How are ya?

Hi,

I bought a 1981 KZ750 LTD last fall and I'm fairly in love with it.  It's great but not 100% perfect, so I'm hoping to find some advice here on KZ Rider.
I mostly commute on this bike but I'd like to take some longer rides.  The previous owner replaced the sprocket for acceleration over highway performance but I'm thinking of switching it back.
My worst issues have been oil leaks, but that's to be expected from a 43 year old bike.

Thanks for reading!

 

Welcome from the UK, where in the world are you

The previous owner replaced the sprocket for acceleration over highway performance but I'm thinking of switching it back.

Howdy. Stock is a 630 chain w 13T Fr & 32T Rr sprockets.  It's usually recommended to go with 530 stuff >> 530 chain w 16T Fr & 40T Rr is close to the stock ratio, but you can lower the rpms with a 16/38 setup which might be the lowest you'd want to go. I do not know if a larger Fr sprocket can be used, but you'll want the largest that will fit to increase the life of the chain.  A limiting factor is sprocket availability, which tends to simply things. ha ha.

JT sprockets has ratio info on their site, so you can compare the various combos. 
JT >> www.jtsprockets.com/catalogue/ >> enter KZ750 in the Find Bikes box then choose your model. a ratio link is at the bottom of the page of whatever model is chosen.
 

I'm in the Bay Area, California.  There's lots of good roads out here and legal lane splitting.

Welcome.

I have the 1980 E1 version. Same motor just different styling. Fixing those oil leaks may not be a big deal.
Where the tachometer cable enters the head is notorious for leaks there are a couple of tiny gasket or o ring pieces in there which are cheap, easy to replace and were available from the dealer 2 years back and are probably still available.

Under the left side engine cover the secondary shaft plug/cover has an o ring which is another common leak point.  To pin down an oil leak clean area, dust with talcom powder and observe.

Pattzilla.com has parts diagrams which are very helpfull



 

Welcome aboard!