Better Than Nothing---The rebirth of a Superbike.

My plans for the next year or so is to put my vintage KZ1000 Superbike back together. It has been apart since 1985. I parked it for good when I got my GSXR750RG back in July of 1986. Most of it besides the rolling chassis is packed away in 15 or so big boxes!! It took me about 18 months to build this bike back in 1978/1979. I copied the Vetter/Kawasaki Superbike built by Pierre DesRoche. What I could not buy from them, I made it, or had it made. I always tried to buy or make the best stuff available. Anytime something came out that was better than what I had on my bike. I replaced what I had on my bike with the better parts. Like going from the Hunt Plasma front discs to the huge 13" Kosman rotors and Lockheed calipers. And so on, and so on.

Now that I can move my hip joints again,and can tuck in and move around on the seat. I want to put this bike back together. This is really going to be a major project. In the next few weeks or so I am going to open up all my nicely packed up boxes and see what I have. I don't even remember the color codes on the wiring harness I made back in 1979!!! Money might be a problem, or I should say lack of money might be the biggest problem. God I can't believe how much EVERYTHING HAS GONE UP IN PRICE!!!

I want to get a hold of a AHRMA rulebook and see what is legal for Vintage Superbike class. Everything on this bike is drilled for safety wire. I see some folks are running what looks like a belly pan to catch all the oil and pieces if the motor takes a dump. Last time I ran the bike I had a set of CR33's with the AMA 31mm restrictors from my KZ1000S1 CR's. I read they make you run 29mm restrictors in AHRMA?? I really need a printed copy of the AHRMA rules so I can study them like Smokey Yunick used to!!!!

I hope I can pull off this project without going broke. Gentlemen start your cash registers!!!!



What it looked like whrn I first raced it back in 1979


One of my copies of what they had on the Vetter Superbike.


What it looked like in its final season of road racing.


Its very last race, IRP WERA race 1985??


My very first road race bike '76 KH400 IRP 1977 or so.

We'll all be watching...

great read...this thread is going to be very cool...

Do you have any detailed pictures of the sprocket cover and foot pegs?

wireman wrote: Do you have any detailed pictures of the sprocket cover and foot pegs?

Thats the only picture I have right now of the cut sprocket cover, and feetpegs. The feetpegs are just old H2 triple buddy pegs mounted in the upper hole where the two studs go for the stock feetpeg bracket mount. Now the shifter linkage is a true work of art in my book. I put a bronze bushing in the lower stud hole for the stock feetpeg bracket. I had a stock shifter shaft cut down, and those triangle pieces made at my old machine shop I used to use back in the late 70's. Those shifter parts were changed to something like what came on a KZ1000R back in 1982. That shifter setup you see in picture is sitting in a parts box some where in my Superbike parts collection. I was mounting all the KZ1000S1 feetpeg brackets, pegs, and rear brake setup when I packed it all away to work on my GSXR750 back in 1986.
Thats one of the projects I have to finish to get the bike ready to ride. I just hope my handmade tuckup Bassani pipe clears the righthand S1 bracket.

Really looking forward to seeing this machine come together.

I kinda like this bike already

I think it would be cool to just see some of those parts.sounds like a great project definitely will be watching

This is gonna be Koooooool !!!

AHRMA handbook can be found here: www.ahrma.org/ahrma_pdfs/Z-2013/forms/13_Handbook_forweb.pdf

For Vintage Superbike Heavyweight the class limit is (I believe) 1025cc,
carbs have to be restricted to 29mm for the heavyweight bikes and no accelerator pumps - round slide or CV type carbs only - no flat slides,
they allow suspension swaps to newer equipment but no upside-down forks and there have been debates regarding boxed swingarms unless they are period pieces (which is very arbitrary),
bodywork (tank, tail, sidecovers) must be present,
original gauge cluster must be present (the gauges themselves don't have to function or exist),
fenders are required if the bike came with them, but they don't have to be original,
a belly pan or oil containment pan is required and must hold a certain amount of oil (some racers just buy a roasting pan at Walmart and strap it on),
oil cooler must be frame mounted.

That's off the top of my head.

When I click on the AHRMA rulebook it goes to some kind of pdf file or something. Where does it go to on my computer??? I can't find it after I hit the little picture of a "house" thingie that makes your computer go back.

The damm prints too small to read anyway.

Thats why I wanted a printed copy of their rulebook.

I HATE COMPUTERS!!! I BEAT TO DEATH ANOTHER PRINTER LAST WEEK BECAUSE IT STOPPED PRINTING!!!

Thats the 5th or 6th printer I did that to so far. Those big black boxes you put them little discs in. When those screw up, I take those out and put a few clips from my HK91 into them!!!
Those little TV screen things are fun to shoot at too!!! If it don't work right, beat it to death, or shoot it full of holes!!!!

I am a graduate of The Anthony Joseph Foyt School Of Anger Management. Both Tony Stewart and I graduated the same year, 2002!!!!

HA! Probably a good thing you didn't get into old Ducati's or something. :dry: