Z1 ent site still hard to use?

Jeff thank you for being patient and answering these questions

this is all good imo

good for you guys

good for customers

I know in this one click world , i get bored/in a hurry and re google at work for stuff...say like a car wash wand for work/ flower pot saucer tray,two orders this week......so if i'm on the site and struggle, i google and it takes me away from the first site that i struggled at ...

trianglelaguna wrote: Jeff thank you for being patient and answering these questions

this is all good imo

good for you guys

good for customers

I know in this one click world , i get bored/in a hurry and re google at work for stuff...say like a car wash wand for work/ flower pot saucer tray,two orders this week......so if i'm on the site and struggle, i google and it takes me away from the first site that i struggled at ...

I think this is good - very good... it gives us a chance to get inside the minds of our customers (although on second thoughts that's sounds a little too scary ).

Some of the issues raised have been there for a long time - and we will work to fix all the search terms we can.

As we have grown, the search terms become more and more crucial. We've expended from just 100's products when we started the old web site, to 5,000+ products now and I can see there being 10,000+ products within a few years.

KZJOE900 wrote: Jeff, here is an example I ran into when ordering a new front cam chain guide for my KZ900. And the site is still working this way.

If I search by "KZ900 front cam chain guide"; no hits
If I search by "front cam chain guide" instead; I get one hit, but it gives me the 15380-1048 guide for a KZ1000J model.
If I search by "cam chain guide"; I get 8 hits, and it contains the one I'm looking for.
If I search by "KZ900 cam chain guide"; I get one hit which is the part I was looking for.

I suppose in retrospect, I should have used "cam chain guide" from the beginning. Eight hits is not bad. But I have no idea how man hits to expect if I keep my search term broad. That is why I like to include "KZ900"

So I had to go down the tree by mode->engine and go through pages of engine parts to find it instead.

So it sounds like you search based on the description witch makes sense. But if that's the case, every description should have at least the model name as one of the tags. Here is the description from the part I wanted:

"PM72-065 - Cam Chain Guide Z1 KZ900/1000

- Equivalent to OEM: 12053-019, 12053-001 - Fits Kawasaki Z1 KZ900 KZ1000A1/A2/A2A/A3/A3A/A4, KZ1000B1-B4, KZ1000C1/C1A/C2/C3/C4/D1/D3, KZ1000E1/E2/G1 Genuine Kawasaki part. Do not use an Allen bolt to secure this, the head may catch on the sprocket. Use thread lock sealant to secure the bolt. "

Funny enough it contains KZ900, cam, chain and guide. I guess because it didn't contain the "front" (which was part of my search) it didn't find it. I use the term based on the parts manual.
One way to get around it is to have the search return, let say a max of 50 hits, that have at least one of the search terms in it. But order the list by relevance. So for example, the hit that has all five of my search terms (KZ900 front cam chain guide) would be at the top of the list and so on.

Obtained part number from kawasaki.com, searched it on Z1E, and Shazam.



Good Fortune!

Patton wrote:

KZJOE900 wrote: Jeff, here is an example I ran into when ordering a new front cam chain guide for my KZ900. And the site is still working this way.

If I search by "KZ900 front cam chain guide"; no hits
If I search by "front cam chain guide" instead; I get one hit, but it gives me the 15380-1048 guide for a KZ1000J model.
If I search by "cam chain guide"; I get 8 hits, and it contains the one I'm looking for.
If I search by "KZ900 cam chain guide"; I get one hit which is the part I was looking for.

I suppose in retrospect, I should have used "cam chain guide" from the beginning. Eight hits is not bad. But I have no idea how man hits to expect if I keep my search term broad. That is why I like to include "KZ900"

So I had to go down the tree by mode->engine and go through pages of engine parts to find it instead.

So it sounds like you search based on the description witch makes sense. But if that's the case, every description should have at least the model name as one of the tags. Here is the description from the part I wanted:

"PM72-065 - Cam Chain Guide Z1 KZ900/1000

- Equivalent to OEM: 12053-019, 12053-001 - Fits Kawasaki Z1 KZ900 KZ1000A1/A2/A2A/A3/A3A/A4, KZ1000B1-B4, KZ1000C1/C1A/C2/C3/C4/D1/D3, KZ1000E1/E2/G1 Genuine Kawasaki part. Do not use an Allen bolt to secure this, the head may catch on the sprocket. Use thread lock sealant to secure the bolt. "

Funny enough it contains KZ900, cam, chain and guide. I guess because it didn't contain the "front" (which was part of my search) it didn't find it. I use the term based on the parts manual.
One way to get around it is to have the search return, let say a max of 50 hits, that have at least one of the search terms in it. But order the list by relevance. So for example, the hit that has all five of my search terms (KZ900 front cam chain guide) would be at the top of the list and so on.

Obtained part number from kawasaki.com, searched it on Z1E, and Shazam.

Good Fortune!

Agreed, Patton. But then we are talking two websites and two searches. I don't mind doing that myself, but others would not find it practical. I think the system should be able to retrieve matches based on a list of relevance as priority. Just like you do when you search eBay or Google. In my example, by adding a word to the search term ("front") it eliminated any hits as opposed to just giving me the next best match of the search terms I used.

KZJOE900 wrote: Jeff, here is an example I ran into when ordering a new front cam chain guide for my KZ900. And the site is still working this way.

If I search by "KZ900 front cam chain guide"; no hits
If I search by "front cam chain guide" instead; I get one hit, but it gives me the 15380-1048 guide for a KZ1000J model.
If I search by "cam chain guide"; I get 8 hits, and it contains the one I'm looking for.
If I search by "KZ900 cam chain guide"; I get one hit which is the part I was looking for.

I suppose in retrospect, I should have used "cam chain guide" from the beginning. Eight hits is not bad. But I have no idea how man hits to expect if I keep my search term broad. That is why I like to include "KZ900"

So I had to go down the tree by mode->engine and go through pages of engine parts to find it instead.

So it sounds like you search based on the description witch makes sense. But if that's the case, every description should have at least the model name as one of the tags. Here is the description from the part I wanted:

"PM72-065 - Cam Chain Guide Z1 KZ900/1000

- Equivalent to OEM: 12053-019, 12053-001 - Fits Kawasaki Z1 KZ900 KZ1000A1/A2/A2A/A3/A3A/A4, KZ1000B1-B4, KZ1000C1/C1A/C2/C3/C4/D1/D3, KZ1000E1/E2/G1 Genuine Kawasaki part. Do not use an Allen bolt to secure this, the head may catch on the sprocket. Use thread lock sealant to secure the bolt. "

Funny enough it contains KZ900, cam, chain and guide. I guess because it didn't contain the "front" (which was part of my search) it didn't find it. I use the term based on the parts manual.
One way to get around it is to have the search return, let say a max of 50 hits, that have at least one of the search terms in it. But order the list by relevance. So for example, the hit that has all five of my search terms (KZ900 front cam chain guide) would be at the top of the list and so on.

We did tweak the product description to include 'front'. That specific part has been on our web site for 7+ years - and in that time we'd never thought about adding front to the search terms.... so every day brings something new to revise...

that last example is kinda what i meant by "i dont know how these sites get set up" it must be a drag to try and guess what ten different people call "side cover"--body panel--electrical panel cover--side panel--emblem cover--- i cant imagine the different names for something like that kawasaki plastic emblem that covers the brake splitter on the lower triple tree...which by the way is more parts "names" brake splitter/junction/triple tree...it must never end for someone trying to produce a fluid system to search for buyers.....


i always enter kz when i do a quick bike search in kawasaki on ebay....only to find later that there were some nice bikes not shown in the "kz" results....

I felt bad when i was building my MKII to have to call Rob @ Z1ent on every order ...he was always more than cool...i just felt dumb to need help finding stuff....bothersome by the 5-10th call/order

trianglelaguna wrote: ...I felt bad when i was building my MKII to have to call Rob @ Z1ent on every order ...he was always more than cool...i just felt dumb to need help finding stuff....bothersome by the 5-10th call/order

Calling isn't a problem... without callers Mike, Rob and Chris would be without a job...

It is a challenge figuring out what everyone calls an item. It's even worse when you add in the international flavor/flavour.

Fender is Mudguard, Wiring Loom for the harness... ugh... even between the OEM's the terms change - Carb Holders, Insulators, Hoses - all used for the rubber part between the carbs and the head.

Even Betty Crocker has a test kitchen. Consider yourselves Z1 Beta Testers. Do you get any money for this? No. But on your deathbed you will receive total consciousness. So you'll have that going for you. Which is nice!

Betty Crocker can't seem to find a back rear rearward posterior cam chain guide for her KZ900. :lol:

Good Fortune!

Jeff.Saunders wrote:

trianglelaguna wrote: ...I felt bad when i was building my MKII to have to call Rob @ Z1ent on every order ...he was always more than cool...i just felt dumb to need help finding stuff....bothersome by the 5-10th call/order

Calling isn't a problem... without callers Mike, Rob and Chris would be without a job...

It is a challenge figuring out what everyone calls an item. It's even worse when you add in the international flavor/flavour.

Fender is Mudguard, Wiring Loom for the harness... ugh... even between the OEM's the terms change - Carb Holders, Insulators, Hoses - all used for the rubber part between the carbs and the head.

Jeff,
I don't envy you or anyone who needs to try to put together a database that contains names of parts. Even Kawasaki uses different names for parts within the same parts diagram. Notice in the Kawasaki.com KZ650-C1 diagram below, the left carb holder (#15) is a "DUCT,ENGINE INTAKE" while the right carb holder (#21) is a "HOLDER,CARB,R.H", and I'll bet they use other names on other diagrams. It makes building the database more difficult than it should be, so it's great that you offer outstanding telephone service to fill in the gaps. Ed

Betty Crocker says she'll donate a freshly baked dozen of her extra nice total consciousnesses Beta test cookies to anyone who posts a pic of her KZ900's rear back rearward posterior cam chain guide. And if the part number is also included, will be a true baker's deathbed dozen.

But not to Ed, who she still blames for dumping her off the BSA after she helped him put together today's vast Limey parts names database. And she won't answer his calls.

Good Fortune!

:laugh: :laugh: