Testarossa's 78 KZ1000 Fighter Build

Finally got the rear suspension mounting points fabricated and tack welded to the frame. The lower shock linkage requires that you weld in two tabs onto the crossbar where the centerstand is attached. I already removed my centerstand tabs so I don't know if this would work with the centerstand still in place. As for the upper shock mount, I needed to add a whole new crossbar to the frame. I cut an 11" piece of 1/4"x1 1/2" steel and tacked it to the frame. Instead of welding tabs to this crossbar I used the cradle which came off of the GSXR frame. It is important to locate all of the mounting points as closely to the original locations of the donor bike. I kept the GSXR frame and used it as a reference until I got everything fabbed. In order to mount the new upper crossbar, the rear master cylinder bracket needed to be removed. Finally I ground off a little bit of material on the kickstand stop and also the kickstand to allow the bike to properly lean on the stand. (Please note that your ride height will be lower when switching to the modern 17" tires.) Factory kickstand length will not allow the bike to lean. At least not to the left. :side:



Rear master bracket removed.


Here's the new upper crossbar. I will add some gussets to triangulate this a bit in the future.




Yeehaw the bike actually stands on its own again.

Big bonus is that my CL add for the excess GSXR parts finally came through, so my net cost for a complete GSXR suspension is drumroll please.... $98!
-Whole 95 GSXR 750 purchased from CL $250
-Bought another front end from ebay to replace the cheese-grater right lower fork leg $198 shipped.
-Sold the excess GSXR parts on CL $350.

Ive got the same problem with the rotor on one of my 78 kz1000s When i bought it it had a bad starter clutch but came with a new assy.Got the bad one off and found that it had no keyway.The rotor that came with bike was keyed so I ordered the correct unkeyed rotor and put it all back together(i lapped the crank and rotor to match b4 assy.torqued to 95 ft lbs as per the book with red loctite on bolt.Set over night.Startup next day was good let the bike warm up.then cool down.next startup as soon as the bike fired Iheard the rotor spin inspected and sure enough it was loose.Went though this ordeal about 6 times b4 the snow hit and it got stored.Idont want to pound it on and ruin the magnets or anything else.Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.PS I have a brand new keyed rotor if anyone needs one.Jeff

Ive been thinking i might try warming the rotor and cooling the crank

Jeff, unfortunately I have no advice yet on the rotor issue. I'm gonna cross that bridge when I come to it. This brings up a question that I didn't know I had before. What is the root cause of all these spinning rotors? Is the magnetic field so strong that it causes it to come loose? I wasn't aware that this problem was soo common.

My experiance told me that if the crank and rotor are scored bad, they will never lock together.the rotor is softer, so it will likely be the worst.the big problem is that it can screw your whole summer. if u need to replace the crank, u need to pull the motor and split the cases.
i would be tracking down a spare crank now, if u feel the crank is scored.

i ran into this problem along time ago i tried to use a rotor from a 900 on a 1000 crank it spun after about a week i then looked a little closer and found they don't have quite the same taper. i went diggiong thru all my stuff and found the right rotor that actually came off the crank in the first place problem solved. the difference in tapers wasn't much but it was enough.

I'm surprised that no-one has spotted my non-standard fuel tank yet. It's from a KZ750, and I made it fit by welding in a piece of 3/8" bar across the underside of the top frame tube. I had to cut off the original mounts on either side of the frame. Also had to take off a sheetmetal boss near the back of the tank. Pictures to follow.

testarossa wrote:

DIY fork spring compressor.

."

Now is see what u mean by the 750 tank. when i saw it before, i thought it was an LTD tank.
How does the new spring compressor work? will this replace the spanner socket hook wrench, some how?

Mark,
The 750 tank was too cheap to pass up on ebay for $50. I like the extra capacity, and that thing is clean inside. Zero rust. I didn't realize at the time that I would have to make so many mods to make it fit. However, I have discovered that I like fabricating, so no worries.

On to the spring compressor. Your correct, it replaces the hook idea and will actually work on more modern forks. That metal sleeve is usually made of plastic on the newer bikes and that hook would do damage. Anyway, two bars that stick out of the hex are hollow and have pieces of 3/8 round CRS that slide in/out. Basically you slip the hex over the top of the fork and slide the bars into the two holes in the sleeve (where I had the hook before.) Press down with your hands and slide the keeper tool(not pictured) under the bottom jamb nut on the dampner rod. Then you have an easy time disassembling the two jamb nuts. I'll do a similar pictorial to the teardown when I put the new seals in my newer fork.

One thing to keep in mind for everyone whose running an upside down fork. Get a FSM for that bike and read up on the service interval for your fork oil. Usually, you'll have to change oil every couple of riding seasons, and you need to get the springs out to properly fill the oil. So you need the fork tools even if you never have a seal leak.

That is gonna be one Bitchin' lookin ride when its done!

Martynbiker wrote:

That is gonna be one Bitchin' lookin ride when its done!

Thank you sir! I sure hope that your right. I'm shooting for subtle with excellent craftsmanship. Personally not into the super shiny, 100% chrome, bling bling bikes. I can appreciate these, but not my style.

What is the fuel capasity of the kz750 tank? it actualy looks smaller than a kz1000 tank in the pic. thats why i thought it was an LTD tank.
The kz1000 is 17 liters and the LTD is 13 or 13.5l, i beleive.the z1900's were something like 15 l.