Found a 1982 KZ1000 ? Not sure what to do

Been looking here for the longest time for a KZ1000 here in chicago. Nothing but abused junks all summer. Went today to look at a 82' 1000 the guy was asking $2000 for. Went to look at the bike. He is not a biker and basically got the bike from a friend last year. He drives mopeds and is not mechanically inclined. What would you do....... Hewanted $2000 for it but.....

The bike wont stay running. Putting the choke on floods it and dont help it run at fast idle. It idles, sputters, then dies.

He way overfilled it with oil. He said the oil overflowed onto the left exhaust pipe so he drained the oil and someone told him about the oil level sight glass..... duh !

The clutch feels real funny. I unscrewed the adjuster all the way out but it still felt real sloppy like it wasnt being pulled in enough. I couldnt test ride it cause the bike was a pain to start and then sputtered and died before I could get it in gear.

The valve cover has a small leak and it seems damp with oil around the acorn nut on the cylinder below the valve cover.

The starter button it touchy, you have to play with it to get it to "hit".

The bike is really clean though. No rust, tires are great, all original except for new tires. The guy said he will take $1400 for it. He dont know why it wouldnt run. He said it ran perfect the other day. The tank was almost empty so I couldnt tell if the fuel gauge worked or not. Bike has 14,000 miles on it.

Should I let it go or do you think it might be worth a little time and money ?

I see this from people who don't know beans about bikes: they just don't know what it's worth. Sometimes you find a bargain but more often they think it's some rare and collectible masterpiece when it's really just a run of the mill bike.

Offer him a grand, since you're going to have to trailer it away from there and do some work on it before you can ever ride it. Something else: you're probably about to run out of riding season in Chicago. Prices should sink accordingly.

Were I in your shoes, I'd get one of those abused junkers for a few hundred bucks and spend all winter rebuilding it. That's me, though...

The following is really no advice at all, but here's .02 worth

There is one thing fishy: That it "ran perfect the other day..." Maybe just out of gas.

However, a really clean stock bike is hard to come by. If that is what you are looking for, then the mechanical issues should be able to be worked through. The mechanical things are easy to fix compared to a frame off resto job.

For 1400 bucks though, a running bike you could ride home is what I would expect. Even if it ran a little rough. So much of it is luck, though. It may be a great bike that just needs the carbs gone through and a clutch adjustment. More than likely, there will be a number of small things that come up. May need new fork seals, C/S seal, all the bearings will need to be looked at, etc. But those small things are part of owning a 25 year old bike.

If it were me, I would flash a grand in cash and roll the dice... The KZ 1000 really is a great bike and a clean stock one will get looks and complements everywhere you ride.

Good Luck!

Post edited by: andoman, at: 2007/09/23 23:59

Post edited by: andoman, at: 2007/09/24 00:00

Thanks for the replys........
I had the same idea about the bike, after work I might see if the guy takes $1000 for it. I looked at about 11 different 1000's this summer and choices have been really limited here around chicago. It does amaze me how people want a fortune for these bikes here but they have no clue how to take care of one. They leave it outside all winter, tinker with every nut and bolt, dont even know how much or what type of oil to put in them, and they want big money for them. When this bike was running there were no unusual knocks or oil burning. Worst case scenario I can see on this bike is the carbs need cleaning, starter going out or just the switch like he said, valve cover gasket. Hopefully it dont need a clutch assembly but for some reason the guy gave me the impression that he has no clue about the bike and might have been burning the clutch up from not knowing how to ride a bike. I will talk to him later and see what happens.

I agree, I would offer him $1000 keeping in mind that the bike will most likely need some work. A thousand though is a good price if the bike is complete and not butchered.
It is most likely the carbs that are causing the rough idle. Its funny that you mentioned the starter button and how you have to play with it. I have a 1981 KZ1000 that does the exact same thing, I will be replacing the switch over the winter.

You didn't mention how many miles this bike shows on the odometer.

The starter switch is probably just dirty. A shot of contact cleaner (or even WD40) will most likely fix that, but there are lots of other electrical contacts that might be suffering from the same problem.

If the clutch is toast it's not particularly difficult or expensive to replace, and you can even do the job without draining the oil if you do it on the side stand (though you'd want to change the oil and filter anyway, so you know it has the proper type and amount).

The carbs will most likely need to be gone through, and there's a good chance that the rubber carb boots might be cracked and leaking, same with the vacuum plugs/hoses, same with the petcock diaphragm.

You're also going to want to check valve clearance, spark plug condition and gap, plug wire and cap condition, clean and lube the ignition advancer, clean and lube all cables, clean out the braking systems and replace the fluid (maybe upgrade to stainless steel brake lines while you're at it), change the fork oil (and possibly the seals), clean, inspect, lube and possibly replace steering and swingarm bearings, etc etc etc.

Even if the bike has low miles and has always been kept in a garage it's whole life, some things will still go bad from old age...

14,000 miles she has. Guy is at work till 5. I will call him then and see what he says. Funny thing I did notice about the started button..... A few times I hit the start button the tach jumped like it was getting contact, could be the starter sticking also. Like mentioned though.... If he sells it to me for the $1000 I will go through the whole bike little by little like I did all my used bikes and cars. I did download the KZ1000 Shop manual from some veyr nice people so thats a really big help.

Post edited by: dannyg40, at: 2007/09/24 14:09

I bought my KZ1000 CSR last year not running for $1100. It was a gamble because the engine could have been seized. The battery was dead so I couldn't verify that the engine turned over. The guy was asking $1600 and I offered him $1000 he said no. I laid $1100 down on his garage bench and said final offer... Done deal.
With a little clean up (polishing aluminum and chrome) a tank cleaning and several carb removals to remove microscopic tank rust, I now have a pretty good runner. It sounds like with some work, you too will have the same luck.
Grant.

Went to talk to the guy.
$1300 is as low as he will go BUT... he is having his friend come over to look at the bike to see if its something minor and if he gets it running he said he will posibly keep it. The guy had the bike running last 3 weeks ago he said. It sat in the garage, he thought the oil was low when he went to start it 3 weeks ago so he added almost 2 extra quarts not knowing about the sight glass level indicator. He said when he went to start it oil was spitting out all over the left side and when he realized he overfilled it he drained it. When I saw the bike it did start but smoked from the oil that was on the left pipe where he was talking about. I didnt see no visible oil leaks when I ran the bike and it didnt smoke. The oil level was still a little high when I checked it out. He said he will call me later or tomorrow when he gets the verdict in from his friend. He said he noticed the funny feel in the clutch also. I adjusted it all the way out and there still feels like there is a lot of "slop" in the tension. I dont mind buying a bike from someone who knows about bikes a little and I have an idea whats wrong or what it did last time it ran, but when you geta person who dont know a spark plug from a tire, it worries me. People do a lot of damage trying this and trying that and turning screws they have no idea what they are doing. I will call the guy from work tomorrow and see what he says, I will probably just give him the $1300 for the bike if he still wants it cause I feel sorry for the bike. The KZ's are such great looking bikes and I hate to see another one go to waste. I might just have to rescue this bike from furthur damage. $1300 wont kill me..

The KZ1000 will be here tomorrow !
Im stuck at work till 5 today but the guy said he changed the plugs and the bike runs great. Starts right up and he really is thinking of keeping it. He was gonna bring it tonight but I have to be back at work at midnight. Anyway..... for the $1300 he will bring it to my house tomorrow with his buddy on the truck. I have no ride to him and he is a little intimidated riding it here since he drove it around his house a few times only, so he will bring it here with his buddy tomorrow. It will give me something to do going through the bike, keep me out of trouble with women and being bored in the winter, and I wont have a bike payment for 4 years. Thanks guys for the help. It should work out fine, I been wanting a bike all this year, and hopefully this will be a gem of a bike after all.
I will post some pictures Friday sometime.......