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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.

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

I take it you didn't visit the link? They wouldn't list for sale at $8 a pop AND allow you to add them to your cart if they didn't have them, From my experience, Partzilla will tell you "part obsolete" if they do not have one.

Not always........ ordered starter clutch parts a while back from em with a e mail later saying sorry can't get.

by yamakawa: I take it you didn't visit the link? They wouldn't list for sale at $8 a pop AND allow you to add them to your cart if they didn't have them, From my experience, Partzilla will tell you "part obsolete" if they do not have one.

Their parts availability listing isn't 100% accurate, so yes, they will list a part that is NLA.
Maybe they have the brackets, maybe not. I bet not & I did say "probably".
Partzilla lists all of the fuel tanks for my bike. and a seat. and fenders. and on & on. all of those are listed with prices as if they're still available & not listed as part obsolete --- but they won't have any of that stuff.

They listed my spark advance as available and wanted me to pay for it, I then called them and the guy reluctantly admitted it is obsolete. Been there, done that.
Steve