‘78 Kz1000 w/RC Turbo Kit

I’ve been keeping this bike out of the limelight as I’ve had a LOT going on in my garage. Time to fix that.

Little back story: I’ve wanted a turbo 900/1000 for years.  I bought pieces/parts of turbo kits so I could assemble my own complete kit but sold off all of it when I needed funds.  I saw this bike here in the fall of 2025.  I eventually called FastesrZ1, we talked a good while several times, and finally worked out a deal.  Only issue…the bike was in NYC and I’m in the Mid-West.  I had the bike picked up and payed for by a good friend (another member on here) in Oct 2025.  He stored it until my shipper could pick it up in late November.  Fast-forward to mid-February when it was finally delivered!

Fast-forward again until last week when I was able to finally get it onto my lift and give it a good once over.

I plan on documenting the rebuild on several forums via pictures as well as on YT with videos once I can get time to edit them appropriately.

On to the pics!


To be cont’d.

Later, Doug

 

Great looking project Doug, looking forward to seeing the progress.
Rich.

You've got my attention

I pulled the tank and tail section off.  The tail section on the bike was not the tail section in the sale pics.  FastestZ1 kept the tail and tail light and replaced it with one having OE paint.  I did discover an interesting tail-light bracket once I took off the tail.  The original turnsignal mounts were cut off and some 1/2-3/4” square tubing slid into place.  None of it was welded on, just bolted, which made removing it fairly easy.  I have already sourced the rear section from a scrap frame to attempt to repair/restore it back to original.




The oil had been drained already but I plan on lowering the bike a couple inches and didn’t like the idea of the stock drain plug and oil filter cover hanging below the fins of the oil pan.  Too easy to snag on a trailer ramp, speedbump etc., IMO.  I pulled the oil filter and found the spring and washer were missing.  Not a big deal but something to look for whenever going over a new-to-you purchase.



To be cont’d…

Later, Doug

Funny you say that, mine was also missing the spring and washer from the filter 

Yes, it’s always good to be "vigilant" when dealing with a "new" second-hand bike... you never know what surprises might be waiting for you.
(That pitch-black oil certainly says a lot about the bike's "maintenance history," and the missing spring and washer indicate that the filter wasn't able to function properly...)
Personally, I always find it a shame when previous owners have cut something off or modified the frame.

Nice project—Go ahead, I'll be following along!       

Hopefully that's the extent of missing stuff Doug!! 

After pulling the oil filter and looking into the filter cavity, I noticed a string of black silicon sealant hanging down. This prompted me to pull the oil pan for further inspection. It looks like the O-ring needed replaced but had sealant spread over it. There also were some non-metallic chunks in the bottom of the pan along with a single piece of metal which looks to be from a needle bearing cage. 
Pulling the pan also let me visually inspect the crankshaft and transmission.






To be cont’d…

Later, Doug

I took off the camshaft/valve cover as I wanted to check the valve clearances. I was told it had adjustable cam sprockets, but alas, it does not. On a good note, the cams look good and all of the intake clearances were within tolerance along with one exhaust valve. The other three exhausts are out but the shims are in the middle of the range so should be easy to adjust them back in.



While I was removing all the engine covers, I went and pulled the stator cover. Then the magnet and starter clutch. The end of the crank isn’t great looking. It has quite a few grooves from the stator magnet spinning on the nose as it’s a tapered press fit. 


I think I’ve decided to use the really nice Falicon-prepped welded crank I had set aside for my moth-balled dragbike project. Along with an FBG under-cut transmission, the engine internals should be strong enough to throw a decent amount of artificial atmosphere at them.

To be cont’d…

Later, Doug

Kept moving along with the inspection and clean-up process.   I took and gave the oil pan a nice bath in the parts washer after scraping most of the gasket off.  I took a larger magnet over the inside of the pan but no more metal pieces were found.  It did seem like both sides of the gasket had black RTV sealant them though.  I bought an oil pan gate so that will be added to the pan shortly.



The valve cover seems to be powder-coated and had two vents installed although one had a short piece of tubing that was plugged.




Lastly,  I looked at the fork and noticed a vehicle inspection sticker from March 2013.  That gives a rough idea of how long it’s been sitting. 


To be cont’d…

Later, Doug

2 cam cover vents seems excessive?? Watching your progress, should be a beast!!