New 1982 kz1100 owner

Hello!

I just purchased a 1982 KZ1100 and honestly I love it already. I am not very mechanically inclined but I really do want to do a few small things on my new-old bike. I have researched a ton (at least it seemed like it), but I just find it all a little overwhelming considering I have little to no experience with motorcycles. The first thing I wanted to do was replace the ignition switch. It seems the previous owner replaced the key switch but they replaced it with one that is too wide to fit back into the housing. I guess how do I know which part exactly to get that will fit. Are there any resources that I could find/use that are extremely dumbed down?

Thanks!

Shayna

If this is your first bike, may I suggest you take a rider's safety class. I would also suggest a smaller, throw away bike to get used to riding. Like a Honda Rebel or a KZ 305. It's very easy to go 0 to OH SHIT!! in .02 sec. Welcome to motorcycle riding an KZR.

Welcome, Shayna!

If you are new to riding, I second what azman867 said.

An amazing number of parts are still available at your local Kawasaki dealership, though some are more helpful than others. Z1Enterprises, an advertiser on this site, is a very good source of parts, too.

One of the first things I recommend is getting a genuine Kawasaki factory service manual for your exact year and model. Several are available here under the Articles tab. Otherwise, you can troll eBay for one. The aftermarket (Haynes, Clymer, and such) manuals are better than none, but not as thorough as the factory book.
As many of these old bikes have been sorely neglected, the best place to start in the manual is the section on routine maintenance. Start at he top of he list and work your way down. You can eliminate a lot of current and future problems this way.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, there are a lot of helpful, knowledgable folks around here.

Oh yes....... There are a bunch of picaholics on this discussion board. We need pics of your bike to keep us sane :silly:

Welcome to KZRider
You are in the right place to get plenty of help
Dave