Hi all,
brand new to the forum and in need of some help. I recently purchased a 1998 Kawi ZX7R with 9xxx miles. Im having an issue with my ignition, it turns on fine but when i turn the key to the off position, nothing happens, it keeps on running. I can hit the kill switch and shut the engine off but my electronics stay on until i actually disconnect the battery. I can lock the steering wheel and all, but the bike just wont shut off with the key. Any suggestions? im far from a mechanic but ill tinker if its minor.
Thanks a ton for any advice,
Max

 

Max, glad to have you with us! (STAY with us; don't post once and leave!!)
Congrats on the 7. I LOVE those bikes. A few questions come to mind. Has the bike's wiring been hacked? Evidence of any butt connectors or black tape surgeries that don't belong? Any mods electrical or otherwise that we should know about? Check your wiring and switches for tampering. I would GUESS that somebody did a bad mod. (BAD MOD!!! Go to your room!!!) If nothing is amiss, then you might need a new keyswitch assembly.
Do a visual inspection and let us know what you find.
Glad to have you with us. We can get you sorted out. (Your bike, too!!)

 

and does this ride have a KILL SWITCH button installed other than the ignition switch? ie...a track ride by pass? Does sound like a sticky ignition switch as a first guess as well.

 

Hey,
Don't worry im sure I'll be using this forum a lot haha. Anyways I know the bike has aftermarket led taillight and turn signals so I tried looking at the wirings but I wouldn't know what a modification would look like. Im thinking I need a new ignition because once in a while it will shut off. It's also not turning over when I go to start it now. The problems pretty much both started at the same time. I'm just going to have to take it to a shop and get raped in repair bills 😰

 

Hey Max welcome to the forums! Let us know what you find out.

 

While working on my sons '21 ZX10r front end swap we ran into a strange issue. I found this post while searching for a solution to the same exact problem. As with most peoples posts, the OP never returned to say what they figured out. Well, I solved our issue and figured I would post in case anyone else was looking for this same problem. The bike would not turn off with the key, only with the stop/run switch, as a matter of fact even with the Ignition switch completely unplugged the lights would stay on unless you dusconnected the battery. The issue lies with the white and brown wires at the Ignition switch connector. The white wire runs to the Junction box, alternator and to the starter relay. The brown wire runs to the alternator and junction box. When tbe ignition is turned on the white wire supplies power to the brown wire which tells the alternator and junction box that the key is on. If the key is off there should be no continuity between those two wires. We unplugged every single component on the bike and still had continuity between the white and brown wires. Unwrapped the entire wire harness and found no damaged wires. The problem ended up being the white plug that connects to the alternator harness. The plug had melted internally and allowed the two spade connectors to make contact, connecting the white and brown wires together as if the key was in. The plug did not look damaged with normal visual inspection but try to wiggle the wires in the connector and they were solid. Rewired the connector, rewrapped the harness and all is good. Hope this helps someone with a similar issue.His bike runs, front end swap is done, 21 10r swingarm is next!!

 

Thanks for the updated experience.