I've got some kind of electrical problem, and could use some help tracking it down. A few weeks ago I noticed my turn signal indicators on the dash would remain illuminated during a ride, but the next time I started the bike, I would have no problems. Around this time, I also had a ride or two where the LCD display appeared very faded/light, and was almost unreadable. But that went away after a ride or two.

Now, I have the following symptoms:
All 4 headlight bulbs are not on (I'm sure all 4 bulbs didn't blow at once)
All 4 turn signal bulbs stay on constantly
Horn does not work
Both turn signal indicators (on the dash) are on constantly at about half-illumination
High beam indicator remains illuminated regardless of switch position
Turn signals WILL flash when switch is turned either direction or the hazard light switch is turned on.

Not sure where to look. Bad ground (but where?); maybe bad relays?

Any help would be appreciated!

* Last updated by: elSueco on 9/10/2015 @ 12:43 AM *

Dim lights mean short to ground.
Many kinds of approaches:
1. Pop headlight wire off = Did dim go away?
2. Pop each winker off individually = Did the short clear itself?
3. Pop the headlight wire harness off the main harness = Did the rear winkers turn off?
4. Pop each fuse out of the clip holder it sits in = Which fuse let the dim disappear?

See the approach?
A. Each component pinpoints who/what wire is the cause, usually.
B. The wire harness is to have a huge set of wires removed, so it is front or rear causing the low glow?
C. The fuse system can tell if it's lighting, this or that; to cause the high current draw to ground.

I'd say keep the relays in place so this completes a circuit. To tell if it is a relay, swap the relays that are used for the headlights, etc. The winker relay is fine if it winks, right? If say you pull a relay and turn the key on, see if this brought the lights back...IF... the other relay its tied into, see how the loop would show if the dim is still there or the dim disappeared? Then this part of the relay side is where to look, not the other relay and those wires tied in... Make sense?

* Last updated by: Hub on 9/6/2015 @ 9:34 PM *

Thanks for the suggestions, Hub. RE: #3, I don't see a connector where I could detach all the headlights from the main wiring harness; all the wires just feed into the main harness.

I pulled all 4 headlights, both city (running) lights, and the two front flashers one by one. No help.

When I turn the ignition key on, both city lights and the tail light come on. All appears normal. Then I start it. Headlights still don't come on. I hit the kill switch, then can hear the low beam headlight relay buzzing.

If I pull the low beam relay and do the same test, hitting the kill switch, the high beam relay starts to buzz. If I pull that one too, some other relay behind the instrument panel buzzes.

Pulling fuses (all relays and bulb connections returned to normal):

Pulling the 10A turn signal fuse makes all 4 turn signals come on solid, and the high beam indicator light on the dash. When killed, the low beam relay buzzes. Shouldn't the turn signal bulbs be off with the fuse pulled? Hmm...

Pulling the 10A head light relay fuse. All 4 turn signals stay off. Hit kill switch and headlight relays don't buzz. Turning the flasher switch on either direction causes all 4 bulbs to come on dimly while flashing to the correct side. The city lights also flash in sequence.

Pulling the 10A tail light fuse: before I start the bike, all 4 turn signals are off and the city lights are OFF. When I start the bike, all 4 turn signals turn on. When I activate the turn signals, they flash brighter, but still never go dark. The high beam relay buzzes in sync with the turn flashers.

Pulling the 10A horn fuse: before I start the bike, all 4 turn signals are off and the city lights are on full brightness. When I start the bike, all 4 turn signals turn on, and the city lights dim to half brightness. When I activate the turn signals, they flash brighter, but still never go dark. The high beam relay buzzes in sync with the turn flashers.

Pulling the 15A high beam fuse: Same as pulling the horn fuse.

Pulling the 15A low beam fuse: Same as pulling the horn fuse.

Pulling the flasher relay: Same as pulling the horn fuse.

I did find that my license plate light was burned out, but pulling that made no difference.

Now for an easy question. What is this cable under the seat? Seems like it should go somewhere...

* Last updated by: elSueco on 9/7/2015 @ 1:50 AM *

Helmet locking attachment

Try right and left switches. Left switch is high beam/passing/ect. Right switch is headlights off, starter draw is less with lights off, then come on when the engine runs. So as both loop with lights, that relay is showing a draw or buzzing to ground?

Probably the next thing is to remove each bulb until that one stops the buzz or dim is broken and lights come on clean. So if a light is dim, it might cause it to not dim if that one bulb to ground[wire] has a wire etching kissing the frame.

Next is to lift the main harness off the frame, so that's inch per inch looking for a rubbing/etching/grounding wire to frame.

I've already tried all of the bulbs except for the rear flashers. Pulling them had no change.

I don't understand what you mean by the right switch. On the right I have Start and Kill.

The high/low beam switch seems to have no effect. It doesn't change the high beam indicator light on the dash, nor does it affect any of the symptoms. If I use the turn signals however, the draw from those flashing makes the headlight relay buzz in sync.

Sounds like the left switch housing has a ground short, all bulbs mentioned if you look a wiring schematic are in the same loop, are fed from a common source. I would start there and look for worn, bare, or exposed wire also.

First thing I did was to pop the left switch housing. All of the soldered points look pretty close together, but none of the wires look loose. I did spray it down with contact cleaner and had no change. I also disconnected the entire switch from the rest of the harness and have no change.

I would start looking at the relays since they are buzzing, might be one sticking. Without putting a meter on every terminal that would be my 2nd route

After about 10 hours of troubleshooting, including a smart friend testing all the circuits and various relays, I found and fixed the culprit.

Hello, Joint Connection 1...

This connector had been wrapped to the main wiring harness with black electrical tape. There was so much tape, I had thought it was part of the actual wiring harness. It looks like this connection corroded then melted. I clipped off the connector, then twisted the wires together, soldered, and wrapped it in silicon tape.

The PO upgraded the high beams to a higher wattage H9 bulb. I've been running with the high beams on a lot during the day for added visibility. I wonder if the higher voltage requirement was at least partly responsible for the melt. I guess I'll find out.

Glad to have this finally resolved and be back in action!

* Last updated by: elSueco on 9/10/2015 @ 12:36 AM *

Wow that got hot, good you found it!

Wow that got hot, good you found it!

I had the exact same issue there, no headlights, and relay flashers would buzz..
It had been ocassionally on and off for a year, then one day , the lights never came on,,, found a thread on here somewhere.. That splice was moist and burnt..
clipped, but spliced all together.. A-OK, a year now

* Last updated by: metalmechanic on 10/29/2017 @ 1:28 PM *

metal did you have a higher wattage bulb installed or the OEM?

yea, I know 3 year old thread, but thought I would post and give a Thank You to elSueco. A few days ago, my 06' came up with the same symptoms, no headlights, dim turn signal on all the time, dim high beam light on all the time, buzzing when hitting the kill switch.

Did a search, read this thread, and sure enough that damn ground wire connector was bad. Soldered the 6 wires back together, covered them with liquid electrical tape, taped them back up to the main harness. Everything working normal now, hopefully it will last.

But for the life of me I cannot imagine why the Kawasaki electrical design engineers, would pull 5 ground wires from somewhere behind the tank to the left side of the tank end them in a connector with the 6th wire running back through the frame under the seat to the battery compartment, then wrap those 6 wires and connector against the main harness?!?!? Just doesn't make sense to me. Seems like they didn't do that without reason!

Saves on yards of wires than run all the grounds back to point A... wherever that is? So by running the one wire back to the frame, we bring in the, Bean Counters building the harness in other words. follow the money.

I would follow your logic Hub, which is a good theory for the bean counter with the exception that the other 5 ground wires also come from somewhere unknown from the back, up towards the front where the 1 ground wire then runs to the back! Most likely the 5 ground wires run from the front (inside the main harness) as they effect electrics in the front, to the back (near the seat) then are looped back towards the front (outside of the main harness) to be joined to the 1 lead that again runs to the under seat and other side to the battery area. That extra wiring didn't save any money. Seems a bit strange!

How about killing two birds = Weight/$$.

The harness would be huge with each ground going to said ground to frame. Junction points make more sense to reduce the harness diameter, yes?

If I were to chase that kind of heat, I'd expose the wires to some sort of salvaged computer tower part inside, and begin to meguyveer up. There are a few choices of heat sinks that vary in the tower. Grab a choice 'finned' sink, solder a heavy eye type end to hold all the wires in the back and solder them in. Dill and bolt the eye to the fin base, and let it ride in the air.

Blk/Y is ground for 12v. That's h/l, tail, brake switch, anything needing 12v.
Computer grounds use bands not a solid colored line in the wire. So these are 5v wires. That's a separate ground and those j-boxes.