Track Bike Project 1197.

Friend offered to sell me a Gpz1100 engine and parts. Loved Zed's use of the engine as A Stressed member. I understand that he used a frame he had on hand but if I were going to buy a frame what frame would be best? Strong, good for front end swap but light.

Also will a 900 crank work in a gpz?

Also why aren't there aftermarket connecting rods made for kz/gpz or are there?

I did actually specifically use a 750 Zephyr frame as someone told me it couldn't be done .
The later GPZ engine may have gone in without so much frame modification as they have shorter crankcases due to the absence of kickstart mechanism.
You can use earlier cranks and vice verse but the cases and barrels also need extensive modifications for the roller cam chain and not worth doing in my opinion.
The std kawasaki rods are well know for being extremely strong which is why there aren't any off the shelf aftermarket rods.
Some drag racers used to use Suzuki rods from the GS/GSX range ( cant remember which model ) as they had a slightly beefier 'H' section and were thicker around the little end but there's little proof they were any better.
When the Zed cranks fail it is usually at the crank pin due to twist and then only in high horsepower car tyre drag bikes.

In case you didn't know this but the Z1/KZ style cranks are all roller bearing. They are trued and balanced at the factory. I watched a video about a old H2 crank being checked for balance. There was nothing to be done to make it better. The 900 cranks are lighter than the 1000 ones. That was to compensate for more weight and displacement. In later years they changed the cam chain arrangement so that limits the swapping options.
Steve

Ya I read that the 900 cranks are six lbs lighter! I knew they used a different cam chain but didn't know the cases had to be changed. Is it true that the later gpz frames were thinner? I know the kzp bikes had a lot of stuff added to the frame.

The J model cranks are like the mkii or kz900 cranks in that they are porkchop counterweights; not to mention the hyvo cam chain never seem to fail on their own

900/1000 cranks are the same for the most parts. 900 cranks are lighter then the 1000. 900 and 1000 cranks all have 15 tooth center pins but the 1000 cranks have two different size ends where the alt. bolts on. I believe they are either 22mm or 25mm with the 25mm used on the later 1000 cranks. The Mark11 crank is a 1000 crank but has the 16 tooth center pin and 25mm end. Once you get into the j model and the gpz cranks, things change. J/GPZ cranks use a different type cam chain.....Earlier 900/1000 cranks use a roller chain and the J/GPZ cranks use a hy-vo type chain. The J/GPZ cranks also have shorter connecting rods. I believe the rods are .040 shorter the the 900/1000 crank/rods. The J model cranks use 17mm wrist pins like the 900/1000 rods but the GPZ cranks have 18mm wrist pins so all this has to be considered when mixing parts. You can use a 900/1000 crank in a J/GPZ motor but you need to use a .040 spacer under the cylinder to compensate for the longer rods on the 900/1000 rods. Also the cam chain type will need to be addressed if mixing different style crnaks in different model cases and heads. Racers have taken a J/GPZ crank which is lighter then a Z crank and installed a 16 tooth pin to use in a 900/1000 motor but it can be expensive to do. APE has a good explanation of this on their site...

Seems might as well stay with the same crank. Anyone have a lightened one? Was this useful? Also seems since no one jumped on the frame question that anything with added bracing will work.

If you are going to use the engine as a stressed member and remove the bottom frame rails, i would weld in as many of the motor mounts as you can and still remove the engine from the bottom. The usual bracing for these frames is a good idea as well.

Could I go bigger or is 1197 as big as one would want to go for a road racer? I'm sure heat would be an issue if it gets any bigger