Fresh Meat w/ New Bike

Hello everyone, as of yesterday I became the proud owner of an 82 Kz1100 shaft drive. I rode her home last night over 100 miles. The last 10 of which were in the rain. It ran great & handled just fine.
Needless to say, it's old & needs a bit of work. Some for comfort/styling & some for performance & function.
I'm an auto mechanic by trade so feel fairly confident diving in to this project. For starters can anyone point me in the direction of a proper service manual & parts provider? In addition there are some immediate needs for safety/performance sake that need to be addressed. Such As; Tires, (dry rotted, cracked, worn). And the fuel tank coating is peeling away inside. Is this serviceable? Or is it better just to replace? It does start to run a little crappy when the fuel gets low, I don't want the carbs to get to affected.
Thanks in advance for all replies.

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationNo eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationWelcome aboard!

Here are a couple samples of the correct Kawasaki Service Manual on eBay. Don't waste your money on Haynes or Clymer manuals.



There are a number of online places to buy parts. One good one is www.z1enterprises.com/ another is www.partzilla.com Partzilla only sells genuine parts; Z1E sells both genuine and aftermarket and has very knowledgeable and helpful folks. If you have a problem finding a specific part ask on this forum as some folks have access to resources for obsolete parts.

Regarding parts - Kawasaki still offers some parts new, so that is worthwhile checking. Kawasaki.com is an excellent resource for finding part numbers, whether or not parts are still "Active" (available), which models share the same parts, etc. Try this:
Go to Kawasaki.com. On left side put cursor over "Owner Information" then on drop down menu click on "Parts Diagrams." The click "Continue" next to "Motorcycles" and click on model/year/etc. on drop down. Once you get the list of parts for your bike you can click on the category of parts - such as "Air Cleaner" and you will see a diagram of all the parts for that category. Then when you click on an actual part number on the list under the diagram it will say if the Item Status is "Active." If it is "Active" Kawasaki still sells the part through dealers. Also, at that little page you can click on the yellow highlighted question mark for a cross reference of which bikes share that part or click on the red highlighted S to see earlier part numbers for the same part.
If you want to change bike models you can enter the new model at the top. Also, you can put in just the first part of the model (i.e. KZ650) and it will list all the years and sub models. You also can put in a part number up top and switch the word "MODEL" to "PART NUMBER" using the little drop down in that box. If you do that it will show all the models that part is used on.

Also, the link below contains information that should prove helpful. In particular the discussion about JIS screws (Kawasaki screws look like Phillips, but beware - they are different) and oil may be new info even for a seasoned auto mechanic.

kzrider.com/forum/10-new-members/589649-...r-savannah-ga#594587

Ed

Thanks for the info. I don't know how soon I can get started on anything, time & money of course, but the resource is fantastic.
And yes, automotive is different so I'll be sure to be careful. I've done stupid before & I'm old enough to know that I'm capable of doing stupid again.

FNGCOC wrote: Hello everyone, as of yesterday I became the proud owner of an 82 Kz1100 shaft drive. I rode her home last night over 100 miles. The last 10 of which were in the rain. It ran great & handled just fine.
Needless to say, it's old & needs a bit of work. Some for comfort/styling & some for performance & function.
I'm an auto mechanic by trade so feel fairly confident diving in to this project. For starters can anyone point me in the direction of a proper service manual & parts provider? In addition there are some immediate needs for safety/performance sake that need to be addressed. Such As; Tires, (dry rotted, cracked, worn). And the fuel tank coating is peeling away inside. Is this serviceable? Or is it better just to replace? It does start to run a little crappy when the fuel gets low, I don't want the carbs to get to affected.
Thanks in advance for all replies.

Hello, FNGCOC, and WELCOME to KZr!

Would try ebay for a FSM (Factory Service Manual) that specifically covers the 1982 Kz1100 shaft drive.
Don't settle for anything less than the genuine Kawasaki manual.

www.z1enterprises.com is imo the best place to begin parts searching.

Fuel tank liners such as Kreem may be removed with acetone.

Good Fortune!

Hello Patton.
I'm wondering if my gas tank has yet to be kreemed if I can get away w/ just cleaning out the lining w/ acetone & an inline filter until the season ends. The inside that's peeling is gray in color. I'm not sure if that's original or if someone has already tried to line it before. I don't know that I've seen the inside of a "kreemed" tank to be able to tell the difference.
Thanks

Likely the previously applied Kreem tank liner is failing.

Could test by immersing a small piece in acetone to watch it dissolve.

Removal of the Kreem should enable testing for pinhole leaks and visual inspection for deciding how to proceed with rust removal.

Good Fortune!

Got it. Thanks Patton.