Quote:
Originally Posted by Motofool
What is the function of this resistor?
How does it prevent the engine to be started up without a proper key?
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- To keep people from removing the keyswitch and hotwiring the bike.
- The igniter is designed to operate only when the gray wire has the resistor on it.
I don't know the technical details of how it works, as the igniter is a pretty "black box" part with not a lot of info available. Reduced voltage maybe? But Kawasaki designed it so that it won't work with straight 12V applied, as would be the case if you cut the ignition switch off and tried to hotwire it. It needs that resistor-modified input in order to function. This means you "need" the ignition keyswitch for the igniter to work, thus preventing hotwiring. If you replace the keyswitch, you need to mimic its security feature as well.