Hello all !

Greetings from AU
Hi, my name is Mark. I live in Melbourne and I have been the proud servant to a '77 z1000a for the last 20 odd years.
The machine is a "bitza" comprising "some" parts from a 900 and the ENG/FRAME no's matching up to the '77 z1000a
I have no idea how many previous owners / mods have been before me.
I am in the process of having the top end rebuilt and have been trying for yonks to ascertain exactly what model the carbs are from.
I shall post q's in carb forum in due time.
Anyways, glad to be on board and I propose a round of drinks to all & sundry

Welcome Mark.
Nice looking bike... Is that the stock rear caliper?

Hello, Mark, and WELCOME to KZr! We're glad you're here!

Carbs appear to be Mikuni manual slide valve.

Stock 1976 KZ900 carbs are 26mm with side-located pilot air screws.

Stock 1978KZ1000D1 and 1079KZ1000D2 (the cafe racer models) are 28mm with side-located pilot air screws.

Stock carb with side-located pilot air screw



Stock 1977KZ1000A1, 1978KZ1000A2 and 1979KZ1000A3 are 26mm with bottom-located pilot mixture screws.

Bottom-located pilot mixture screw



Side-located air screw vs bottom-located mixture screw



29mm Smoothbores are a desirable aftermarket carbs with side-located pilot air screws.
Note the "square" and the large plug on bottom of float bowl which serves as drain and fast access to the main jet.


Smoothbore






Good Fortune!

Hi GPz guy.

I believe that the rear caliper is stock z1000A1 although i think that the front discs have been drilled out by a previous owner.
I also read somewhere that AU delivered models got triple disks.
After noticing your avatar pic, I thought you might be interested in a photo of 1979 AU film mad max (US - the road warrior) cameraman David Eggby on the rear of Gooses bike filming forward moving footage. The sissy bar would have then been removed for any filming from behind the bike.
No CGI in those days and a helmet would have been "visually restrictive" !

Hi Patton.

Thanks for all the images and info.
I believe that the carbs are VM28SS.
There are definitely air screws on the side of all 4 carbs.
I measured (28mm) carb size where the slide meets the carb throat, not at the I/P or O/P casting.
I read somewhere that the SC type have a flatter top cover & 2 retaining screws, whereas the SS type have a taller top cover & 3 retaining screws.
There are also stampings on the carb flanges. LHS top flange stamp = 110 & 9 RHS top flange stamp = P8 & X2
The beast is still in the shop so I cannot currently take pics of these stamped in numbers.

Current jet / needle configuration as follows :-
MAIN JET = 115
PILOT JET = 17.5
NEEDLE JET = 5CN-15 -3rd
JET NEEDLE = ?????

I shall start an "ID my carb" thread with the above details and some pics so as the thread will at least be in the right forum.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

1973 Z1 ~1975 Z1 carbs have the flatter two-screw top caps.

The taller three-screw top caps came on the carbs introduced with the 1976 models.




Good Fortune!