KZR's Bikes of the Month for 2024

New member with alot of questions

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29 Jul 2006 22:24 #65816 by cbibb
New member with alot of questions was created by cbibb
Hello everyone I hate to start off this way but I have a ton of questions. I have ridden bikes for the past fifteen years (all sport bikes) anywhere from 88 gsxr 1100 to my recent 05 Busa. I have always loved the old kz's and want to try to build one. I want one with that long low drag stance with a motor to back it up. How reliable/expensive are the original engines to build? Would it be extremely difficult to put a newer engine in a kz frame? Are all the kz's kickstart? How much frame re enforcing needs to be done when you start putting down some serious power? How in depth/reliable are the electrical systems of the old kz's? I think they have a point ignition system, how much work to update that? (Dyna ignitionpossibly) As you can tell this is a whole new world to me and just want to see whats ahead of me before I get started. Thanks for any advice/help you have to offer. Chris

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30 Jul 2006 05:23 #65828 by Mcdroid
Replied by Mcdroid on topic New member with alot of questions
Whew! Okay, I'll take the easy ones:) kickstarters went away with the 1981 year-model. Dyna systems are readily adaptable to older Z's and I think the points went away with the 1979 year-model.

Michael
Victoria, Texas

1982 GPz750
1977 KZ1000A
1978 KZ1000A
1982 GPz1100
1975 Z2A

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  • wireman
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30 Jul 2006 13:24 #65891 by wireman
Replied by wireman on topic New member with alot of questions
cbibb wrote:

Hello everyone I hate to start off this way but I have a ton of questions. I have ridden bikes for the past fifteen years (all sport bikes) anywhere from 88 gsxr 1100 to my recent 05 Busa. I have always loved the old kz's and want to try to build one. I want one with that long low drag stance with a motor to back it up. How reliable/expensive are the original engines to build? Would it be extremely difficult to put a newer engine in a kz frame? Are all the kz's kickstart? How much frame re enforcing needs to be done when you start putting down some serious power? How in depth/reliable are the electrical systems of the old kz's? I think they have a point ignition system, how much work to update that? (Dyna ignitionpossibly) As you can tell this is a whole new world to me and just want to see whats ahead of me before I get started. Thanks for any advice/help you have to offer. Chris

these old motors are a pretty bullet proof platform to build from,the frames could use a good gusseting if you like laying into corners hard,just depends on how you wanna ride it.:evil:
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30 Jul 2006 13:45 #65896 by apeman
Replied by apeman on topic New member with alot of questions
I'll take a couple of the other questions.

The electrical systems for the 1980 (or so, depending upon the model) and after years have a pretty decent charging system.

The stock coils could use improvement, but there are plenty of aftermarket alterenatives (dyna, etc.) that drop right in. Actually the stock coils are fine so long as you upgrade your system with a relay that direct wires the coils to the battery, so that your input voltage is at the max. (See the wiredgeorge coil relay upgrade thread and article, elsewhere on this site.)

The electronic ignition systems on the 1980 and later models works fine, but some of us have seen an intermittant failure of the ignition pick-up coil as the bikes have aged. You can fine lots of old mechanisms to swap in, or use a Dyna or Boyer system.

The miscellaneous switches are decent, so long as you take them apart, clean and lube the contacts, and stretch any weak springs. Remember, they are 25 years old, and most have seen a fair amount of sitting out in the weather.

As for the engines, they are well know to be near bulletproof, even in modified form. It is amazing how few engine component failures I have seen mentioned on this site in over three years of regular viewing. This seems to be true even for the highly modified engines used by our racing members. Under regular street use, the engines have a very long life. I expect to hit 100,000 miles within the next year on my KZ750H (the four cylinder baby brother to the KZ1000).

It is my belief that if Kawasaki had a better marketing department they would have way out-sold Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha during this era, because the Kawasakis are a superior machine. Of course, we need only look at Apple and the PC manufacturers (backed by Microsoft software) to see that having a better product is no guarantee to success in the face of strong and agressive marketing. If it were, we would have been meeting the nicest people on a Kawasaki, and doing all of our word processing and web surfing on an Apple.

Petaluma and Truckee, CA -- member since Jan. 23, 2003;
PREVIOUS KZs: 1980 KZ750H with 108,000 miles; 1980 KZ750E with 28,000 miles; and KZ750H street/cafe project, all sold a few years back.

This is what I do for fun, not for work. It is art, with a little engineering thrown in.

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30 Jul 2006 15:40 #65922 by ltdrider
Replied by ltdrider on topic New member with alot of questions
I think the KZ's are great bikes, but they are 20 - 30 yrs old now.
They'll always be a bit heavy, and kind of flexible in the corners. Still, the KZ1000s have tons of power, and some of the members have done some amazing things with them (check out the Gallery). I'd try to find a '77 or '78 KZ1000. No smog stuff, easy to strip/modify, and the motor's reliable. Problem will be the high mileage, but if your going thru the top and bottom, so what?

'76 KZ900 LTD (Blaze)
'96 Voyager XII (Dark Star)
'79 KZ650 Cafe Project (Dirty Kurt)
Greensboro, NC

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  • wireman
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30 Jul 2006 18:10 #65959 by wireman
Replied by wireman on topic New member with alot of questions
how fast do ya wanna go?:evil: this ol aircooled turbo z smoked a warmed up busa at the drags friday night!B)
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