New member, new project in the works! 2002 KZ1000P

Hi All! Picked up a 22 K mile KZ1000P a while back as a cruiser project and am now finding time to get after it. I plan to strip all the police equipment /fairing/bags off it and make it into a nice comfortable cruiser. Bought it at auction and it looked pretty decent, only the red blue lights missing. Unfortunately it took me 2 weeks to get it picked it up and when I did mysteriously the gas tank was missing along with the keys... No one had any clue what happened. And no recourse, of course... Hmm. I have found a few new ignition switches with keys on fleabay for under 50.00 so I figure that will be the key solution. Now as far as the tank goes tho it seems that the ones I have seen seem to be rather pricey even stripped, dented and rusty. And from what I hear the OEM tanks are kind of short on capacity? So thinking outside the box has anyone found an aftermarket tank with larger capacity or found a tank from another bike that is easy to adapt? Would like to keep the fuel gauge if possible. With this thought in mind I have a perfect condition Road King tank on the shelf that I am going to set in place and see what would be needed to make it work; gotta get the fairing off first so I can see if I like the look. I actually like the footboards and the single seat so the overall plan is just to strip all the pursuit and electronics stuff, trunk and panniers and repaint the bodywork. Get the engine serviced and tuned up and get some better tires on it, fit an oil cooler on it (I have one from a TSX 350 that looks like it might fit). Frankly am not too thrilled with the look of the stock wheels either so I would love to hear any suggestions about tire / wheel combinations to make this thing handle better / safer / more comfortable would be appreciated. Also thoughts on the head shake / head bearing issue I seem to be seeing a lot of posts about. Pretty much just in the planning stages right now and as this is the first big Kaw I have owned really any thoughts / recommendations would be appreciated. TIA, Dach.

Welcome,
You found the right place to get your bike sorted. I'm guessing like most police bikes yours was rode hard and put up wet. I have yet to see one that didn't have tight valves and dirty carbs. Good news is parts are cheap and these bikes are super simple. Kzp also makes a great travel bike, I've rode mine to Canada and back.
As for the tires you get what you pay for. I run the high dollar Avons and they feel great though sensitive to low pressure wear problems.
As for the neck bearings a forum search will give you the info about bearing mods.
I might also add the emissions stuff on the kzp is a real drag and cost you real performance. I don't think you can even get your pinky inside the muffler they used. Not a big fan of the egr setup either. Another search will tell you how to delete that.
Attached is a picture of my bagged and turbocharged 94.

Subscribing.

I have a tank on good outside condition that will need an internal treatment. PM if interested.

Project update! Just bought a really nice tank complete with petcock and fuel sending unit. Cap was locked and tank had a 4" tank slapper dent but after pulling the petcock and looking inside it looked really clean, minimal rust and crud. So far I have picked the cap open, tank still looks good but I am going to give it the muriatic acid treatment and then treat with phosphoric and finially a slosh with diesel to seal. Bought one of those Harbor freight hot melt dent puller kits and spent a couple hours last nite and I have gotten the dent 90% completely resolved. Looks like another half - to hour and it will be pretty much perfect then on the shelf to await stripping and painting. One of the nice things about this tank is it came with an OEM petcock and sending unit. Now to rebuilt the petcock and pull and take a look at the sender, clean and test before putting aside. I am going to get down to the auto paint store and look at some chips, going to be looking for a deep candy red with gold metallic, will be a base coat clear coat deal. Saw a real late model Ford exploder the other day that had pretty much the color I am looking for. I wonder how much I will need for the tank, 2 side covers and 2 fenders.

I buy almost all my automotive parts from Rock Auto and am wondering if there is a similar company for bike parts? I need to get a rebuild kit for the petcock, gasket for the sender, a decent chrome cap and key and an ignition switch. Any online seller recommendations?

Honestly, for those particular parts, you would be much better off with the factory parts.
You can get them at--
Your local Kawasaki dealer
Z1Enterprises - there is a link to their website in the vendor banner here
Partzilla - www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motor...uel-tank-p21-p22-p24
And others.

Dach Savage wrote: I buy almost all my automotive parts from Rock Auto and am wondering if there is a similar company for bike parts? I need to get a rebuild kit for the petcock, gasket for the sender, a decent chrome cap and key and an ignition switch. Any online seller recommendations?

Partzilla sells oem parts at reasonable prices, but expect a ~$8.00 shipping charge for something that just needs a stamp slapped on an envelope. BUT, after buying $160.00 minimum to qualify for their $100.00 discount on wines with the coupon they push, I have developed a severe drinking problem. <kidding!> (I do not drink)



Ebay has a lot of OEM parts at decent pricing on it, I always look for the free shipping.

I usually try to stick with OEM Kawasaki parts, but some things are just plain too expensive, so I may stray from that mindset from time to time.

My local dealer is a total waste of time. I can drive there faster than I can get anyone on the phone, and they seem to want to pay all of their overhead every time I buy a part there.

old_kaw wrote:

Dach Savage wrote: I buy almost all my automotive parts from Rock Auto and am wondering if there is a similar company for bike parts? I need to get a rebuild kit for the petcock, gasket for the sender, a decent chrome cap and key and an ignition switch. Any online seller recommendations?

Partzilla sells oem parts at reasonable prices, but expect a ~$8.00 shipping charge for something that just needs a stamp slapped on an envelope. BUT, after buying

My local dealer is a total waste of time. I can drive there faster than I can get anyone on the phone, and they seem to want to pay all of their overhead every time I buy a part there.

Partzilla works well for me as their East Coast distribution hub is in GA. If you plan your purchases the $8 shipping is a lot more tolerable. My local dealer is a waste of time as 1) I have to go in person, 2) It will not be in stock. 3) pay up front. 4) wait at least a week. 5) Pick it up.
Be careful of buying parts on eBay advertised as being OEM but really just cheap repop crap.

Z1 is usually pretty good but the company they merged with MikesXS, is notorius for bad rubber parts. Caveat emptor

ThatGPzGuy wrote: Partzilla works well for me as their East Coast distribution hub is in GA. If you plan your purchases the $8 shipping is a lot more tolerable. My local dealer is a waste of time as 1) I have to go in person, 2) It will not be in stock. 3) pay up front. 4) wait at least a week. 5) Pick it up.
Be careful of buying parts on eBay advertised as being OEM but really just cheap repop crap.

Z1 is usually pretty good but the company they merged with MikesXS, is notorius for bad rubber parts. Caveat emptor

Yes, Z1 E is good, and Jeff is a frequent flier on KzR and very knowledgeable on the old kaws and their history / evolution, They have a lot of replacements for the discontinued parts, and state it as such in their ads as being "equivalent" to whatever part number you are looking for. Also charge ~8.00 for shipping, see below.

Ditto on Partzilla, and the dealer info. I am in St Louis area and partzilla ships promptly and sells OEM parts. (they are located in Georgia) The stuff usually arrives within 2-3 days.

As my GPZ friend stated, if you plan and combine small orders you can usually get then into the same shipping charge.

Also not all of the ebay stuff is counterfeit. BUT a lot is. make sure it says NOS and OEM parts in the ad. eBay keeps pretty tight reigns on their vendors, and you can return anything for any reason. They will taunt them relentlessly until it is resolved. Btu also know that it isn't like running to your local trusty stealer where you can swap it over the counter. It takes weeks to return, get credit and reorder. The money just doesn't come back in like it goes out (instantly) , it seems to be lost in cyberspace for a week or so.