TOPIC:

One other thing to consider is that somebody sold you the wrong brackets. Go to partzilla.com and look up your year and model get the exact part number for the brackets and search eBay for that part number.

Pics would help.
Steve

After 9 years of reading on here what other PO's have done to these poor bikes I don't think you should rule anything out just yet.

YamaKawa wrote:

Bowman wrote: The engine serial number will tell you what year and model the engine is and the frame one will do the same for the frame. If you copy them down and post them here then someone who knows a lot more about 400s will most likely be able to tell you if they match.

I don't need to go to a third party to understand whether or not they match. It doesn't take a genius to discover that my engine belongs with my frame when the number stamped on the engine case is literally the first half of my VIN.

That is not the norm for all Kawasakis, my engine and frame are both for a 78 and in the right number range so I can assume they are original but other than that there would be no way to know that without a reference of some point because the numbers are not the same between frame and engine at all. Obviously the 400's are different to the 1000's in that respect.

I would still check the mounting plates you have (i.e any removable mounts) are the correct ones if you cannot get things to line up by loosening everything up and trying again. The removable parts are the ones that can get lost or mixed up if someones had the machine apart and sitting round for a while. Again try to find close up pictures of the same machine on eBay or perhaps a member who has one can help verify you have the correct components with pictures. It seems like one of those easily sorted problems once you can identify the problem parts.

I'd put a few bucks on there being a non-stock motor in there. The gaps you mention are way too big and there was no way Kawasaki made these things with such slop, my lad put a 440 motor into a 400 frame and had to make new mounting hardware plates for his bike. The other possibility is that the PO put a 440 head on the 400 motor thereby changing the mounting point at the top of the motor, so not all mounting points match up. My .02

swest wrote: Could be one reason the chain was too loose. You want the engine snug in there. Keep at it.
Steve

Wouldn't the chain be overtightened since the motor is located farther forward than it should be?

bluezbike wrote: I'd put a few bucks on there being a non-stock motor in there. The gaps you mention are way too big and there was no way Kawasaki made these things with such slop, my lad put a 440 motor into a 400 frame and had to make new mounting hardware plates for his bike. The other possibility is that the PO put a 440 head on the 400 motor thereby changing the mounting point at the top of the motor, so not all mounting points match up. My .02

I was gonna say that this would not apply because the mounting brackets I refer to are bolted through the case, so to speak...then I read the "mounting point at the top of the motor", and if the head was changed to that of a 440, I suppose the mounting "dynamics" could be changed.... But I thought that the majority of the parts interchange between the 400 and 440? And I think the head's might be relatively the same (I'm a noob at Kawasaki's so don't quote me), because the only difference I've read about between the engines was the 440 had a slightly larger bore (~3.5mm larger than the 400).

I just went onto Partzilla, the 440 and the 400 share the same motor mount front brackets (both list 32029-1098 as the part #)

Directly from website (www.partzilla.com/parts/detail/kawasaki/KP-32029-1098.html):

"This Kawasaki 32029-1098 BRACKET,ENGINE,FRONT is used on these models and components:

1979 KZ400-H1 FRAME-FRAME FITTINGS
1980 KZ440-A1 LTD FRAME FITTINGS ('80 A1)
1980 KZ440-A1 LTD FRAME FITTINGS ('81-'83 A2-A3-A4)
1980 KZ440-D1 LTD Belt FRAME FITTINGS ('80 D1)
1980 KZ440-D1 LTD Belt FRAME FITTINGS ('81-'83 D2-D3-D4-D5)
1981 KZ440-A2 LTD FRAME FITTINGS ('80 A1)
1981 KZ440-A2 LTD FRAME FITTINGS ('81-'83 A2-A3-A4)
1981 KZ440-D2 LTD Belt FRAME FITTINGS ('80 D1)
1981 KZ440-D2 LTD Belt FRAME FITTINGS ('81-'83 D2-D3-D4-D5)
1981 KZ440-D3 LTD Belt FRAME FITTINGS ('80 D1)
1981 KZ440-D3 LTD Belt FRAME FITTINGS ('81-'83 D2-D3-D4-D5)
1982 KZ440-A3 LTD FRAME FITTINGS ('80 A1)
1982 KZ440-A3 LTD FRAME FITTINGS ('81-'83 A2-A3-A4)
1982 KZ440-D4 LTD Belt FRAME FITTINGS ('80 D1)
1982 KZ440-D4 LTD Belt FRAME FITTINGS ('81-'83 D2-D3-D4-D5)
1982 KZ440-G1 FRAME FITTINGS
1983 KZ440-A4 LTD FRAME FITTINGS ('80 A1)
1983 KZ440-A4 LTD FRAME FITTINGS ('81-'83 A2-A3-A4)
1983 KZ440-D5 LTD Belt FRAME FITTINGS ('80 D1)
1983 KZ440-D5 LTD Belt FRAME FITTINGS ('81-'83 D2-D3-D4-D5)"


EDIT: I checked my eBay purchase history.....ad was deceiving saying it would fit any 400/440 (Part number 32030-044) turns out it only fits the B/C models... Awesome! Good to know that i just bought the wrong plates! Now I feel like an idiot.... Too bad it's too late to get a return on this item. Partzilla has them at $8 a pop. I get paid Thursday and probably won't be able to ride before Friday (for legal reasons), so I'll go ahead and just wait it out!

Welcome to the club. If you have never bought the wrong part at least once in your life, you haven't really lived!
Look at it as a test of your anger management skills.
And most of all. At 8$ a pop it was a cheap lesson

Partzilla probably isn't going to have a motor mount for an old motorcycle.

Punched in the number and only got one hit on ebay but you can see what it looks like (new for 35 bucks) ...... then punched in kz400 motor mounts with that number and Ebay item #350014078847 has a used set for around 15 bucks shipped...... but then you need the proper bolts and nuts too so maybe look again.

KZB2 650 wrote: ...but then you need the proper bolts and nuts too so maybe look again.

I bought a complete set for $20 shipped (free expedited too!). This set has all the bolts. Even if it doesn't have the right bolts, I have the bolts from the other set I bought.