csr street /weekend stripper project need advice

Hey guys picked up a great deal on a 81 csr 1000, i want to use for occasional street use and weekend strip, iam very new to kz csr and this type of bike in general, spent last couple years playing around with zx7's, iam looking for info on what i should do to make bike better perform, what are the basic and starting points? so far seems like 4-1 exhaust would help? i dont want to bore or get deep into motor work just yet, just customize a little and make track worthy, bike is stock going to ditch hwy bars windshield and sissy bar, want to change handle bars to drag bars,

any advice or info on whats best to mod for performance would be appreciated thank you

Start with basic maintenance to figure out what it needs

wireman wrote: Start with basic maintenance to figure out what it needs

+1. Getting it running as well as it should in stock form and use that as a baseline from which to measure improvements (or not) as you mod stuff. Here's the general specs for the '81 CSR (see link). 92 hp - pretty good power to start with..

www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Kawasaki_KZ1000M

i agree with you both, i have gone threw bike first now its time to start modding
i got the bike from a friend he owned it had it on road until last year he changed oil seals and stripped a cam cap bolt by mistake long story short he needed it out of shop i fixed it and only things wrong i can find is the front brake doesnt work theres fluid around res so iam assuming its leaking not holding a seal, and front end seems soft but iv'e never ridden any other crusiser only sport bikes so hard to be sure, as of now its running great in stock form,got the bike with a clymer manual which helped when doing timing etc, had it for a few rides and was very surprised by the handling i never imagined bikes like this could corner that well,

update.

tonight i took off the handle bars going to go with drag bars, i removed the hwy bars,sissy bar and windshield, i didnt like how much the signals stuck out in the rear so i cut the rods down to an inch for a better look for my liking. started planning maybe a seat mod or replacement, going to see if anything else is available for it or try and redo maybe just looks to bulky want to trim down somehow,

will post pic soon as i figure out how to get them off my phone

make sure rour handle bar controls will work with the drag bars

wireman wrote: make sure rour handle bar controls will work with the drag bars

Yes, and that the controls don't bang against the fuel tank when the handlebars are nearing full lock in either direction.

FWIW, am thinking most riders find drag bars less comfortable than other handlebar styles when traveling over longer distances.

Good Fortune!

I was thinking of putting on some drag bars on my 82 csr 1000 too. What other bars are similar for options? How about superbike bars. I don't like the clubman bars...they look like I would be leaning way forward to use them.

iam 6'3 and slim i found the stock bars very uncomfortable i mostly ride sportbikes so a forward leaning position feels right, i was using mx handle bars as a sort of test feel and just a straight piece of bar, if drag bars dont work ill go with the other style i see on some kz's that are sort of like the mx style that way there sure to clear tank, was wondering if anyone went with sportbike stuyle clip ons? but prob not with stock tripples the bar brackets are one piece,


near futur plans
-want to maybe mod or change signals on front going to start searching to see what other people did, i dont like bulky look of them on handle bars

-4-1 exhausts found a used one going to check out

-mod or change seat try and slim it down

-change rear swing arm, looking at a couple options i found used locally going to see what works best hoping to maybe gain 2-4 inches

after that deeper mods these are just scratching the surface of my modding needs lol

mod or change rear brake light and housing

heres pics of bike with accessories taken off, and of my cut down rear signals, might keep or swap out for another aftermarkets signal, trying to keep as much stuff original just modified or re done for now

sorry about pic quality its from my phone

i noticed theres certain models that are more desired then others, is there somewhere i can learn and see the differences, i have a 81 csr 1000 iam wanting to know what motor i have and whats good and bad, keep seeing threads about j motors? i guess my engine number would have this info?


thanks for any help