Major engine concern (and new member introduction)

Your engine is foreign to me but I'm familiar with Z1/KZ1000 engines, which are similar.  There are no thrust bearings on a Z1 crank.  They rest on ball bearings, which means there should be no side thrust.  Cases don't wear as far as I've seen.  If your crank is wandering it probably means the rods have excessive clearance, and/or the pistons are wearing your cylinders.  How is your compression?

I honestly cant remember if i had ever done a compression test on this motor. since you reminded me, I did a cold check just now and the numbers are abysmal. 60-70ish.
Ill be firing the bike up in a bit and ill do it again after a thorough warmup.
I often check compression on motors cold and hot, and have never seen such a low set of cold numbers on a motor that runs this good. I imagine the hot numbers gotta be a lot better but I will find out soon enough! Crazy to think if the compression really is that far down, how much faster this thing would be with good numbers. EFI really woke this thing up and I cant tell the engine isnt perfectly healthy by how nicely it runs.

So based on what Asphault and Mikaw showed me, is the takeway here that I dont need to worry about this thing grenading? has this ever stopped one from even ruinning? I do ride it pretty hard haha.

Some crank float is normal and can't be avoided with these needle roller cranks.
All my big Zeds have it.
My tuned Z1R has over a millimeter of float and has been running daily as my main transport for the last 25 years..
The afore mentioned bearing location pin damage is only caused by the bike having a whack on the side (usually the ignition) and the crank getting shunted sideways.

My tuned Z1R has over a millimeter of float and has been running daily as my main transport for the last 25 years..

That definitely does help put my mind at ease. But considering my engine seems to have more than double that amount (over 4x the FSM 'service' allowance!) I still worry about how close I could be to an uncrossable line. The kinda line where the engine scatters at 6k rpm and 85 mph and the resulting debris causes a rear wheel lockup at high speed.

Evilbay has several cases set for less than $200 shipped.  Buy a set, get them vapor blasted set the new next to the old and swap over parts. Done!

RGBGuy wrote:

My tuned Z1R has over a millimeter of float and has been running daily as my main transport for the last 25 years..

That definitely does help put my mind at ease. But considering my engine seems to have more than double that amount (over 4x the FSM 'service' allowance!) I still worry about how close I could be to an uncrossable line. The kinda line where the engine scatters at 6k rpm and 85 mph and the resulting debris causes a rear wheel lockup at high speed.

That's not going to happen almost no matter what .
I've been screaming my motor to the max 11000 rpm and over 165 mph on and off since i built it in 1998.
If you are really concerned you should split the cases and check the crankcase for damage of the bearing saddles around the location dowels and if all is ok there then have the crank stripped, indexed and welded ( which should be done anyway for performance builds) and have the thrust bearing replaced if out of spec.
The stock thrust bearing can also be replaced with a radial needle bearing but that is usually only reserved for full on drag motors.
 

RGBGuy wrote:

blipco wrote:

66,000 miles but how much time idling? Or how many quick start-ups and go?
How did you get the foot pegs on there?




 

Exactly. Police use aint easy on em, I'm sure.
And in response to your inquiry about the pegs, I dont remember what model bike they had come off, but I had too die grinder one of the holes out a bit sideways to get em to bolt up to existing spots on the frame. It was and still is a temporary thing, although they are pretty sturdy. I have the front/rear peg set with the silver mount plate thing that i willl make work eventually. Would you like me to contact you after i do that and I can send you these old ones? Cover shipping and they can be yours. Ghetto looking, but they work.

—->>> RGBGuy, thank you for your offer but I was just curious. My brother now has my 2002 KZP. While I owned it I had considered removing the floorboards and installing foot pegs, which I prefer. My brother likes the floorboards but it’s good to know there’s an easy fix. Thanks again.