'77 KZ 1000 A1, The Roadrunner

I installed a new dyno wire seal today (cut, solder and shrink wrap) plus Yamabond under and over the seal. I had to pry and cut out a giant wad of silly cone the previous owner thought would stop the leak on the rock brittle old seal.

BTW, never, ever use Yamabond UNDER a cam cover seal. They will blow out, as the surface under a cam cover seal should be clean and dry. Silicone should be used sparingly. I use RTV black so thin you can see through it on gasket surfaces and Yamabond only were rubber meets fiber or in this dyno seal application.

RedlineJunkie wrote:

Oddly, I never had the high speed wobble everyone complains about either and I never ran a damper. I always replaced the swing arm bushings with roller bearings, ran good fork oil and tires though too.

Yep, had both tank-slappers and wobble on my brand new KZ1000A1 in 1976 (had a Z1B before that with no issues)...haven't had either of my current KZ1000A1's up to speed yet to experience anything :laugh:

Damn! Never happened to me but I always ran roller bearings in the swingarm. ????

Got some turn signal stems from Z-1 enterprises and they look and work fine. I made my own grounding washers with tails. I also picked up some short grab handles from Z-1 which look great and bolted right up.

I did get a stainless engine bolt kit from Z-1. The heads are NOT show quality and some of the bolts were too long but I made do with some quality ss lockwashers from the local harware store. They still look much better than stock and are not near as soft as the old Japanese #3 Phillips they replaced. No more galling issues over time either.

Next on the list was the rear electrical and some rear fender spit shine. I had no troubles but someone was giving fat chicks a ride. It was just a matter of time until I had a major short as all three wires had bare spots in the same place under the fender. Again solder, shrink wrap and black tape.

coming along nice.sounds like youre making it a good reliable rider.

Thanks Camaroguy. Nothing really trick here, just a good, solid runner. Next winter I'll tear it down to the frame and re-paint/powdercoat, change to a 530 chain, possibly a 1075 kit, cams, carbs and a valve job, gs swingarm, lighter brake rotors, different rear shocks, Dyna ignition, coils and that's about it. Just a good, solid street runner.

Tore the rear hub down and to my suprise the hub dampers were in almost new condition. Popped the seal out, cleaned everything up and re-packed the bearing. Rear wheel bearings are fine. This bike is an odd mix of stellar and life threatening.

Edit: I suppose I should get that last bit of grease off the rear axle..

While in the process of checking out the chain i found this. What's wrong with this picture? One more disaster averted. You just can't be too careful with a used bike.

Battery box is painted and ready to go. The guy had the wrong battery in and no vent tube so the box was very badly corroded. I dipped it in a bucket of baking soda and water to nuetralize the acid and to sluff off the corrosion before painting.

I found grommets from a KZ750 twin at the boneyard that fit perfect. The guy just let me have them for free. I think they're sick of me, lol.

Help! There's a sea monster in my garage!

Oh yeah, here's a pic of the countershaft cover with the new seals installed. The shift fingers on the shift shaft are in perfect condition.

RedlineJunkie wrote:

While in the process of checking out the chain i found this. What's wrong with this picture? One more disaster averted. You just can't be too careful with a used bike.

One good reason to clean and lube your chain every 350 miles. Nice catch. Bike is coming along nicely.