KZ650 Sleeper Build (KZ1000 engine transplant)

sf4t7 wrote:

I would be using the same mounting holes, bolts, and spacers.  They will bolt to a bracket I'll make attached to the frame.  Similar to Scirocco's first picture (behind the side cover).  Or I may decide to leave well enough alone!
 

I have never owned a Z1 but I have ridden them quite a few times. I like the torque the engine makes over the 650/750 but the bikes in general sit too high and I feel "small" on them. Even if a 1000 is lowered it is still heavier and physically bigger than a 650. I am only 5' 5" tall so I am more at home on the smaller bikes, a few of my 650's have lowered suspension.

The 650 had always been my preferred street bike but the engine just lacks low end grunt compared to the bigger engines. Even my 831cc 650 is no match to a worked on 1000. The big heavy crank just seems to have the perfect stroke for bigger pistons (over 70mm) and the 650/750 will never be able to replicate that. I have already built bigger version 650/750 engines and the power output is not the same.

I had a spare 1000 engine so I thought this would be my chance to make a torque monster that fits me physically.

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Thanks for the explanation, it all makes sense to me: Seat height is a criterion! I`ve mostly thought, you all do that about shorter wheelbase and maybe better handling in curves, in combination with the stronger engine..
(But I rarely had to think about seatheigh, unless I was a bit too tall on some classic race bikes with my 6`1",...like on my former Bevel Ducati 900 MHR and 900 SS, where I always had to fold myself up a bit

And I completely agree with you: the Z1 engine is a great engine, as is the Z1000...Í´ve been riding those things since 1979 and still love them!Personally, I don't really like the 650cc engine with its plain bearings and the engine concept, I prefer roller bearing engines on my oldschool bikes
 
 

sf4t7 wrote:

And a big block motor in the smaller frame is what hot rods are all about!