LZ's 76 KZ900

Before you get all wound up spending money where you don't need it heres a couple of ideas for ya.
Have the crankshaft checked to make sure its straight and rods don't have an extra side play,then have the pins tig welded.Its doesn't need to be done by a fancy shop like falicon.
Have the trans checked for worn dogs or shift forks,no need to get too fancy.
Theres lots of guys drag racing old kz's with mountains of hp with stock transmisions.
Id suggest spending money on a new cam chain and parts associated with it,these are high where items that will beat your budget up pretty fast but will give you more bang for your buck than a fancy crank and trans.
1075 kit will definitely put some spunk in the motor,a good stage 1/street porting job from larry will work good with that.
Id stick with something more in the .365-.375 range with the cams myself
Id also find a set of the old 28mm pumper carbs off a 79-80 1000 to save some money.
Now is the part that is really going to blow the budget,but I consider it more important than a hot rod motor for a streetbike.
The single disc on front and drum brake on rear was under powered to stop that bike in stock form,let alone a warmed over 1075.
I suggest if nothing else atleast put dual discs on the front(rebuild forks also)
If you have money in the budget Id suggest getting a hold of kz1006,hes a member on here.And see if he has a rear wheel/brake/swingarm and associated parts from a 77-78 kz1000 laying around.
That way you have disc brakes front/rear,tell him you need a brake pedal/master cylinder also.
A decent pair of rear shocks is also a badly needed improvement,along with good tires.

PLUMMEN wrote: Before you get all wound up spending money where you don't need it heres a couple of ideas for ya.
Have the crankshaft checked to make sure its straight and rods don't have an extra side play,then have the pins tig welded.Its doesn't need to be done by a fancy shop like falicon.
Have the trans checked for worn dogs or shift forks,no need to get too fancy.
Theres lots of guys drag racing old kz's with mountains of hp with stock transmisions.
Id suggest spending money on a new cam chain and parts associated with it,these are high where items that will beat your budget up pretty fast but will give you more bang for your buck than a fancy crank and trans.
1075 kit will definitely put some spunk in the motor,a good stage 1/street porting job from larry will work good with that.
Id stick with something more in the .365-.375 range with the cams myself
Id also find a set of the old 28mm pumper carbs off a 79-80 1000 to save some money.
Now is the part that is really going to blow the budget,but I consider it more important than a hot rod motor for a streetbike.
The single disc on front and drum brake on rear was under powered to stop that bike in stock form,let alone a warmed over 1075.
I suggest if nothing else atleast put dual discs on the front(rebuild forks also)
If you have money in the budget Id suggest getting a hold of kz1006,hes a member on here.And see if he has a rear wheel/brake/swingarm and associated parts from a 77-78 kz1000 laying around.
That way you have disc brakes front/rear,tell him you need a brake pedal/master cylinder also.
A decent pair of rear shocks is also a badly needed improvement,along with good tires.

Thanks for such in depth advice!

I have decided not to go to crazy with the motor. Pretty much the plan with it now is to go 1075, get the crank welded, have everything checked as you said, and replace all those annoyingly pricey parts.

As for the head, Ive decided to just do basic refreshing on it without going crazy. So basically just refurbished stock cams and setup.

I was definitely planning on getting at the very least the dual discs on the front. I didnt know I could do the rear with the 1000 setup, so I am sure I will end up doing that. It may be after most of it is done though.

Im really hoping I can manage upgrading the small things, like brake lines, headlight, ignition, etc. I did buy a dyna already, so that was exciting.

Im pretty much wanting to upgrade what I can without going too far from a stock look. One thing I was considering was an oil cooler. Not sure though.


Got in contact with a powdercoater, should be getting a quote on Monday!

I got my jugs back last week after getting them bored.

Seems like they did a pretty good job, maybe a bit pricey, but I am happy with the extra they did for me in the end.

Since the piston sleeve came loose, the machinist decided to pull out all the sleeves, glass bead everything and used some kind of sleeve sealer and pressed them all back in. The good part of this was they charged me the same amount as if I had just had them blast the part alone.

Still thinking about getting everything vapor blasted to get that little bit of extra shine.

Nice job! I can't wait to see the finished product!

Been awhile, but I got my head back from Cavanaugh

Gotta get the crank out now!

Larry does nice work. looking good and thanks for saving the bike.

Doing a great job.... I just finish my first restore and now starting another one.
Both 76 kz900A4

I think I saw you post the bike on the trailer on the Facebook page.

Im not even close to being done with the first one, and I already want another one! To be honest, part of that is because I would love to just have one to ride around rather than the 81 CB750K Im on for right now.

Great job on your first restore!!