1978 KZ1000-A2 "Barn find"

Kaylinator wrote: Still waiting on parts to arrive. Carb kits have been in Mississauga, ON, which I'm sure every Canadian knows as the place packages go to die, even in a normal year.

I did pick up some spare turn signals locally for $20. I saw a post on FB Marketplace for a KZ 900 exhaust for $60! I jumped on it fast, but someone else was faster, so I asked him what other KZ bits he had. All he had left were turn signals, bit can't hurt to have spares.

Am I seeing an optical illusion or do pipes 1-2 bend and wrap around so you can access the oil filter?

Mikaw wrote: Am I seeing an optical illusion or do pipes 1-2 bend and wrap around so you can access the oil filter?

That's how they appear to me too. For the life of me, can't figure out that brand that could be...

Kaylinator wrote:

Mikaw wrote: Am I seeing an optical illusion or do pipes 1-2 bend and wrap around so you can access the oil filter?

That's how they appear to me too. For the life of me, can't figure out that brand that could be...

Wow what a great option. Hopefully someone can identify them. I’d like to search for a set. Those like like great candidates for JetHot coatings.

Okay guys, I need your help.

I could swear these carburetors had never been opened. There was still factory paint marker on them.
However, these seem to have 105 main jets.

The FSM says that it is to have 102.5 mains, and so that's what I had ordered.



This bike has the stock airbox and still had the factory exhaust when it was parked.

A Google search seems to come up with conflicting information.

So what's the correct answer here? Should I just keep the 105s in there? Swap them for the 102.5s and see what happens, knowing I can swap them back later if needed?

Can’t hurt anything being a tad rich. On the other hand if the 102.5’s were to make it lean then that could cause damage. Easy swap if you find your rich. I have been told error on the rich side and correct from there

105 was standard for the A2. 102.5 was standard in the LTD.

hardrockminer wrote: 105 was standard for the A2. 102.5 was standard in the LTD.

Well that's just ridiculous. The cover of the FSM even has an A2 on it.

Thank you for clarifying that.

If it's an A2 your frame serial number should have an "A" in it. If it has a "B" then you have an LTD.

Kaylinator wrote:
Well that's just ridiculous. The cover of the FSM even has an A2 on it. .

The fsm often covers more than one model. There should be a notation about the different jetting, or perhaps it is covered in a supplementary section at the back of the manual.

Carbs are rebuilt and bench synched. Cleaned them up again before rebuilding. When I cleaned them in the spring I frankly didn't know anything. Now that I have a better understanding of how they function, and all of the passageways, I'm confident that there's definitely no gunk in them anywhere.

I'm thinking I need to check valve clearances before I put the carbs back on the bike. Quite honestly, compression on cylinder 3 has been a bit low from the beginning. I thought maybe it would come around, but it didn't. Hoping it's a valve clearance issue, and not anything more serious. I'm assuming I should pick up a fresh gasket right away. Any suggestions on brand/where to buy? Do I need to order new cam end caps too?

You probably should have a spare in case you tear the one on your valve cover but otherwise the old one should be fine. Just be sure to put it back on the same way it was in place when you removed it. I usually put a light coating of grease on the surface to keep it from sticking the next time I take the cover off. I normally buy OEM gaskets...more expensive but you get what you pay for.

Question for the experts here.

My clutch lever has always been harder to pull than it should be. The cable moves freely, and it does not seem to be an issue with the clutch release mechanism either. It seems to me like whatever the push rod is supposed to push on is sticky?

Has anyone every experienced something similar? How'd you fix it? I did a search of this forum and Google and it seems most people's issue is with the clutch release mechanism itself.