TOPIC:

Hello everyone I hate to start off this way but I have a ton of questions. I have ridden bikes for the past fifteen years (all sport bikes) anywhere from 88 gsxr 1100 to my recent 05 Busa. I have always loved the old kz's and want to try to build one. I want one with that long low drag stance with a motor to back it up. How reliable/expensive are the original engines to build? Would it be extremely difficult to put a newer engine in a kz frame? Are all the kz's kickstart? How much frame re enforcing needs to be done when you start putting down some serious power? How in depth/reliable are the electrical systems of the old kz's? I think they have a point ignition system, how much work to update that? (Dyna ignitionpossibly) As you can tell this is a whole new world to me and just want to see whats ahead of me before I get started. Thanks for any advice/help you have to offer. Chris

Whew! Okay, I'll take the easy ones:) kickstarters went away with the 1981 year-model. Dyna systems are readily adaptable to older Z's and I think the points went away with the 1979 year-model.

cbibb wrote:

Hello everyone I hate to start off this way but I have a ton of questions. I have ridden bikes for the past fifteen years (all sport bikes) anywhere from 88 gsxr 1100 to my recent 05 Busa. I have always loved the old kz's and want to try to build one. I want one with that long low drag stance with a motor to back it up. How reliable/expensive are the original engines to build? Would it be extremely difficult to put a newer engine in a kz frame? Are all the kz's kickstart? How much frame re enforcing needs to be done when you start putting down some serious power? How in depth/reliable are the electrical systems of the old kz's? I think they have a point ignition system, how much work to update that? (Dyna ignitionpossibly) As you can tell this is a whole new world to me and just want to see whats ahead of me before I get started. Thanks for any advice/help you have to offer. Chris

these old motors are a pretty bullet proof platform to build from,the frames could use a good gusseting if you like laying into corners hard,just depends on how you wanna ride it.

I'll take a couple of the other questions.

The electrical systems for the 1980 (or so, depending upon the model) and after years have a pretty decent charging system.

The stock coils could use improvement, but there are plenty of aftermarket alterenatives (dyna, etc.) that drop right in. Actually the stock coils are fine so long as you upgrade your system with a relay that direct wires the coils to the battery, so that your input voltage is at the max. (See the wiredgeorge coil relay upgrade thread and article, elsewhere on this site.)

The electronic ignition systems on the 1980 and later models works fine, but some of us have seen an intermittant failure of the ignition pick-up coil as the bikes have aged. You can fine lots of old mechanisms to swap in, or use a Dyna or Boyer system.

The miscellaneous switches are decent, so long as you take them apart, clean and lube the contacts, and stretch any weak springs. Remember, they are 25 years old, and most have seen a fair amount of sitting out in the weather.

As for the engines, they are well know to be near bulletproof, even in modified form. It is amazing how few engine component failures I have seen mentioned on this site in over three years of regular viewing. This seems to be true even for the highly modified engines used by our racing members. Under regular street use, the engines have a very long life. I expect to hit 100,000 miles within the next year on my KZ750H (the four cylinder baby brother to the KZ1000).

It is my belief that if Kawasaki had a better marketing department they would have way out-sold Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha during this era, because the Kawasakis are a superior machine. Of course, we need only look at Apple and the PC manufacturers (backed by Microsoft software) to see that having a better product is no guarantee to success in the face of strong and agressive marketing. If it were, we would have been meeting the nicest people on a Kawasaki, and doing all of our word processing and web surfing on an Apple.

I think the KZ's are great bikes, but they are 20 - 30 yrs old now.
They'll always be a bit heavy, and kind of flexible in the corners. Still, the KZ1000s have tons of power, and some of the members have done some amazing things with them (check out the Gallery). I'd try to find a '77 or '78 KZ1000. No smog stuff, easy to strip/modify, and the motor's reliable. Problem will be the high mileage, but if your going thru the top and bottom, so what?

how fast do ya wanna go? this ol aircooled turbo z smoked a warmed up busa at the drags friday night!