TOPIC:

You had mentioned supporting the carbs if you went to pods, my vote is yes. I went with pods last year and struggled with them staying put. Once i had to reach down while on the highway and push them back in, not cool. I am just about done with my support brace for the carbs and will post the process tomorrow.
-Jon

Ok, I'd really like to see that. I have not supported them and I have had no trouble at all so far.

Without carb weight being supported on the intake side, there's more stress on the carb holders, which imo shortens their service life.

Good Fortune!

K, maybe this isnt the best place for this question, if I dont get an answer, I will move it. Anyway, the bikes ride height and suspension are totally stock and I have not dropped the front or anything. My problem is I get crazy head shake. At any speed, if I let go of the bars, and there is ANY disturbance a head shake starts that turns especially violent, very quickly. Why would this happen on a stock set up? Should I get a steering damper? Is there another issue?

-Josh

sweetbro wrote: K, maybe this isnt the best place for this question, if I dont get an answer, I will move it. Anyway, the bikes ride height and suspension are totally stock and I have not dropped the front or anything. My problem is I get crazy head shake. At any speed, if I let go of the bars, and there is ANY disturbance a head shake starts that turns especially violent, very quickly. Why would this happen on a stock set up? Should I get a steering damper? Is there another issue?

-Josh

These links point to some helpful info about speed wobble causes and prevention.

www.kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/500748-r...-turns-normal#500748

www.kzrider.com/forum/25-racing/500376-r...e-ready-again#500376

www.kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/496196-r...-turns-normal#496196

Could also do a forum search for speed wobble.




Good Fortune!

I copied this from a post from Jeff Saunders (owner of Z1 enterprises)

Motorcycle Wobble Causes

There's a LONG list of potential area that can cause this.

These are not in any particular order

Wheel bearings

Steering bearings - repack grease, check tightness

Swing arm bushings/sleeves/bearings - replace if worn, repack grease

Fork springs aging - check spring length

Unequal fork oil - if seals leak, then your damping can be ineffective

Rear shocks aging, damper leaks - if you have oil leaking from the seals, the damping is toast.

Worn Tires/Mismatched tires/tire pressures/wrong size tires
Wheel alignment - don't trust the chain adjusters - I visually align the wheels.

Bent rims/broken spokes - get the wheels off the ground and spin them - check for runout / damage

Front disc warped - check for runout

Steering & swing arm bearings are very common problems, but so are tire issues (pressure/mismatch) and wheel alignment.


Also adding a front fork brace will add in stiffness, especially if no front fender is being used. www.fastfromthepast.com has a nice selection of braces.

Did I read correctly that you are looking for yet another seat? I was looking at using that one you have on there now but without the springs. Any reason you don't like it?

I am going to check out a lot of those causes for the head shake. Its not an issue as long as you keep both hands on the bars, so I dont need to fix it tonight, but I will keep it updated as it goes.

As for the seat, I want something like the bike in this article. CB750
There is nothing wrong with the seat, I just want to have a 2 person seat.

-Josh

Cool beans. That CB seat looks pimp.

Yea, now all I have to do is mod up the frame so that seat will work.

Ok, so funny thing, I was looking to order new shocks. I went out to measure mine and forgot about sag and all that. I decided to lift the back of the bike to see how much sag the bike had sitting. Well, none. Ha. With all the cop stuff stripped off, it is much lighter. I ordered new shocks. with lighter springs (I think). That should help. The shocks are 10mm shorter too. I'm hoping some of this will help with the head shake. We will see.

I did some real work on the bike today tho, I cut the back of the frame a little cleaner and made the hoop for the back where the long seat will go. Its funny, I still have the front crash bar from the bike, so I cut that up to extend the frame



I also removed the radio box support, then beat it flat and welded it back in, as a support for the seat that is coming. I have new lights you can see as well.





I'm going to cut and lower that rear seat mount as well, just didnt have time today. I trimmed the rear fender too, cause I want to keep it for a while to protect the electrical. I will eventually make/get something cleaner, but it still works for now.

Quick question about my shifter. The actual shift rod that sticks out of the motor and thru the front sprocket cover is sloppy. Like, when I shift there is a lot of back and forth play. and I dont mean twisting play, but the rod actually going backward and forward. Is there supposed to be a bushing in the sprocket cover?

Any ideas?

Lots of good info on kawasaki.com, including parts diagrams, part names, part numbers, models sharing same part, availability, etc. Here's a link for help with navigating the site and finding information.
kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&...w&catid=13&id=376734

Good Fortune!

sweetbro wrote: Quick question about my shifter. The actual shift rod that sticks out of the motor and thru the front sprocket cover is sloppy. Like, when I shift there is a lot of back and forth play. and I dont mean twisting play, but the rod actually going backward and forward. Is there supposed to be a bushing in the sprocket cover?

Any ideas?

There is no bushing on the cover but the fit should be tight. There might be a little play but nothing you should notice by the old eyeball calipers. Check and make sure it's not the linkage bushings, bolts, lever that is moving causing an illusion.

Hahahahaha, "eyeball calipers" Well, you can see if for sure. See? I drew the sharpie line on there. It isnt tons of movement, but definitely noticeable. The bike has over 80000 miles, so perhaps the cover is just work from use?

I meant no insult, I use those calipers all the time. hehe
On second look on my 81 there seems to be an oil seal, not a bushing per say but something. Didn't clean it too well just a quick look. You might want to check out a parts list for yours. Shouldn't be too much money.

yep there is an oil seal.... #11

Well there you go. I'm gonna have to grab one of those.

In no particular order ;

Reasons for KZ1000 Police head shake.

Ever wonder why the radio box is on a pivot with a shock absorber ?
A suit brought by the single largest purchaser of the KZ1000 Police model , The Calafornicating Highway Patrol ,an injured Trooper and the insurance underwriter et all against Kawasaki Heavy Industries proclaimed the bike to be inherently unstable . Although settled out of court the result was that since CHP motor officers are instructed to ride straight up in the seat a concession had to be made to stabilize the bike in turns . This gave us the dubious advantage of the pivoting weight of the radio platform .

The GPZ 1100 uses a 10mm id shell bearing in the counter shaft cover but by the time you decide to mod your KZ cover the shift shaft is also worn so order it up too. While you're in the transmission sub cover replacing the shift shaft replace all the springs . It's just good preventative maintenance .

Every one of the 1000 Police models I have seen , owned , serviced has been bent in some way , shape or form .
subtle bends in the fork tubes
multiple bends and tweeks in the steering stem , upper and lower trees and axle .
steering head
back bone
down tubes
swing arm
swing arm pivot points
swing arm through bolt
rear axle
and in at least two cases a parallelogram or lozenged frame that would straighten with motor mount torque but would eventually loosen with vibration and time .

All Balls racing for steering head bearings . Don't be tempted to put a zerk fitting in the steering head .In the long run it gives a false sense of security and ease of maintenance . The bearings need to be removed , cleaned , inspected , repacked and correctly preloaded at least every time the front forks are serviced .
The front forks need to be serviced regularly . Complete disassembly , cleaning and inspection .
local bearing house for wheel bearings paying attention to the front and rear internal wheel spacers to eliminate side loading of the bearings
The shell bearings for the swing arm are dead after as little as 15k miles and are unfortunately a dealer part .
The 630 chain in conjunction with worn swing arm bearings will oscillate and resonate at certain rpm even when new . If the chain has tight and loose spots in it as well I'm sure you can do the elementary geometry.
A steering dampener may not sound like a bad idea on the surface but on this bike all it does is cover up damage and lapses in service , maintenance and repair .
I have in 27 years of owning and riding the 1000 Police found it to be all but unconditionally stable with the exception of the above mentioned faults .

Look these bikes are abused , daily , at the hands of skilled riders no doubt but abused none the less . They are used in training , off road excursions (planned and unplanned) , daily encounters with curbs , bumpers of witless cage drivers and the occasional pedestrian . They take a beating . When they have filtered down into private hands they are released from service with all their bruises , bends , brakes and road wear . They take an exacting if not practiced eye to find all their sins and even then the gremlins can not and will not ever be completely eradicated from them . All you can do is manage the damage .

~kop

Well there ya go! I do agree that these bikes get really beat on. I just didnt know if there was a particular fixable issue. A rod style stearing damper should work as well, yea? Imay get one and just fab up some brackets. Not really a big deal tho, I just hold on

I have a cosmetic question, I have a 79KZ650 D and the forks have rubber covers on top of the lower legs. This bike had the big accordian covers. Can I get covers like on the 79 for this bike?

Also, I got the rear shocks, eBay specials. They are not Ohlins but a HUGE improvement over the OE shocks. The stock stuff had tons of miles and was set for a lot more weight. These feel soooooooo much better. The bike actually goes up and down in the back now! What a novel idea.