Wheels and sprockets

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationNo eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationGetting KZ 750G Mags ready to install on my Z1. The question I have is what sprocket should I use? The rims I have now is an 18" and the Mag is a 16". The 18 has a 35 tooth sprocket and the 16 has a 31. I'd like to have the same gearing I have now. Been looking at sprockets but not sure on which one to buy. 
Got brake shoes already.
Steve



 

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationNo eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configuration

wrote:

Getting KZ 750G Mags ready to install on my Z1. The question I have is what sprocket should I use? The rims I have now is an 18" and the Mag is a 16". The 18 has a 35 tooth sprocket and the 16 has a 31. I'd like to have the same gearing I have now. Been looking at sprockets but not sure on which one to buy. 
Got brake shoes already.
Steve




 

My 1978 1000 LTD has a 16” rear mag and stock is a 33T rear.

Measure the circumference of your current tire.  That's how far you travel in one revolution.  Then measure the circumference of the new tire.  If it's a shorter distance then divide distance 2 by distance 1 and multiply by the existing number of teeth on your rear sprocket.

For a concrete example, assume circumference 1 (current tire) is 5 feet and circumference 2 (new tire) is 4.5 feet.  And you currently have a 35 tooth rear sprocket.  Divide 5 into 4.5 and multiply by 35.  New sprocket should have 31.5 teeth, or either 31 or 32.  

I was under the impression going to a 16 was to increase take off plus the tires were cheaper in the day. Yeah it would lower the bike an inch but from the look of the tires (taller) it can't make that much difference. I've been looking for an 18 like my Lester was. Not easy with a drum. 
Steve

I agree Steve.  Tire profile is part of the equation.  If the diameter of the two tires is the same then the sprocket would be the same.

My KZ1000 LTD has a 16 rear.  I'm pretty sure it makes the seat ride a little lower but I've never checked.  I know it makes for better cornering, but the frame on that bike is better than a Z1 so it's probably a combination of the two differences.

hardrockminer post=851228I agree Steve.  Tire profile is part of the equation.  If the diameter of the two tires is the same then the sprocket would be the same.

My KZ1000 LTD has a 16 rear.  I'm pretty sure it makes the seat ride a little lower but I've never checked.  I know it makes for better cornering, but the frame on that bike is better than a Z1 so it's probably a combination of the two differences.

My frame is off a KZ 900 due to the wreck so it's a salvage title. I know it a little thicker than the Z1's and I noticed an extra brace below the steering head but the gusset still cracked at the same place as the Z1 frame did. Also they moved the battery box but by doing so they added a new L metal brace for it to sit on tying the frame together just above the rear motor mounts. They changed the electrical locations to fit as well. I was pissed when I started switching over parts when I had found I was sold a KZ frame not a Z1 but by then it was too late. I still had the KZ 900 frame with everything on it but Doug The Thug had cut off the steering head and gave me a Honda one he was planning to weld on. Unfortunately I scrapped the other frames so I was stuck with what I had. Should have kept the Z1 frame and fixed it but I just switched over the Z1 parts, decided it wouldn't be original anyway so I might as well put on all the pats I liked from the newer models and aftermarket. I rode it like this til 98 when I parked it when I got my kids. 




 

As luck would have it when I applied for SSI I was told I couldn't own anything worth more than $2100 to qualify being it was a salvage title it was worth more in parts than as a running bike so that didn't apply. At this point I've accepted it will never be a Z1b again so I might as well make it what I want and RIDE THE PISS OUT OF IT.   Thus the KZ 750 G Mags. 

I understand the frame being better but how is it better in the cornering? 
Steve 





 

It likes to lean over and hold a track better in a corner.  With my Z1's I have to hold it much harder in a corner. They seem to want to come back up all the time unless you hold them down.   

Interesting that your KZ frame cracked in the same spot as all the Z1's.  I've posted photos of one of my Z1's (Sept/74 build date) with a crack almost all the way round the downtube.  Kawasaki had a temporary fix for the second half of the 75 model run where they stopped drilling the holes for the oil cooler.  They were drilled afterwards if you wanted one.  My second Z1 (A Jan/75 build date) has no holes.  Earlier bikes were retrofitted with a bolt in brace.  In 1976 they changed the gusset altogether but it sounds like it didn't entirely fix the problem.

wrote:

 
Earlier bikes were retrofitted with a bolt in brace.

Do you have a picture of the brace? I've never seen one.

My dad's '74 Z1 has a crack in the brace right though the hole, but I don't think it's extended into the tube yet.

Here.

 

Am I going nuts and need to start wearing my tinfoil hat again. Two post are missing that I saw here. A bike with saw blades for wheels and a sarcastic “cutting edge technology” reply… please tell me I did see them

EDIT, Never mind they are in another post… I still question my sanity though. 

It was a piece of metal with two bolts. Saw one on eBay for stupid money. 
Steve
kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/597248-oem-z...ame-support?start=12

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationThis one's more reasonable. but it can't work.
Steve