'78 KZ1000 makeover

Wow. As a 3 time Duc owner and now a KZ owner, this is looking amazing. I'm not sure you will have clearance with the pipes that close to the tire. If you want to keep that look, try some high 4-2 pipes that go high like they have on the new Monsters - just keep that SSS open to view.

Gentlemen, thank you for your input. The truth is that as soon as I strapped the Duc pipes on, I knew it wouldn't work right. It does look cool, but there is no good way I can get the tire to muffler clearance I need without making the tail look absurdly jacked up. That would in my opinion ruin the lines I have going. The Duc mufflers are 3.9" thick at the inlet and approx 3" at the outlet, and that is just too thick. So, back to plan A, make my own. It was a shame, because the Duc midpipe actually fits pretty good. You can't see it, but the exhaust is too wide to fit inside the stock tail too.
I had considered a CBR or ZX undertail muffler too, but they are shapped a little funky. I have a feeling they wouldn't fit under a stock Z1 tail either :dry:. At this point, I think my best bet is to go back to the drawing board and redisign a thin oval undertail muffler.

Make sure to leave plenty of room for heat insulation. That high mount exhaust that used to my on my zx-10r would roast my ass.

I'm on it! Since both titanium and carbon fiber are poor conductors of heat, a titanium muffler with a carbon heat shield should do the trick. If not, well then back to the drawing board!

total different gig here...but the more i look at Gregs (Aria59) V&H the more i think it is gonna be the route i go...new..low cost..perfect finish for the $ and the 20 degree up from the rearset is almost pure KZ perfection...

at first i was no fan and still wish i was not...it is just the more is see this simple expanding cone straight shot...the more it makes any designit is on seem well thought out..

OR?? how about a classic exhaust can/cut off- slapped in that tail...poking out in a outta usual place for that era can..people will be like hey..i know that shape

this bike has some interesting exhaust outlet locations.i have always loved the knuckledragger feel of this bike.



leon

it is with a heavy heart that i post this next pic .
i am only posting it to show adam one of the few bikes that i feel has a decent lookin undertail without having that "me too" feel.the fact that it is a suzuki and now my kz breathern now know that i actually have a suzuki picture truly disturbes me.
i only saved the pic for the swingarm :laugh: .



oops gotta go,just threw up in my mouth a little!:laugh:

leon

just noticed that i was the 666 post in this thread.
couldn't let that stand for long.

leon

now 667 i'm good with that .

leon

show a pic of the left side of the bike.

the rear shot looks like a vw beetle exhaust i saw the other day. also i was told that running pipes under the seat, heat shield or not will light a fire under your ass.

sorry joe that is the only picture i have of that bike.it does look like a long tapered megaphone.

leon

OOOh, that picture gives me a good idea for a future project. Yes, I have gone over to the dark side.

testarossa wrote:

OOOh, that picture gives me a good idea for a future project. Yes, I have gone over to the dark side.

Dreaming up plans for your 750 already?

Leon, thanks for sharing the pics, even the dastardly Zuk. Thanks for being the poster responsible for the mark of the beast :laugh: I am doing my best to get away from the played out "me too" looks, but it takes considerable artistic innovation to make up something new. Innovation and artistic abilities I can not easily or readily call to hand. I'll figure it out one way or another though.

Joe, I did not take a pic of the left side of the bike, but I will, just for you :kiss: I already took out the engine though to work on the subframe supports, so it's just the rolling chassis again. Yes, undertail exhausts carry the inherant drawback of added heat to the unerseat area; but it is not, in my estimation, out of my abilities to at least attempt to control it. Ducati, Honda and Kawasaki have been able to make it work as of late. It can't be that complicated....or can it?

Tri, I have always liked the look of the V&H exhaust....before I went with the swingarm swap I was thinking of getting a V&H exhaust every time I looked down at my cracked, leaking stock mufflers. Now, I'm not sure I can even run a standard system if I wanted too...and even if I could it would cover up my pretty naked right side. Trying to adapt the classic megaphone to the undertail is a worthy idea, one that I will explore in more

Joe, this is what I mean when I tell you every change can and does have unexpected consequences. Even when you can anticipate the cascading conflicts brough about by system changes, the full magnitude of the work and money required to make the system work again can still be difficult to quantify in advance.