Electrical Overhaul

The most dreaded part of every project… The electrics… With a heavy heart, it was time to dive head first into the electrical side of the Kawasaki KZ250 project. I needed to get all my new Dime City Cycles instruments and controls fitted and wired up, and could not afford to postpone it any longer!

The Stock KZ250 Instruments/Controls Setup

The Stock KZ250 Instruments/Controls Setup

Equipped with the necessary tools to disassemble the front end, I began the dreaded deed. I removed bolt after bolt until it came time to start disconnecting wires from the controls/harness. I made sure that as I went, I labelled each lead by writing their individual purposes on masking tape that I then wrapped around each connector.

Front Electrics Disassembled

Front Electrics Disassembled

The process was slow, but the time spent labelling wires would prove to pay itself off later on. I took advantage of the bare state of the front-end to lower the front by pushing the stanchions through the tree. While I had the forks loose, I threw on the gaiters that I had waiting (I didn’t bother clamping them in place just yet, as I do intend to paint the fork bottoms). I also removed all the existing controls and grips to make way for the shiny new ones.

Lowered Front & Gaiters

Lowered Front & Gaiters

With clear handlebars, I proceeded to fit most of the new controls that I had purchased from Dime City Cycles. New grips, new levers, new controls, and even new mirror mounts.

New Controls

New Controls

I made use of the sunny weekend to get stuck into crimping and reconnecting controls to the wiring harness.

Electrical Work Time

Electrical Work Time

Jaycar had some bullet connectors and sockets that were perfect for the task at hand. I picked up a load of these, as well as some other bits and pieces, and got to work. I found it remarkably easy to crimp and connect wiring using these – it really did a great job of tidying up all the old, tired connectors in the stock harness.

Electrics Almost Sorted

Electrics Almost Sorted

After I’d wired up the front to my satisfaction, I spent some time cleaning up various other sections of the electrics. Jaycar had these neat little 6 (plastic) fuse boxes that looked tidy, so I picked one up and replaced the stock fuse box.

I took some time to neaten up some existing connectors that had corroded too.

With all that out of the way, I commenced testing, and was very glad to find everything working just as expected. Trial and error only claimed two fuses thankfully. At this point I only needed to insert the wiring back into the rear of the headlight housing, and put it all back together. I was incredibly stoked to find that I was able to give her a ride with all the new controls and to encounter no issues as I did so! I still have to wire up the lighting in my speedometer, but this foray into the Kawasaki KZ250 electrics was a great success.

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