Heads vs piston kit vs stock??

Hey guys I was wondering if you guys could help me. I am in the midst of building a cafe racer and I am trying to rebuild the motor as well. I know that having the heads done is quite expensive but I am also looking at putting a 1075cc piston kit from APE in. So I guess my question is what should I do first? I know that the stock set up has enough power but who wouldn't want more.... I want a bike that is reliable but I also want a bike that can light it up off the line. It should also be made known that I do not have much of a mechanical background short of vehicle maintenance... I do want to learn (which is why I bought this bike in the first place. I love this bike and I can't see myself parting with it any time soon (if ever...).

Would help if u told us what bike u have.Anytime u use "but" or "and" thats a compromise.I want this "and" I want that- may be an issue for u.Increasing piston size without increasing carb size is problematic.Would help to know what u plan to use the bike for-drag strip,cruising,canyon carving or what?bj

I have a 77 kz1000. The bike is going to be a daily driver. I bought a stage 3 dyno kit too. I still need a new exhaust and I'm most likely going 4to1 when I get the money. I'm torn between getting the motor tuned right and everything else (ie/ cafe seat, exhaust, electrical,..)

Are you planing on rebuilding the motor yourself, or having to pay someone?

I think that I want to try to do it myself. I know that it may be a dumb move on my part but I think that it would be a good way for me to learn. I was just reading over the Clymer manual and I realize that there are a bunch of specialty tools that I don't have. I don't know if it would be worth it to get such as a valve compressor or a fork seal puller or a piston pin puller. I'm starting to think I'm way in over my head.

Nah, I don't think so, you won't use most of those so called high dollar tools, just thinking, instead of spending so much money and taking a chance of ruining new parts, why don't you rebuild what you got for now, put motor back stock, do a valve job, re ring if you can get by with it, then your skill level will improve, and you can spend more money on body parts, then later slowly go with what you want.

take the head to a machine shop to have the valves pulled if you need to. use a small screwdriver to remove the fork seals. be very careful not to chew up the inside of the leg where they sit. it's easier to do with the tubes out of the legs. use an impact and push the leg down onto the tube and you shouldn't have to mess with trying to find a piece of wood to hold the other end of the bolt. piston pins can be pushed out with a 16mm socket, another deep well socket big enough for the pin to slide into, and a piece of all thread long enough to go through it all. they can sometimes be pushed out by hand if you heat up the area around them on the piston lightly, read just warm to the touch. you don't need to have every tool in the manual to do the job, just a little dumb luck and some hillbilly ingenuity.:woohoo:

Sounds good guys. I think what I am going to do is just clean up the motor really well, put the new gaskets on, and repaint it. The stock motor does put out enough power for what I use it for but....it's power...c'mon.

So I got an estimate to have the heads redone and the jugs bored and honed 1400 not including shipping it also includes new cams and paint. Does that sound like a decent deal?

If you buy cams on ebay, save maybe 150. pistons on ebay save maybe 150. You need springs new. rings new. Cylinder block bored. Valve job and new seals. Head and base gasket. Cam chain roller bearings 3 total are usaully shot, cost 100 a pop. Tell machinest not to grind the hell out of the valve seats, otherwise no clearance left.
The kit price you mentioned must be compared with other new kits. Kan't listen to anyone on this forum they're too old! Just kidding, they do know some things, like how to spend money like it grows on trees. They just want your bi
ke when u tip over, hoping to buy it up :woohoo:

You got the right idea, see what u got first then the decisions will come easy. Stock works pretty good but the piston kit alone really wakes the motor up. Boring is not very expensive either. Cams can be added later, change the springs to a.p.e. regardless. READY SET GO. Can degree cams, change gearing for lighting up the tires and the cherries. :woohoo: I did it this summer! Now my insurance is up. Good news I'm not living in China. The piston pins push right out.

Dont' sweat it these bikes are known to be very simple to work on. You'll have to pretend it's rocket science to satisfy yourself. Just don't go in over your head, there's not enough room in the cases for your entire body. Follow me so far? If you can't lift the engine out and onto the bench by yourself? YOur too old and the empleyees at the glue factory are watching the clock, zooming in and watching you dance around your garage after hitting your finger with a hammer. Lot of things get in the way when attempting a build.

Divorce
pacemaker
arthritis
extended unemployment
drugs/alcohol
terrists

Dont' add yourself to the list because of what someone says. Opinions are like bullet holes they don't hold all water.

31goodtymes31 wrote:

So I got an estimate to have the heads redone and the jugs bored and honed 1400 not including shipping it also includes new cams and paint. Does that sound like a decent deal?

What does it include?

here's something to compare to, I got a
reconditioned cylinder block already punched out to 1015
corresponding pistons, slightly used (from Ebay)
reconditioned head with valve job, ported and flow tested and Z2 grind cams (from Larry)
new ring sets, with pins and clips
all for a little over $1600