1978 Kz1000 Father/Son Project

Pei_1000 wrote:

larrycavan wrote:

That looks like an old Martek electronic ignition system in the engine. I had one of those a long time ago.

Some tips"

When you tear the engine down, make yourself some cardboard bolt patterns for all the fasteners. It will make your life much easier later on

Do it the right way. Split the cases, replace the cam chain and all the idlers & rubber blocks. Liska idlers are less expensive than OEM idlers.


Order a full gasket kit. However, it won't come with certain things. You'll need transmission cover seals, kickstart cover seal and ignition cover seals. Z1 Enterprises has them.

Also all of the valve seals I've seen with gasket kits are poor quality. Upgrade those.

Other than that, if you follow the service manual & pay attention, it's a straight forward rebuild process.

Enjoy time with you dad

Thanks for the advice and the knowledge on the ignition.There appears to be very few miles on the bike( compression tests are around 130) not a very long riding season up here in Canada. We are actually already using the cardboard bolt patterns and they have saved alot of headaches already.And a quick question, we noticed on Z1 that there are Cam chain tensioners with metal sprockets instead of rubber rollers, would these be worth the extra $15? www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=2172
Thanks
Mark
*Edit and thanks for those part #s they'll make finding the right parts much easier

That is a Liska unit. It's the only one I don't use in a street motor. I like the rubber wheel oem unit better because it cuts down on chain noise. I use Liska for all the other idler sprockets though.

It's a personal call on things like that. For a race motor, I would use it.

Just alittle update on the project, The head is now at the engine shop getting completley redone and the frame has been slowly cleaned up. There might be a new member to the family soon too, I'm currently looking at a 1977 Kz650 for $1800 obo, i'll keep yas posted!

welcome to z-jungle!
looks like a 78a2 with a lot of ltd parts,nice bike!

That's weird. I was gonna bump this thread earlier today for an update, but got busy at work and forgot about it. Got any progress pics yet?

We don't actually have much progress to report at the moment, canadian winter has hit pretty hard and my dad and i have both been fairly busy at work,my highschool exams didn't help much either. The rest of the parts have been ordered and are here or on the way. I'm actually looking for my own Kz at the moment so i'm gonna have to get my dad to get the 1000 together and ready for the road. Need to make room for my 650 haha

Hey everybody, not much has been done since the last update, i've started my Basic Training so im not around much anymore to update the thread.
The rear tire has been taken off and we started working on the rear caliber which has seen better days. It looks like someone tryed to pry the piston out and ended up destroying it in the process, so were now looking for new pistons or a new caliber. Does anyone know of a good alternative to the original calibre that fits without alot of modifications?

P.S I'm just aloud back into the house after my last purchase (See last picture)

A picture of how it sits right now

The Pistons



And my newest purchase, a 1987(Blue)and 1988(Black)Honda Hurricane 600

ive probably got a spare piston if the rest of caliper is still good

Another update guys, we got the swingarm and all the extra brackets off the frame and its now ready for sandblasting.

wireman wrote: ive probably got a spare piston if the rest of caliper is still good

Thanks for the offer, but we believe we've found a source for some new pistons

Hey everybody
Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been away with the military for the past few months with no access to a computer. :ohmy:
Since my last post the frame was sandblasted and painted, the engine is getting finished up, and there's only a few more parts needed before she starts getting put back together!

Here's some pics of the frame as it sits


Quite the difference!

looks good