1979 KZ 1000ST Back from the shop

So I had to get an out of province inspection on my 1000ST, it needed some minor work and now it runs grreat.

A few questions, anyone else have one of these monsters?

Any tricks running them, known problems, do they run an electric ignition or points and other interesting info?

I was wondering if this bike has any know handeling characteristics? It is heavy and solid on the highway.

How does the horse power, top speed, torque compare?

It's been discussed quite a bit here before. The motorcycle is the heaviest duty Kawasaki ever. Look at the forks and compare to other KZs you'll note the legs are much bigger diameter, the frame is heavier. Everything on it is first class in both style and function. Think about replacing the cheapo ball bearings in the steering stem with tapered? Well, they already are on the ST, but not the chain drive models. Being a shaft it had slight power disadvantage to the chain drive, plus being heavier, it won't outperform a chain drive model, but it's no slouch either. I'm too lazy to look through magazines right now, but I think the difference was only like 3 or 4mph top speed and maybe 1/4 second in the quarter mile between the 79ST and 79MKII in performance. The Cycle World test said the ST was smoother running with less vibration, but they still liked the MKII better. The seat and tank on a ST is wider than the MKII and bothered some riders. Both are tanks and solid as a rock driving down the interstate and to me the ST is better, but I've only ridden my ST like 100 miles in the 8 yrs I've had it vs 80,000 on the MKII so over time it's hard to say. Both use electronic ignition.

I have a 79 st also its the first street bike ive ever had, i love it, its easy to handle and was very easy to get used to and runs great, all around a good bike in my opinion