TOPIC:

JWKZ750 wrote: Ive always wondered, whats the logic behind extending the swingarm?

short wheelbase = wheelie machine

A long[er] wheelbase allows the rider to put more power to the ground without flipping over backwards.

Basically it puts the heavy parts (rider, engine) farther away from the pivot point, which is where the rear tire contacts the pavement.

Nerdy wrote:

JWKZ750 wrote: Ive always wondered, whats the logic behind extending the swingarm?

short wheelbase = wheelie machine

A long[er] wheelbase allows the rider to put more power to the ground without flipping over backwards.

Basically it puts the heavy parts (rider, engine) farther away from the pivot point, which is where the rear tire contacts the pavement.

Ah. I often wondered as I thought the longer swingarm looked a bit weird, and prefer stock.

Never have done a wheelie. Probably wont either.

Helps stability at high speeds. Cuts down tight handling though. It's a trade off.
Steve

SWest wrote: Helps stability at high speeds. Cuts down tight handling though. It's a trade off.
Steve

Good to know. As you may have seen in another post, Im stunned by my KZ650. In the week Ive had it, Ive discovered it to be amazing. However my fave bike is my 77 Yamaha XS650. Its like a dirt bike. Amazing.

Not new but a fairly recent pic

Casey H wrote: Not new but a fairly recent pic

This pic makes me very unhappy....that I dont have a 900

Hi all. New member here with a 1977 KZ1000A1 that I've owned since 1979. It was stored for 30 years while life happened, but I put it back on the road last year. It's been a blast riding again! Quick question for the KZ gurus...was this black on black model only available in Canada? I bought it in Vancouver and it was/is stock. Besides the black paint with gold striping, it also has black levers and shocks. I never see a similar one in pictures and searching for black levers that match hasn't returned any results.

Hey BCScott, double check production date on your bike. It has the striping of a 78 KZ1000A2. Tom,

I just checked and it's 2 / 77. I bought it 2 years old in 1979, so I wonder if the previous owner had it done. I see what you mean, though. My 40 year old service manual has thinner, straighter stripes on the tank.

That is a beauty BC, I know what you mean about life getting in the way.
I'm sure that you are very happy you didn't get rid of it.

I also think it is a A2A because that is how mine came, you should see on the frame sticker that it was made in Lincoln Nebraska
and the side covers and tail should say made in the U.S.A I'm told by a reliable source that it was painted here, a lot of US stuff went into it, I'm not sure but I have also heard that the frame may have been made here as well.

Back then the shops were customizing the brand new bikes with all kinds of things and we were too custom tanks exhausts, longer fork tubes, sissy bars, chrome was in
The shocks were crap from the start ,

I just looked at your bike again and it has a 77 front brake set up? now I am confused.
Very clean machine, ride the heck out of it, enjoy
and be careful where you park it

Definitely a '77 A1, I think. The yoke plate has the 2/77 build date and on the frame beside the plate it's stamped Made in Japan. It's been registered in BC as a 1977 since new. I'm wondering if the dealer might have "customised" it a bit before the original sale. I had the top end done before putting it back on the road (pistons/rings/honed the barrels/valve guides) and the shop owner in Calgary swore to me that he was a previous owner, in the 80's. I assured him I'd owned it since '79. He told me he had one identical, so I wonder if someone "tweaked" a few out of the crate.

Very recent photos of my Kz1000 with a couple of its little friends.