1977 1000 A1 forks

Pattenrd wrote:

Z1 forks and 77 kz forks are different ive done a couple z1 and a 78 b2 77 has short dampener rod. forks look real pain  real nice going to vapor blast covers guy i got bike from painted whole motor and cases black. Thanks 

Ok, I had to do some research to make sure I wasn’t loosing my mind. The springs I have on the bench are 465mm. This is the same as the 1976 Kz900 A’s 4&5. The number 521mm in the Kz1000 FSM must be for the B LTD bike. The other items measure 

• upper stanchion 615mm
• lower fork outer 345mm top to middle of axle.
• dampener overall 235mm

Just to help make this more correct. The 1976-77 Kz900 A’s and the Kz1000 A’s ‘77 & ‘78 are all the same. The free length is 465mm. They add a metal spacer to get correct preload. The Z1’s ‘73-‘75  spring length is 495.5mm and do not use the spacer. I have yet to do a Kz1000 B model to confirm the 521mm as stated in the FSM. See photo of metal spacer used on the “A” models mentioned above. Also see screen shots of the 1976 supplemental found at the back of the manual and a page from the Z1 FSM to confirm length. 

 

Pattenrd wrote:

Z1 forks and 77 kz forks are different ive done a couple z1 and a 78 b2 77 has short dampener rod. forks look real pain  real nice going to vapor blast covers guy i got bike from painted whole motor and cases black. Thanks 

Going on memory here but Z1 forks are different from KZ650.  Lowers are different lengths.  Uppers are also different lengths.  Overall length is the same.  

The clymer manual had that information I just took everything out through the top as usual found 77 dampener rod on e bay matced it to the correct one i had and put it together today  thanks for all your help moving on to brakes looks like early 77 had caliper on the front side with steel line  later were in the rear any information on that would help I've checked pictures they showed both ways

In my opinion, the only thing a Clymer, or any manual but for a FSM is good for is to put under the side stand to lessen the lean angle. Get a good KHI manual.

As for the correct orientation of the front caliper. For the A1-A2, 1977-78 is forward of the fork mounted to the LH side. Many US bikes have been converted to dual/twin disc. For those years and including the 76-77 Kz900 the calipers are universal and will mount LH and RH, but to mount a caliper to the RH fork will require a LH bracket from a trailing (behind) set up. Also the brake splitter should be changed, I’ve seen dual bango bolts used to stack dual brake lines on a single line splitter, the correct way is to replace the splitter. MC will need to be upsized to 5/8” or 16mm. 

I have a fsm to seems like the early 77 kz is a 76 kz plus some updates a one off trying to get it close to right if i was computer savy i would post some pictures   ordering stuff gets a little confusing for the retailer thanks for your help  moving on to the carbs next working my way front to back motor and cases were painted black  got motor mostly stripped down off paint going to have covers vapor blasted