As the title says.... I have a custom KLX250S build going on, but i'm stuck on the ignition.

Short Version: Is there a small key'd ignition that works on a 14 KLX250S that anyone knows of?

Expanded: I am trying to replace the stock key'd ignition on my custom KLX250S. The stock ignition has the fork lock on it and I don't need that anymore and want to go with a smaller, mini ignition that just has the key part. The stock ignition has 4 wires. I bought a small key'd ignition that also had 4 wires to replace it with. Wired it up, bike doesn't want to start. Accessory/headlamp turns on, but no ignition when i press the start button. Swapped the stock one in and bike fires up. Bought another small key'd ignition with 4 wires that said it would work on a kawi. Same thing happened as the first one.

Did some more digging. Tested all of the ignitions with my multimeter and it seems like the logic for the stock one is different than the mini versions.... I apologize for my lack of electrical engineering knowledge as you can see in the way i described how its behaving below.

Stock:
In the OFF position: The two "off" wires are live, the two "on" wires are not live.
In the ON position: the two "off wires ARE LIVE, the two "on" wires are also live.

Aftermarket/Mini:
The difference is when in the ON position, the "off" wires are not live. Unlike the stock KLX ignition when its in the ON position, both the "off" and "on" wires are live.

Does anyone have or know of any mini key'd ignition that works with a 4 wire Kawi street bike with 4 wires? OR if anything like the Mgadget RFID wireless ignition would be something to look into? I like the idea of just having a small key in a hidden location over the RFID key.

Thanks so much in advance. I have been putting off finishing this bike because I cant figure out this ignition part. Its the last thing i have to do with it (Seat is getting leather right now)

 

So, looking at the wiring diagram the stock unit closes as follows:

1. Black/white closes to black/yellow. It's normally open and looks to stay closed when the ignition is in either non-off position.

2. White closes to Blue/Red. I believe this is just with the ignition fully on.

So, you need either a 4 wire that closes both the accessory and start circuit in the start position or you may be able to get a 6 wire and jump together both sides of the accessory switching it has leads to both the N.O. and N.C. contact. Or you may be able to use the 4 wire but bridge the white or blue/red back to black/white or black/yellow keep the accessory circuit live. Without pinning out the full circuits I can't offer better guidance.

I'd call someone like bikebandit or Dennis Kirk and see if they have diagrams since the ebay ones, etc often don't post the diagram.

 

Much appreciated on the reply. I think I have an understanding on what you said. To your point I think my next move is trying to find the ignition wire diagram.

I like the idea of bridging the 4 wire ignition. I’ll prob try and learn a bit more before I do that so I don’t mess anything up haha.

 

I don't have any useful information, just wanted to say I love the bike!!

 

Thank You!!

 

One other thought on this and maybe someone knows. Some bikes CRF250L, I believe, put a resistor in the circuit to prevent simple hot wiring of the bike. The ecu then looks at the voltage to see the drop matches the resistor.

You should be able to take the OEM ignition and measure resistance through the wire pairs I mentioned previously (particularly the second set) with the key on. If there's free flow of continuity then there's no resistor. If there's resistance then they new ignition would need to match that. I don't think the klx does this, but worth checking.

 

This is exactly what’s going on. Didn’t know how to say it, but I do remember when I was measuring it, that one of the differences between OEM and the aftermarket ignitions is the OEM did show a number so I’m assuming there’s a resistor in there.

Thanks

 

I know this is an off-topic question, but what kind of gas tank did you get for this? And what mods did you have to do to fit it? I'm doing a scrambler build for my bike and want to fit an old-school metal tank, but the Kawa perimeter frame makes it a real pain. Any info on how you fit this tank would be awesome! Thanks.

 

hey man, the tank was custom made to fit around the frame like you mentioned. I got it done from these guys in Indonesia called KnuckleWackJob on Instagram. Turned out good, but if I were to do it again I would try and make one out of stainless or have someone do it in the states out of stainless and be very specific on gas cap style and fuel bung threads.

the whole subframe is custom and moved about an inch upwards. Other than that the tank fits right on the two main frame bars. If you out this on a stock frame/subframe there would likely be a lot of space under the tank and above the seat.

Your prob gonna want to modify the subframe. If you don’t want to go that far I would maybe try a more old school style mx tank.

good luck! @amunoz212121 on Instagram, more pics of the finished bike and some detail shots too.

 

Wow... just wow. Your bike is a work of art.
I'd love to hear that exhaust!

I lowered the bike front and rear so i could bolt low flat lightweight alloy clip on bars directly onto the exposed front fork tubes for a more "cafe" look..