'81 kz440 is my first bike! Yeowee!

Hello,

I'm the proud owner of a new (to me) '81 kz440 and i'm printing up the factory manual as we speak.

I'm a first time bike owner, and I'm looking to learn everything I can about the bike, learn to tune it up and do whatever maintenence I can ... and at this point I know nothing. Looking forward to a good summer.

Since the factory manual reads like heiroglyphics, am on a hunt for a Clymer manual that won't cost me 50 bucks. any hints?

Thanks so much, and I look forward to being generous with my knowledge as soon as I get some!

best,

Andy

Hello, Andy, and WELCOME to KZr!

Click > www.armbell.com/forum/index.php?c=6&sid=...571a51a&mforum=kz400

Good Fortune!

Welcome to the forum. I had a '79 kz400 Ltd as my first bike and learned tons. Don't give up on the FSM....once you learn KAW-ese, I believe it provided a lot more info than Clymer's.

I see Clymer's manuals pop up on e-bay all the time for less than $40. Set up a saved search on your bike model and you can get a daily e-mail of everything thats been posted for sale that day.

Good Luck!

Hey, thanks a bunch you all. I just took her out for her first official spin, and I'm sure she needs a good adjustment top to bottom. My goal is to learn as I fix, but as a total rookie I'm of course anxious about screwing something up. Hopefully one of my acquaintances who dabble will help out. But i'm wondering, is there any way to find local kz owners?

Oh, and when i bought the bike i checked the turning lights and they were ok ... today, no turning lights. zoiks! suddenly no longer street legal. I will say that I'm excited to learn how it all comes together.

Factory manuel much better. Keep that kz tuned up and ride safe Enjoy ur summer

Hiya,

Not sure where to post this, so I'll start here.

the WEIRDEST thing just happend with my new (to me) bike, kz440 ltd, 1981 ...

so i take the license plate off to put on my new tags ... then the pieces I took the plate from don't match the size of the plate when I go to put it back on ... then i realize the metal L-shaped metal pieces are inches from the back tire ... so weird because they don't bend and it's just twilight zone that i can't get the plate on.

I've looked around a lot, and I'm feeling pretty sure that the back fender and breaklight is a custom job ... nothing else seems to look the same ...

this is really embarassing. I took a video of the weirdness and posted it on youtube. This is just too weird for words ...

here's the link:

thanks for anybody's input.

When you show the side view one of those mounts is bent much different than the other. I believe it's just strapping they are using to mount the plate. It should be pretty flexible. In fact it may be too flexible. I'd be fabbing a different mount using different materials.

That looks home made to me. If you have an LTD, it should look like this---

www.kawasakiepc.com/SystemSearch_Frames....249&CFTOKEN=76457030

Scroll down to "Tail light"

Mandyrew wrote: ...and i'm printing up the factory manual as we speak.

ANDY! You've just earned my "Thank God!" Award for today! :laugh: :woohoo:

PS. Hi