® Official Kawasaki US dealer training KDS book


Couple things. First, be aware that some time in 2017 and 2018 Kawasaki is planning to replace Kawasaki Diagnostic System (KDS) with a completely different, more modern system. This manual therefore will become obsolete at that time. It can nonetheless help those with Concours motorcycles made up until this point. So enjoy!

This is the genuine, factory-generated and authorized dealer training lesson plan and student workbook, circa 2016. As such, it is rich in content, perhaps a little too rich for some, and may assume a little too much prior background understanding, knowledge and experience. It was constructed (by myself) to meet the needs of Kawasaki dealers, many of whom needed to start at square one, thus the linear, even granular outline and progression of the content. As for all that, don't expect your dealer to be familiar with this booklet. Kawasaki like most Japanese OEMs does not force its dealers to attend technical training.

Finally, this book is not meant to be a substitute for the KDS user's booklet (that comes with KDS), or the official Concours service manual. Certain operations such as replacing Concours ECUs, are very tricky and specialized, and the best resources for that task are mentioned above. This book trained Kawasaki dealers in KDS relative to all Kawasaki products, not just the Concours, thus ECU replacement is not its focus, but rather the more common and practical use of the software, that of its diagnostic role. Click on the image to open the document.

2017 Addendum
I get requests every so often to help folks acquire a KDS system for their use. You don't really need my help. Here's what to do. One, see the factory technical training lesson plan on KDS, linked to the image above. Two, then take the part numbers relative to the Concours to a Kawasaki dealer and order the KDS pieces. There are several parts, in addition to the software. Each part has a part number, and even if a dealer is unfamiliar with the system, that doesn't mean he can't order the parts. Three, if your dealer resists ordering the pieces for you, or proves incompetent, go to the next dealer. The parts are available only by Kawasaki part numbers, and this means only through a dealer. That's all there is to getting KDS for yourself. But read the lesson plan no matter what else you do. Also be aware Kawasaki has not made KDS easy to use by non-dealers. There are two possible issues. One, the cost of all the parts is quite expensive, well over $1000. And two, even though you can order the software disk, installation of the software onto a computer may require connection to the factory's computer for a software upgrade, and this can be done only by a dealer, and of course he will have to be friendly enough to do this, and also knowledgeable enough, two things dealers are likely not to be. A third difficulty is the software is fairly buggy to install. In fact installation is the hardest part of using KDS. For example, some software you may already have on your computer has been found to be incompatible with KDS, with the result that KDS will not install. Good luck!

 

2023 Addendum
At this late a date Kawasaki is no longer using KDS and therefore current Kawasaki models cannot be serviced and diagnosed using KDS.


Last updated December 2023
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