KZ1000P Suspension

HI all,

Im fairly new to the board and have seen several KZ100P builds here, but almost all have been converted to a more or less Cafe style tear down build. I am interested in keeping my KZP fully fairied and bagged. I just bought a 2000 KZ1000p and am having a hard time tracking down some of the more detailed specs.

Does any one know what the spring rate for the KZ1000P rear shocks are, I know they are a 13 inch shock but that doesnt' really give me the right info to figure out what would be a good replacement/ upgrade.

Im not sure if these used heavier duty springs because of all the extra equipment, but i intend to mostly ride it alone and i am only like 160lbs. I do want to have a 2 up seat so my wife can sometimes ride with me.

Thanks!

Hey iC......I've had a LOT of luck with shock manufactures answering my questions through their help lines. Last time around we had to figure out what would work best for a sidecar rig I was working on and the people I talked to were VERY helpful.

I'm not going to name brands......but most of my shocks are sorta the middle of the road (pun intended) as far as quality and price go. Shocks are one of those "you pay for what you get" and I stear clear of cheap shocks.

Pick a couple of manufactures....give them a call and tell them what you have and what you want to do with it and they will set you up. Good thing is, if your communicating with them and your not happy with the results I've found that they are more than happy to swap out things until you are.

If you happen to find that non stock exhaust your looking for....keep me in mind if you want to get rid of your stock set up.

Take care......Gordon in NC
2002 KZP
and a bunch of other bikes.......it's a sickness.

Restocycle, Z1Ent., and Hagon would be my first calls. Might contact Progressive as well.

The vin label on the steering head may have GVW info, Fr & Rr. might be useful when ordering shocks & fork springs.

At the front there might be cartridge emulator kits you could install. Racetech is one place that may have them.

Thanks guys for the advice, I work closely with some suspension guys, it looks like we are simply gonna have to tear down the stock shock so we can measure spring rate info. I will update the thread with any info i find

Gordoninnc I will keep you in mind about the exhaust if i find an aftermarket 4 into 1 that works

OK so I got together with my suspension engineer friend and we dismantled the shock and measured the rear springs. It looks like the KZ1000P model stock spring is 9.5" unsprung length with a spring rate of 130 lbs. per inch with a shock eye to eye of 13".

For me weighing in at 150-160 the bike barely sags at all when i sit on it. We are opting to go for a lighter spring at 110 lbs per inch. This should allow the bike to sag when i put my weight on it and let my feet sit a little flatter. I will be able to up the pre-load if I am riding 2 up but probably about 90% of the time i will be riding solo.

There will be a little trial and error but i will update you all and let you know how things go. At this point i don't know that there is much of an off the shelf option, it looks like we will be pretty much building some custom shocks.

iChambers, any updates to what you found for the rear shocks?
I know this is an old thread but my brother is currently looking for shocks for his 2002 KZP.
He weighs about 240 or so and just had his forks rebuilt by a RaceTech guy. Kawasaki uses ridiculous .68kg springs in the forks of the KZP. The guy installed 1.20kg springs and emulators. I rode it yesterday and it made a wonderful improvement. (I owned the KZP for a few years, now my brother has it).
He now has to address the rear.

On a side note.. I used to use a Bridgestone touring tire. Though they wear well ang grip well, my brother went with Continental Road Attack 3 tires which I recommended as I use them on my sport naked. They grip well and have great feel.
Anyways, between the upgraded forks and grippy tires, on a straight section of road, I was riding 65mph and I wiggled the handlebars and was stunned at the amount of frame flex I could feel that I never noticed before. (At least I think it was frame flex. We're hoping it's not flex, just worn shocks and that new rear shocks will alleviate the situation.) (But I'm pretty sure it's frame flex. It needs shocks anyway.)