New Canadian with an 81 KZ1000 Police Special

Nice bike for sure, those tires you got are perfect.

Thanks so much. Sure was a lot of fun.

Don't want to jinx anything but the build looks to be over. Bike runs great now with new coils and some carb adjustments. I installed today a battery ground switch to make sure the old wires don't start a fire while I'm away from the bike. Also ripped out the battery box and made an under seat tray that holds all the electrics. Looks a lot cleaner like this and lends for some more air movement. Some new pics.

Well I got bored this week and decided to 'cafe' my little bike some. Got rid of the spring saddle and made a bit of a cafe seat. I also put on some clip-on's and dumped the drag bars. While I was at it I lost the floor boards and made some rear sets out of some 6mm aluminium stock a friend provided.

Not sure if I'm going to keep it this way, the springer seat and floor boards added some character. hmmm, we'll see.

very nice and yes the seat change was perfect

it looked pretty comfy with the spring seat and floorboards.
the new look is cool tho to.
looks like a fun ride.

keep us posted,

leon

From your engine video, I can hear that the carbs are way out of balance.

Once hot that engine should purr, and produce some seriously surprising low end torque for a straight four.

You could use/borrow/make a vacuum manometer cheap from many places, and the process is fast and painless on those carbs - plus it makes a big difference for mileage and low end power.

Just sayin...

TeK9iNe wrote: From your engine video, I can hear that the carbs are way out of balance.

Once hot that engine should purr, and produce some seriously surprising low end torque for a straight four.

You could use/borrow/make a vacuum manometer cheap from many places, and the process is fast and painless on those carbs - plus it makes a big difference for mileage and low end power.

Just sayin...

That video was a while ago and since then I've gone through some jet changes. I settled on 17.5 piolets and 117.5 mains. Just yesturday I drilled out the factory plugs on the screws and will be looking at getting them juuuuuust right. I do have a couple of vacuum guages for my other bike (Versys)so a trip to the store should land me another set. Took her out for a run on the highway and got rid of some popping and bogging at speed when warm.

You're right about the torque, she loves it in town and pulls very hard. I will say with the muffler I chose setting the idle close to 1500 makes the bike sound like it's racing.

Had no idea my bike made it to someones Blog. Kind of neet findig your bike during an obscure google search.
motorcyclephotooftheday.com/2011/05/27/i...e-bike/#comment-2233

Very cool bike, those KZ1000's are one of my favorites. Once I'm married and my wife will allow me to start my bike "collection" I definitely plan on getting one.

Thanks and I know what you mean Mike. I'm very luckey to have a wife that grew up with bikes and last year bought her very own (it was her birthday gift) 1992 Kawi 250 Eliminator. I'm up to a small colection of 3 bikes that, along with the police bike, includes a 2007 Versys and a 1983 Honda Interceptor out on loan to a friend. The interceptor was sold to me from a friend for sum of two cases of beer and a bottle of wine. Paying it forward feels kind of good.

Do you have a close up of the gear shifter and peg setup? I would like to remove my floorboards as well. Great job! Love the simple solutions. I watched your videos, you should shoot another video describing your mods! Would really help me out!

Also what size clips ons did you use?

Thanks,
Ryan