Testarossa's 78 KZ1000 Fighter Build

Dont skimp on the frame gussets. there will be no point in firming up the front and rear end if u dont firm up the middle(frame) .
Good luck.
Mark

testarossa wrote:

Monday update here. Also, looks like the alternator rotor spun on the crankshaft. The end of the crank was slightly galled and that bugger was a bear to remove. I need to get some pics of the hidden bolts to remove before you try to split the cases. I'll try to post these tomorrow.

how are u going to resolve this?
this is common to the z1 cranks. the kz crank has a big ass bolt on the rotor (95ft.lbs.)the z1 is small(17ft.lbs.) if i recall correctly. u will want to have the crank welded to prevent the pins from slipping. they are only press fit together and with added cc's and compresion they recommend welding.
I have 1 in great shape, all welded and redy to go . PM me if interested.

Thanks for the pointers Mark1122. I must say that your bike has served as inspiration as well as OMR's. I finally found OMR's build thread and I will consider my options for the stem.

As far as the crank is concerned the galled section is just the tapered end where the rotor mounts. I just figured that I could polish and re-assemble. Will this not work? My plan is to use this motor with stock pistons so I want to slap it back together as cheaply as possible. I will be spending most of my budget on frame mods and paint. Once I get it running I'll start working on the hot-rod motor. Possibly next year on that one, so hang on to that crank for me.

Finally, I plan on gusseting the frame myself. This actually raises a point. What size tubing are we using for frame braces? Is everyone using 4130? What wall thickness are the standard frame tubes?

I could not over come the rotor slipping until i replaced it. i tried lapping it on with valve grind compound, and red locktite. it keeps coming loose and stranding me.each time it would shear the woodriff key, and score the crank a little bit more.
so i gave in and replaced it.
u could try a harder bolt. i actual got a spare crank end to test a harder bolt in. i thought i could torque it until lt it stripped, then i would know how many ft lbs torque it could handle before failure. but i never bothered to test it. i just got another crank. i had guys tell me they used a harder bolt and a impact gun, but that was too unscientific for me. lol.
On the gussets, moly would be lighter, but not necessary. u dont need to go as thick as stock wall thickness. i have some info if u would like it just PM me with your e mail addy.

Funny, mine doesn't have a woodriff key.
You have PM.

testarossa wrote:

Funny, mine doesn't have a woodriff key.
You have PM.

Sorry, I’m bad. u have a 78. OK then, u should have a large bolt in the rotor end. check and see if it is about 10mm , or a smaller 8mm. I could be wrong on the exact size, but if u have the small 1 it's not great. Most 78/80 kz's have the big 1, but not all.
But the same applies to what I said above. u must reduce the scoring on both surfaces to have a chance. But if u have the big bolt, u have a better chance of success.
I will try to round up some info for u on the week end.
Have fun with your build. And thanks for the great write up on dismantaling the shocks. i will keep a for copy myself.

I know its been a while since my last post, but I have been a busy boy. First I must publicly thank Mark for all of the info that he has sent me about frame bracing. The man is a saint. He has saved me many hours of research. I hope that I can return the favor in the future.

Now, on to the progress. I have taken Mark's suggestion and pressed the KZ1000 steering stem into the lower triple clamp from the GSXR. I had to turn a spacer on the lathe at work, and I couldn't wait to press it in, so no pictures. Now thanks to a new tapered bearing kit courtesy of the fine folks at Z1 I now have the front end on the bike. Unfortunatly, when I cleaned all of the accumulated dirt from the forks, I discovered that the right lower fork leg is TOAST. Loads of tiny chips in the chrome. That thing is a cheese grater. Not putting my new fork seals on that one. Found a whole front end on Ebay, which the seller assures me is in perfect condition. So the cheese grater will suffice for mock-up purposes and spare parts. I also decided to weld up some proper front end tools which I will will use when I rebuild the new front fork.

DIY fork spring compressor.

I also turned a pair of spacers to fit the GSXR swingarm to the KZ pivot bolt. Basically, just drilled and bored the inside diameter to fit closely on the the pivot bolt (0.630" IIRC.) The outside diameter was turned to match the GSXR pivot, and the flanges on either side were 0.050" thick to tightly locate the swingarm in the frame. The swingarm was 0.100" narrower than the frame, and believe me that this thing is tight.


Now I need to weld in mounting tabs for the mono-shock linkage and the upper shock mount. At that point I will have a rolling chassis. WOO-HOO, party, milestone! Then I can start fabricating frame gussets.

Starting to look like a motorcycle again.


With the current suspension, you could say that the rear end feels a little "wooden."

Thanks for the kudo's. I'm glad i could help.i may need a good machinist some day.lol. Just kidding.
What did u get for the new front end?
I am going to modify my zx9 top tree. i want to lower it to raise the front end an inch. This will help me satisfy the rear ride height , which is too high at the moment.

Now to give some pointers,When removing old steel to aluminuin bolts never fear a bit of heat from a propane torch also when dealing with old phillups drive take a flat face punch and give it a good thwap then get a good snapon phillups drive and use a 10mm or a 3/8 to hold on to the old bolt.give it a good tap into place.If you have the correct tool (a screwdriver with a oversize phillups drive drive)it should come out.If it doesnt dont try to crank it out.Give it a little heat let it soak in then try again.If it dont come out the first time just keep repeating this process itll work itself out eventually. All this shit is rare so please take care

Mark-I got another 95 GSXR front end off of ebay for $150, and met a really knowledgable GSXR guy to boot.

Jeff-That's a good pointer about the propane torch. I was just about to break out the ole' hot wrench, but the impact screwdriver technique worked on all my case screws. Unfortunatly, it looks like a whole new set of screws are in order. Mine are a little too knackered to go back on the bike.

Z1E sells a metric stainless allen bolt set for your motor. I bought three sets from them in the past few years. One for my 900, one for my 650, and one for my RD350. Very reasonable on the prices too.




www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=2674

Yeah, I def. have my eye on those allen bolts from Z1E. I like allen heads better than phillips heads any day.