Engine Brake Actuator

do yourself a favor man.....get rid of the KEBC actuator! For what it's worth....get rid of the 4x4 actuator as well!! Sounds crazy, I know, but let me explain. I'm sure a few people may disagree with me and that's ok, I'm just giving my opinion. (this may take a moment) When I bought my '05 BF 650, I was drawn to this site at first because I was having the "flashing dance nightmares" we all experience with these machines from time to time. Do a search and there are hundreds upon hundreds of threads from loyal kawi riders who have this utter brain fart of a contraption ruin their time to ride. If you want to spend the time and money replacing actuators, fuses, ECU boxes, CDI boxes, etc, etc, etc....then by all means, feel free. I will not tell another man (who has the time and money to do all these things) how to work on his ride. But I myself am a United States Marine and anyone else in the military can tell you....we don't make even close to enough money to buy all these parts every time these electronic pieces of crap go out....and it will happen. there are two types of actuators, ones that took a shit and ones that will take a shit. I myself am done with electronics, no if's and's or but's about it....DONE!! I have since bypassed the KEBC actuator and what a surprise, the lights stopped flashing and the engine brake still works wonderfully!!!!! I also used the KEBC actuator housing to make a manual pull cable 4 wheel drive.....it also works amazingly with no glitches!!!! If you or anyone else wants to do these mods, I have no problem posting pics and walking you through step by step. I would appreciate it if no one would reply to this post telling me I'm crazy and don't know what I'm talking about because yours works fine and you haven't had any problems. If that's the case, I'm happy for you and this message doesn't apply you and the other 6.5342% of the riders out there who haven't had to troubleshoot for weeks trying to figure this out. For the other 93.4658% who have gone through case after case after case of beer trying to find the will to live while your BF/Prairie/whatever you have, is on jack stands while you test every last little %#$&*@! wire/terminal/connector/fuse/speed sensor/KEBC actuator/4x4 actuator/4x4 switch/buss connector, etc.....I'm here for you! I know that was long winded but I went through it for weeks. Other riders solutions were not the solution to my problem. I'm not knocking anyone on here so please don't think that. I honestly appreciate everyone trying to help me out through my woes. There are very knowledgable people on here and maybe they can help you. If so, that's awesome! If not, crack a beer and shoot me a message!! Sgt Ryan, United States Marine Corps-OUT!!!!!!!

All and all, the mods aren't all that extensive. I still used the actuator housing, all I did was pull the guts out and make a manual slide using a bolt that I dressed up the end for the little square on the original actuator to fit on to slide inside the groove in the axle. ran a choke cable to it and mounted it in the spot where the KEBC actuator used to be. (it'll make more sense when I post the pics....gotta find the thumbdrive) And yes, it works every time. I tested it in front yard a lot before actually going out riding. I would engage the 4x4, jack up the rearend, give it gas and it would try to pull itself off the jack. Lower it down, disengage, jack it up and the back tires would spin freely. All in all, thinking how I wanted to do it took the longest. Once I had the plan, the actual mod only took about two hours. Two hours versus weeks of headaches.....yeah, I'll take it. I'll post the pictures in a little bit when I locate my thumb drive, and add some instructions. Like I said, I'd be more than happy to walk anyone through it who wants to do this mod.....I've been there and know how it is.

Instructions for manual 4wd cable as requested!!!!

Alright, well here they are. Sorry, I couldn't find the thumbdrive so I had to pull the actuator off and take it apart. I've attached some pictures to help you better understand what I'm trying to explain (sorry if I do a piss poor job, I'll try my best) I went to auto zone and bought a choke cable kit. Nothing fancy, just the $9 one. I also went to our local hardware store and bought a 1/4 lag bolt, two nuts to match your threads, one of them should be a nylon lock nut and the other should be a somewhat thin nut to leave enough room for the cable to go through, and a decent sized washer picture A. I don't remember the exact size but get a long one so you have some room to play with ( I would get 2 or 3 just in case something goes wrong on the first attempt) The first thing I did was measure how far the little alignment pin block protruded from the original actuator, picture 1. Be sure and write the measurement down for later. To make the slide plate I just used a piece of .063 mild steel (you can pick that up at any hardware store. .050 would be thick enough if they don't have .063) before you make the template for your plate you will need to "gut" the inside of both halves of the actuator housing. Once this is done, you can lay masking tape across the bottom half of the housing, picture 2, to make your template. Just cover the whole thing, trim the tape around the edges with a razor blade and mark your holes to be drilled for a good fit. Lay the masking tape out on your metal and cut out your slide. Picture 3. Next, lay your slide plate down on the bottom half of the housing. Turn it over and through the hole, make tick marks as far left and as far right as you can on the slide plate picture 4. Then use whatever tool you have to use, a fine routing bit in a die grinder did the trick for me, and cut out a slot for your bolt to slide inside to activate and de-activate 4wd. Attach your bolt to the slide using the two nuts and the washer. Nylon lock washer goes on top Picture 5. Slide the bottom half of the housing over the bolt so your slide plate sits firmly against the housing. Take your measurement you got earlier and mark where to cut your bolt Picture 6. Once you have your bolt cut to length, you'll need to cut the groove in the end for the dowel pin to hold the block on Picture 7. Next you'll need to drill a hole in the top half of the actuator housing for your cable to feed into Picture 8. Before feeding through, slide a piece of vacuum hose over the cable and seal with silicon to protect from water damage and corrosion (forgot to tell you to get a piece of vacuum hose, sorry) With the cable fed through slide on the stop screw first and then the bolt where you drilled a hole for cable Picture 9. Once it's through the bolt, you'll have to find something to clamp down on the end of the cable to keep it from pulling back through. I used a cable swedge but there are many other substitutes Picture 10. After that, piece your housings together and attach the dowel pin and block Picture 11. And now, it's pretty much done!!! Just find where you want to attach it to your ride and enjoy. Hopefully this helps a few people out. If you have any questions or need help feel free to ask. My email is [email protected] (daytime) [email protected] (night time) Cell# 252-622-8694.