1980 KZ1000 C? identification

Hey Folks,

First off, sorry for the ignorance. I am a newbie to the KZ's. If you start reading my post and think, "What a pain in the A$$, yor're right, don't bother reading any further.

I just picked up a 1980 KZ1000 police bike. The motor has 1015 stamped on it, the previous owner refered to it as a "C" model and also mentioned "J" model.
I've been searching around the forum a bit to get a better handle on what I have, and what the differences are, and am a bit confused.

If it is a C Model, what is the difference between C1, C2 etc...

What is a J Model.

Now I am seeing some mention of MKII, or something like that.

If anyone can point me to where I can find information on what I have and what it all means, I would greatly appreciate it. In the mean time I will continue poking around the forum to see what I can find. I'm sure it is a topic that has come up many times before.

Thanks, and thanks for the great forum.

Are you talking about the bike model or the engine model? Not sure about the engine (J model?) but your bike would be a KZ1000P for police.

Well, I'm not sure what I'm talking about, that's the problem. evidently there are several different combinations of frame / engine.
You said that i have a KZ1000P. I was told in another thread that the "P" is for 1982 and up, but the "C" was produced from 1978-1981 and has the 1015cc engine like I have.
I have not found any difinative invormation on the model differences etc... which is what I am looking for.
Thanks,

Hello Keith:

To end any ambiguity on the identity of your new acquisition, look at the main stem of the triple tree and you'll see a white VIN sticker...on it will be the frame VIN. Depending on which VIN series you have, either the 6th or 7th digit will be a 'C'...if so, then you have a Police C model. To verify which year model you have, go to www.zedder.com and click on 'bike info', scroll down to 1000cc section and start looking for where your VIN's fall into sequence for the C1-C4 Police bikes. You can also face the bike and on the lower left side of the cylinder just above the case will be an inset section with 1.015L embossed. This means the motor is definitely from the 1015cc series C bike. If it reads 998cc, then you have a P motor.

14Keith wrote:

I was told in another thread that the "P" is for 1982 and up, but the "C" was produced from 1978-1981 and has the 1015cc engine like I have.
I have not found any difinative invormation on the model differences etc... which is what I am looking for.
Thanks,

You were told correctly.

The 998cc motor (1981 was the first year for all but the cop bikes, cop bikes got it beginning in 1982) is called by many the "J" motor.
"J" is not an official description, it's a slang name based on the fact that the motor was in the KZ1000J Standard model bike.

There was also a KZ1000M and a KZ1000K, but the M and the K were also used as models for the 750 twin, so you couldn't very well call it an M or K motor

That's all I have to add to what Mcdroid said. Just trivia.

Oh yeah, differences.

Pretty much everything is different between the C and the P models, very few parts will interchange. To list all the differences would take all day.

The number following the C is the model year.
C1 1978
C2 1979
C3 1980
C4 1981

Very little difference between the four C models, you can check kawasaki.com parts diagrams to see what parts interchange.

Hello, Keith, and WELCOME to KZr!

For a good summary of the Differences between the motors:

Click > www.aperaceparts.com/tech/techkz1000.html

Good Fortune!

That is great information.

The motor does have the 1.015L stamped on it.

The vin code I got off of the tripple tree was KZTOOC-502904. I googled that and came up with the discription below:

1980 Kawasaki KZ1000-C3 POLICE
KZTOOC-502517 - 503513 KZTOOAE090731 -111503
Japan- Police White
USA

Pretty cool.

Thanks for helping me identify what I have, the first step in restoring/modifying it.

Thank you sir for the welcome.

The information in the link you provided is priceless. I have saved it to my favorites for future referance.

Thanks for sharing the information. Great forum!