Transmissions...

What years and models did the MK11 trans. come in? I know the 1980 LTD had it and heard the shaft-drive bikes had a basically MK11 trans once you changed out the output shaft. Same gears...just use the shaft output shaft. Are all the 80 model bikes using the MK11 trans or were there two different trans used in different models in the same year. They used different cranks didn't they?

i was always told the mk11 transmission and the kz tranny's where the same they didn't change until the j model came out . i could be wrong .

i was just informed by Kraz1 that the mk11 gears are a bit thicker therefore heavier duty then kz gears. this was something i wasn't aware of good to know thanks for straighting me out

The Z1 trans are the weakest of them. At the bottom of the gears in the valley, they have a v shape and easier to start a crack there although highly unlikely. The 1000 trans. were shaped in more like a u in the valley so were stronger and less apt to form any stress cracks. Otherwise not much different. The MK11 were as the 1000 trans but second gear was about .030 thicker. Know guys who run a MK11 back-cut trans in S/C bikes without any problems. Second gear is the weak link and this helps a lot. Some have told me that a hardened 2nd gear isn't necessary with a MK11 because of the heftier 2nd gear. I just wasn't sure if just certain models used the MK11 trans or all models did. I knew the 79-80 LTD's did and all MK11's obviously but wasn't sure about any of the regular KZ1000's. Have been told that Kawasaki started using MK11 parts mid-78 on but was spotty on which model got which. Guess Kawasaki used up all the regular KZ1000 stuff and then started using MK11 parts. Just depended on when this happened and when they built that particular bike which parts you got in 1978. Have a MK11 crank in your bike...then you should have the good trans. and the good stuff. They used these up into 1981 I think on the KZ1000's that aren't j-model. The police bikes had the MK11 stuff as they were considered heavy duty and got the parts in 78.

I always thought the transmissions were the same too. Look at Kawasaki parts lists and all the gears on the A2 are the exact same part number as the MKII. So I think we have a slight difference of opinion. I looked at 2 sources, the modern CD parts list and also the old microfiche cards from 3/82. All gears have the exact same part number unless I'm losing my mind which is entirely possible.

In kz900 and kz1000 mk2 transmission most of parts are the same. Only output shaft and 2 washers have diferent part number. Maybe becouse kz900 transmission have this little pin behind sprocket with part no. 92043-109 and mk2 transmission havent got that part. I was searching for this diferences becouse output shaft of my kz900 also havent got this pin so I belive that someone, long ago, change my transmission from some other kawasaki bike.
In fact, I belive that my transmission is from mk2, and clutch assembly is from kz1000-e2 or shaft model

kz900 transmission

mk2 transmission

Ok sorry to bring up an old thread but is the shaft drive basket stronger and it has 6 spring bolts..... do other mkii or just the shaft,,, is that better? I have a shaft tranny out and also the tranny from a 900 and i can testify there is a difference in thickness of the gerars...was wondering if this is just a shaft thing or a mkii thing.

My understanding is that the shaft transmissions are the same as the MK11 trans. I believe you just change the output shaft and you have basically a MK11 trans.

Kz900/Z1 got narrow gears
Kz1000 got thick gears
MKII got thick gears different output shaft has aprox. 0.060 longer splines allowing more sproket ingagement for offset sprokets we use for dragbikes.
All Z1 based engines including shafties and MKII has same gear ratios.

Ok thanks guys but is the six bolts holding the clutch basket/pressure plate on a MKII thing also or a shaft thing.
thanks in advance

To my knowledge, the shaftie is the only one that came with the 6-bolt clutch basket for the KZ...not sure what the GPZ and J uses. Not sure how strong they are for racing and such but I know all the aftermarket stuff is for the 5-bolt clutch.

Looking at the shop manual on my 82 GPz1100 B2 it shows a five bolt clutch basket.