panel and gas tank installed.
Side angle view at night
Rear top view at night

Accent Light Update, May 8, 2021

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So I spend the day trimming the spaghetti wire nest in the headlight back so i could put the headlight on. Success. Darn engineers should make the headlight bucket 2 inches deeper than it needs to be to accomodate wiring. Anyway, progress pictures below. Just need to finish putting a bottom protection plate on, a sprocket cover, and finish the accent lighting and it will be functionally done. Then trimming back the gas tank a bit more to fit over the top of the batteries and it will be basic optics done. Advanced optics will have to wait a bit.

Main Wiring Harness & Views, May 2, 2021

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So have wrapped up just about everything in the wiring harness in the mid section and the rear of the bike. Just need to figure out how to mount the rear blinkers (yeah, not a standard blinker post depth), fix the negative line to ground to frame so the horn works (yeah, that stupid KZ method of using the handlebar as the ground path instead of a wire out from the left hand control can get in the way when trouble shooting).

Pics are from the front side, rear side, and top. The bright green material is the sleeve for the new wiring. Each positive wire is run directly from the headlight bucket or ignition out (inside the headlight bucket) back to the fuseblock in the middle. Positive to the tail light and negative for the tail light and blinkers is from the fuse block directly. The fuse block has 6 positive circuits and a negative bus bar where all the negatives com back to.

1st Time Charging, May 1, 2021

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Got the bike far enough along that the wiring harness redo is almost done so I figured it would be a good time to charge it for once. Moral of story, buy a faster charger. It took about 11 hours to charge from 74 volts to 82 volts with a 72v (84v out) 3 amp charger. On the flip side the batteries did not get hot, though the fan in the charger ran continuously. The charging cable is a 10 ga SAE extension cable i cut in half and attached one side to the terminals on the inlet/outlet of the battery back and the other i spliced into the outlet side of the charger (yes, had to cut the old connector off).