resto of old z's

i was just bored and looking at sweet old 900 ltds when it hit me. when these guys resto these old bikes and they do this engine rebuilding do they go so far as to put all new parts in for all the pieces that commonly go bad? i mean like o rings and seals and such. im having such a hard time just getting bearing inserts for my connecting rods and camshaft journals that i cant imagine what itd be like to get parts for a 76 instead. or is it like the old camaros? is there such a devout following that reproduction of these old parts has begun. or do you just try to find what you can and put the big stuff that you can easily find still (exhaust, tires, chrome, etc). im just curious. id love to have a 900 ltd and i was on tom sudans site checking out the bikes and saw the resto ltd. let me know. -lucas

I don't know if it's a good thing or not, but mine has about 36,000 miles and the engine's never been overhauled. So at least I know that it's got the original parts. I've got all of the repair records from the PO (he bought it new), and since I've owned it, but it's mostly just chains, valve shims, tires, and tune ups.
If/when I need to do engine work, I'll make sure I have the receipts for the parts that go into it. As long as the p/n's match the parts list from Kaw, then I'd think (hope) that the motor would be considered "original".

good thinking. still wonder if theres a repro. parts community...oh wait, is that us?

cottoncandyninja wrote:

i was just bored and looking at sweet old 900 ltds when it hit me. when these guys resto these old bikes and they do this engine rebuilding do they go so far as to put all new parts in for all the pieces that commonly go bad? i mean like o rings and seals and such. im having such a hard time just getting bearing inserts for my connecting rods and camshaft journals that i cant imagine what itd be like to get parts for a 76 instead. or is it like the old camaros? is there such a devout following that reproduction of these old parts has begun. or do you just try to find what you can and put the big stuff that you can easily find still (exhaust, tires, chrome, etc). im just curious. id love to have a 900 ltd and i was on tom sudans site checking out the bikes and saw the resto ltd. let me know. -lucas

You are going to have a hard time finding bearing inserts for your camshaft journals because it never had them to begin with, it is kinda like trying to find freeze plugs for a VW bug:P . As to finding bearing inserts for your con rod bearings that should not be too difficult, Kawasaki produced the same basic engine from 1977 until 2003 with only minor changes.

These bikes have such a huge following and because of that there are plenty of parts available for them. www.z1enterprises.com has most anything you need. If not he can point you in the right direction.