Thought ya'll might like to know.
I found a viable replacement for the KDS system!
My bike is a 2015 ZX-14R and I have a 2018, and I wanted to be able to not only
cycle the ABS solenoid, but trouble shoot the sensors and cycle engine control structures.
I called Kawasaki main office, and ONLY (according to them), dealers can get the KDS system
(at least in the USA), and it is STUPID expensive.

Well did the internet search thing and ran across a unit that claimed it could do all of this:
(year models from introduction to last year they list is 2020, but suspect past that).
1). Read and Clear DTC codes (FI codes)
2). Live time tests various engine functions, sensor tests, through the ECU.
3). Do Immobilizer stuff (if so equipped), to include make keys.
4). trouble shoot, and control the ABS unit (in my case I replaced
the ABS solenoid and wanted to be able to cycle it so I could bleed
any trapped air inside the unit. Further it can also can read and clear
error codes in the ABS unit. It does K-line protocol.
5). It can read can-bus (Kawasaki’s version), and on the newer bikes
that do support OBD2 it can do that also.

So, it was of course a Chinese vendor on e-Bay, he had a Huge number
of high star reviews. So, I figured what the heck if it was all a lie
I could get my money back from e-Bay.
Turns out that it does all the above!!!!!
Price not bad, less than 4 bills.

So, at the end of the day, I was able to cycle the New ABS unit (for bleeding),
and finished my brakes.
NOTE: For this function you have to plug into the ABS system dx connector which the pin outs and wire values/functions are very different than the KDS connector that you
use to talk to the ECU.
Sent a message to the vendor about those concerns, he contacted corporate and they said
they are aware and it IS built into the system to handle that (since the Pink Wire is the K-line
single serial line on the ABS unit).

So, I thought I would pass these findings on to those of you who wanted to in-depth control & dx capabilities
without being held hostage by lack of a KDS system.
NOTE2: I am just a regular garage guy that works on my own bike. I am not sponsored in anyway by the
company or the vendor.
Here is the name of the e-Bay Scanner/DX unit name below:
"OBDSTAR iScan for Kawasaki Motorcycle OBD2 Diagnostic Code Reader Coding Scanner"

WOW, thanks PoppaBear. I have no immediate need but hope to remove ABS someday soon. Not mention possibly wanting to reinstall ABS (putting me in the same boat as you) maybe this thing would help with blocking the code I'm sure deleting ABS would cause.

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Hell Rook, you sound like an old lady changing the furniture around and putting it back the same way she had it.

Listen, firsthand experience speaking. I slammed into a mail truck and cracked the frame in a lot of places. Bike was a total loss naturally. But the best thing that came out of that crash was the ABS kept me upright.

I had a bad habit of using the front brakes only. Don't know if using the rear would have cleared the truck. Anyway, BMW came out with ABS and you could hit the brakes hard and the bike would hop a whole bunch of times when loaded.

Segway to the latest decades later and the Kawi's ABS just made an electronic noise, kept me upright and BOOM, right in between the trucks back wheel and fender. Did not wrinkle the rim one bit.

If I took off the system, locked the brakes up, it would have sent me right down and probably under the truck sliding. For your own safety, keep the ABS working to save your ass from dumping the bike. I just heard the noise and not one bit of hop.

You'll thank me later for listening not to pull a squid move on the bike.

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Thanks Hub. Who told me rule number one of modding a bike? "Never do a mod that can't be reversed." I've followed that rule to the T on every bike but so far, I haven't reversed any mods.

So far, there's been four maximum braking incidents in my riding life I remember. None of them put me down although I'm sure it could have happened. We have ridden bikes without ABS for years. For me, most of the fun comes from messing with the bike. I'll at least try testing the ABS before ditching it but I get too much of a kick out of shedding weight off the bike.

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) maybe this thing would help with blocking the code I'm sure deleting ABS would cause.

When I deleted my abs a couple months back via pulling
fuse #2 (2013) the only issue was ABS gone of course,
and abs light not check eng light or flashing screen.
Leap forward to today with all 3 fuses out, I get
what I described in the other thread, no speedo
etc.....
As I mentioned over 'there', once I get the lines
plugged and fuses back in... :shrugs: we'll see
in a couple of days.
I wonder if Hub is stabbing at the brakes in
urgent stops, well sometimes there's no choice
but Champ School has a demonstration on how
stabbing that front brake works counter to
what were looking for in an emergency stop.
I would prefer to have some abs in the rear,
I almost lost the back end a while back,
coming to a huge slowdown in a 'surprise' round-about ,
while following another rider that assumed I had
a clue that it was there , just coming off
a 70+++++ mph hwy run.. I'm not as talented
with front to rear braking ratios as I'd presumed,
I should spend some time working on Emergency Stops.

Posting again, cause I forgot to hit the subscribe button......

Strat, when the last single cam'd Honda came out, it had dual discs, black engine... 1977-78 if I recall? Had a newly paved highway around the neighborhood. I'd run it up to 100mph, pulled the front brake for say 18 times of practice runs.

The front end would turn in either direction, loose 9mph on the speedo. Would release the lever and had enough speed to keep me safe where the front end straightened out. Brought up my reflex skills if I ever felt the front end slide out from under me. Helped me when I started road racing.

Gave the bike back to the place I was freelancing for with blown out fork seals. Have a video somewhere with an older 14 and would screech the front tire on the yellow line. No ABS on that year.

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I'd run it up to 100mph, pulled the front brake for say 18 times of practice runs.

Sounds like some great practice drills Hub!
I should do some. I guess bikes keep a much better line
today than back in the day.

The front end would turn in either direction, loose 9mph on the speedo. Would release the lever and had enough speed to keep me safe where the front end straightened out. Brought up my reflex skills if I ever felt the front end slide out from under me. Helped me when I started road racing.
Gave the bike back to the place I was freelancing for with blown out fork seals. Have a video somewhere with an older 14 and would screech the front tire on the yellow line. No ABS on that year.

That's pretty much what I experienced here although probably more like 70~80 mph. skip to 3:13

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That's pretty much what I experienced here although probably more like 70~80 mph. skip to 3:13

Wow, great job but yeah scary having the front wheel
confused like that.
Was this before you lowered the psi to 18,
and tires were Corsas or Super Corsas?
Your bike was trimmed down under 500lbs there,
or still 684 + - ?

Some GP riders never touch the rear brake
and have the back wheel off the ground
on approaching corner but those are 300 lb bikes,
with probably better tires than we can buy.
EDIT; one thing for sure though, you're
front brake was working fine!

* Last updated by: Stratovarious on 7/18/2026 @ 3:41 PM *

Was this before you lowered the psi to 18,
and tires were Corsas or Super Corsas?
Your bike was trimmed down under 500lbs there,
or still 684 + - ?

Yes,this was normal psi, whatever is on the side of the tire. A guy suggested cut it way lower front and back because it was out of control in the tight corners. It was slippery and wiggly but that was because the tire was actually melting. I never had that issue on the street. That's why I tell people to get on a track if you want to find out what going fast is like. If you have a brain or two, you can't ride like that on the street.

Looking back on the comments, the tires were more aggresive but they weren't Pirellis. Pirellis are good because the stiff sidewalls tolerate low psi. I never tested that on a track but I could tell it was night and day for street riding. Id expect the same on a track, at least the more track oriented tires like Super Corsas or the Pirelli slicks I've used on the street.

Your bike was trimmed down under 500lbs there,
or still 684 + - ?

This was well before I really got the weight down. Pretty much just a full exhaust and maybe the battery. i'm not sure all that matters. You get accustomed to the bike and you ride it.

Some GP riders never touch the rear brake
and have the back wheel off the ground
on approaching corner but those are 300 lb bikes,

I had it happen once or twice. I'm on the brakes so hard, the rear floats up off the road, I heard the chain lashing . I'm used to using front and rear brakes but even if you just use the rear, the front dives and the rear tire lifts. That's the whole idea behind using just the fronts, the front's not going to lift no matter how hard you brake. Most cases, front and rear together work best but if you truly maximum brake, you don't have much if anything from the rear.

We can only be so good, Strat. We practice street braking but sooner or later, we have the need for race braking and it's not to beat someone into tnhe apex, it's to save our skin. The plain reality is, We don't practice that under normal street riding. I guess if you have nthe opportunity for enough seat time, you will have the time to practice it. it isn't going to happen in most street riding situations...but then it does.

It's all a gamble, Strat. Right now, I gamble playing with the bikes saves me time I could be crashing. I know I don't have the skills as sharp as they were. At this point in life, I've learned keeping the bike and avoiding injury or death are more important than going fast. i can still go faster than 80% of the rideras out on my roads. Lie is drawing to a close. i don't have to prove anything, i just want to stay alive and keep what I have as long as I can. That's why i wrench more and ride less which is what I always did but now I do it even more. Let some kid show how fast he is. He's going to come to the same realization I did if he stays in the game long enough and stays alive.

I rode my new busa this afternoon and had a kid pull up to me at a light. We were both behind other cars. He took off fast. I pursued but no way was i going to risk getting busted. That's foolishness. I'm here now to have a smooth life and a death that's as smooth as possible.

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A guy suggested cut it way lower front and back because it was out of control in the tight corners. It was slippery and wiggly but that was because the tire was actually melting.

Good to know Rook, whenever I'd heard someone mention
squirmy tires on track it's been related to too low psi,
and the Melting feature was an issue of wearing out tires
prematurely.
So that clears this up for me. It's funny of odd,
how in the many dozens of videos related to
tire and tire performance that I've watched
over the years and articles read, have NEVER mentioned
this issue that you and Hub bring up. I was confused
when @hub mentioned the front sliding out side to side
since I'd never heard anyone point out the specific
and important issue. So in a sense I guess it's
similar to hydro planning over water ( a hydraulic related issue).
Duly noted.
I'm running about 30psi street lateley.
If I got it right, when you lowered your psi on track
down to 18 + - the melting stopped, hence the side
to side issue under extreme braking was 'fixed' ?

I'm not riding with anyone lately, in part due to
it being 110f + summer, and partly due to me realizing
that some of the cool people I ride with tend to
thing fast all the time is a good idea, I'm not
keen on that, I like to pick my go fast spots/opportunities,
and in order to stay with the group, and not being
leader, once they hit it and get ahead, especially
in traffic, I have to get on it to make up
for lost time, and to make matters worse, a lot
of doors close (car grid) once they've gotten
through traffic, leaving me and anyone else in
the back of the pack having to hang it out just
to catch up.
So the other side of this story, is that while
I'm not the most skilled rider overall, If I
was up front leading, which I do not prefer,
I could very easily loose the entire pack,
just as quickly, it's that equation that
many riders don't realize, or don't seem to
care much about. Exacerbating that issue
is the fact that when we ride, the leader/s
know the areas we ride in very well, while
usually I have almost know idea where we
are , where the way point are and what
exit we're looking for and sometimes, the
leader will just pick and exit and take it
at the last possible second, when me or
others might still be 3 lanes over with
very thick traffic to try and weave through
in that short window.
My basic pack riding rules;
-Way points / meet up points
-Routes
-Final destination
-Limits to sustained speeds or gen riding speed
which isn't related to burst, that we all like
just a matter of cooling it a bit for the
body of the ride.
- Courtesy and respect to cagers

I rode my new busa this afternoon and had a kid pull up to me at a light. We were both behind other cars. He took off fast. I pursued but no way was i going to risk getting busted. That's foolishness. I'm here now to have a smooth life and a death that's as smooth as possible.

I hear that, it's tempting but as they say 'pick your battles',
That busa eats about anything but, so does a Police Radio .... :shrugs:

I'm not much of a wrencher, but know my way around some
of the very basics.
I did my wrenching on the ABS lines yesterday, plugged off
the lines heading to the ABS Module, will try it out
this am.
I might have been smarter to loop from one line
to the other, but it was incredibly tedious to put
together plugging them period, parts for both options
are almost non existent since what I've got going
doesn't fit proper brake line convention.

/\ /\ /\
Apologies for lack of editing, hopefully
some of it is readable.

If I got it right, when you lowered your psi on track
down to 18 + - the melting stopped, hence the side
to side issue under extreme braking was 'fixed' ?

Actually, the melting increased. I know, it makes no sense. It must be a rather complicated matter but certain people just know what works for certain riding conditions. This guy was an avid track rider who probably attended every Event that was held at Blackhawk Farms. The only thing I can figure is that a little melting at high psi is slippery; more melting at much lower psi is less slippery but still nets an increase in traction because of the larger contact patch. I don't think this would necessarily work on the street, especially at lower speeds. Most tires flex way too much to run at very low psi and they never get hot enough to increase the internal pressure through heat expansion. ...all the things I believe come into play but there might be more.

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The only thing I can figure is that a little melting at high psi is slippery; more melting at much lower psi is less slippery but still nets an increase in traction because of the larger contact patch. I don't think this would necessarily work on the street, especially at lower speeds. Most tires flex way too much to run at very low psi and they never get hot enough to increase the internal pressure through heat expansion.

Right, the lower psi seemed to still melt but control was
somewhat better.

I wish one/some of the youtube 'experts' would do some testing
and dig a lot deeper into this issue than they have.

The control was a lot better! No sliding, no squirming.

If you go to the track, I bet you will find someone who can tell you how to set your bike up for that track It's a controlled setting. It should help for street riding but street riding is an unlimited setting. JMHO but that's why you just need to slow way down on the street, the safety advantages of going slow far outweigh the risks.

* Last updated by: Rook on 7/19/2026 @ 1:40 PM *

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The control was a lot better! No sliding, no squirming.

Got it! So the tire still burns and eats up, but much safer.
I like that scenario.

JMHO but that's why you just need to slow way down on the street, the safety advantages of going slow far outweigh the risks.

Good advice, I pick my spots carefully, but yeah,
lots can go wrong even at that

Good advice, I pick my spots carefully, but yeah,
lots can go wrong even at that

LOL ego and emotion get the better of me still but I make a concerted effort to be levelheaded.

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LOL ego and emotion get the better of me still but I make a concerted effort to be levelheaded.

I don't know how it is with you or everyone else,
but my entire being has a persona makeover when
I get my bike started, and actually for me it's
not always an ego thing, cause I realize that if
there is something that can beat me around these
parts, I'm ok with it, cause that is going to
be some beast of a bike or car. One of my
friends that has the Ducati can beat me, and
I'm fine with that.
My persona and outlook flips into another world
as I say, however, I'm pretty good at tuning
in to some common sense pretty regularly
in spite of it .