First bike I've owned

Hey everyone. I'm in the processing of purchasing a 1985 Kawasaki 1100 LTD. I'm not sure if it's the zn1100 or not. From what I understand the 1100 LTD was fairly the same for that year anyhow.

I was hoping someone could give me any and all information available about it. I'd eventually like to make it a bobber but for now I'd settle for getting it running and riding.

Right now what I'll need to do is clean the carbs, do a general tune up, get the tank cleaned, coated, and mounted, and air up the tires.

I wasn't sure what carb was stock on it or how the air box was set up. Is there a cheaper rebuild kit out there for the carbs? Is there a good aftermarket air flow setup?

Then the tank. The stock tank that it's coming with has a hole in it. The guy tried to weld it and just burned it through, creating a larger hole. I can't seem to find a stock tank online anywhere and I'm not sure what sort of aftermarket tank would fit. The seller mentioned something about the frame rail being odd on this particular bike so finding a plug and play tank would be difficult.

Something else I'd like to change in the future is the speedo. I'd like to go to a single speedo without the tach and fuel gauge. Is it an electric speedo? Not sure what sort of setup I should be looking to buy for it.

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

First things first. Get the bike up and running and learn to do all the maintenance. Carb rebuild, brake system teardown and clean up, new brake lines, new tires if what's on there now is more than 10 years old, valve adjust, etc. Once you have the bike fully sorted then consider mods.

zeus.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/Mikuni_...Rebuild_Tutorial.pdf

An 85 1100-Ltd should be a ZN1100-B2 Ltd Shaft. There was also an 84 B1 model.
Finding a replacement tank may take a while as there weren't very many of those made.

The ZN700 shares some parts with the ZN1100: Fr wheel. seat. fenders. meters. some other stuff such as the lighting.
The 700 frame has a similar shape, but the tank is different & i have no idea if it would work on your bike.

The ZN1100 has a mechanical drive speedometer & I believe it has an electronic tachometer. the tach is s a handy device.
For an aftermarket speedo, you probably need to get one listed as 2240@60mph or something like that.

I wouldn't turn it into a bobber. The ZN1100 is an unusual model & is quite unique.

Ok. So I got it to start with the choke on. but as soon as I push the choke back in, it dies. I can see that there's a vacuum line connecting cylinders 1&4 and another connecting cylinders 2&3. The one from cylinders 2&3 is plugged up with a machine bolt. Should that be connected to the vacuum system like the other one? Not entirely sure...

any suggestions on how to get her up and riding would be appreciated. thanks!

If it will only run on choke then the carbs need a very thourogh cleaning. The jets and their passageways are clogged.

Hi Dickieh219,
You may not want to hear this, but do the brakes first. Before you make it go, be very sure it will stop. From any likely velocity.

Next, invest in a service manual. It's the anti-drama resource most likely to make the project successful.


Good Ridin'
slmjim

slmjim+Z1BEBE wrote: Hi Dickieh219,
You may not want to hear this, but do the brakes first. Before you make it go, be very sure it will stop. From any likely velocity.

Next, invest in a service manual. It's the anti-drama resource most likely to make the project successful.

Yeah. I definitely made sure the brakes were good already. New pads and rotors were installed by the guy I bought it from not long before I bought it and it's all in good working order.

It also came with a book. I just can't seem to find what I'm looking for so I figured I'd ask from more experienced mechanics on here for a little advice and guidance.

Good Ridin'
slmjim

As baldy110 mentioned, the carburetors probably need to be cleaned. The choke is actually an enrichening circuit, so when you close the choke & the idle circuit is clogged, there isn't enough fuel to keep the engine running.

Vacuum ports. It sounds like the Kawasaki clean air system has been removed & there is a manual fuel valve. If so, you can cap the vacuum ports. use good automotive plugs.

Typically, #1 & #4 have vac lines with a Tee & are connected to the smog system, #2 is for a vac line to the vac petcock & #3 is capped.

Yeah. I took the carb back off to give it a thorough cleaning and rebuild. I want to say that the vacuum lines were reversed when they were connected. 1&4 were put together and capped off while 2&3 were run to the silencer in the front of the bike. Would that really even affect anything?

What do you mean by the silencer at the front of the bike?

If you have a stock style vacuum petcock it needs a vacuum source to properly operate. IMO, connecting the carb vacuum ports to each other is not a good solution, especially when capping them separately is so easy and cheap.

He probably means the clean air system silencer. Dickieh, the vacuum lines are connected to the air switch valve in front of the silencer. I would cap one or two of the other vacuum ports instead of having a hose between them, depending on whether or not you have a vacuum petcock which needs engine vacuum to operate properly.

Yes. I was talking about the air system silencer. Small tube right behind the front forks there. I don't think it hits anything before that though. It runs straight from the carbs to that silencer. Should there be something in the middle of that line?

And as far as the petcock issue, I'm currently using a plastic bottle while I re do the tank. It was very rusty so I'm gonna throw some nuts and bolts in there and shake them up, hit it with muriatic acid, and then hit it with a fresh coating of kreem using the 3 part system they have.