1978 Kawasaki Z1R

Owner Richard had just got his resto project Z1R painted, and needed a new loom. The original switchgear also needed replacing. On Z1Rs there’s an elaborate warning light system to tell you whether your brake lights have failed and, as you can see from the second wiring diagram I’ve drawn, this makes both the loom and the switchgear very complicated.

It turns out you can’t get new switchgear any more. Instead Richard had found some very nice quality aftermarket replacements from Japan, which don’t run the warning light circuits. I think they were for another Z1 model. He wanted a new UK spec loom too, but could only source a US-spec one (largely similar apart from running lights). My job was to put it all together with Dyna ignition and a new reg rec.

Some of it was just plug and play; other parts were more tricky. There were no decent quality wiring diagrams online at the time, so drawing from scratch was the only way to cope with the level of difficulty. The first diagram (top right) shows the setup we used on the bike. The second shows how it would have worked with stock switchgear. I can’t remember why I did the second one. Possibly I need to get out more.

Richard explained that Z1Rs are hugely sought after in Japan these days. Many UK models are being snapped up for resale over there.