Now what do I do?

I pulled off the old exhaust, and plan to replace it with this one (see pics). This was a trial fit, prior to pulling the top-end apart. Now it's sitting on my bench, egging me on.

Again, I wonder what to expect when starting it? Will it will be louder than the stock pipes?

Does anyone have a suggestion with regard to what fuel jetting to start with? I want to utilize the stock air box (modified), and no pods.
Dynojet has only a stage 3 kit available specifically for the KZ1100, so my options are limited.
How different are the BS34's from an 82' KZ1000J to a stock 82' KZ1100A? There is a Dynojet stage 1 kit made for that model.

daveo wrote: I pulled off the old exhaust, and plan to replace it with this one (see pics). This was a trial fit, prior to pulling the top-end apart. Now it's sitting on my bench, egging me on.
Again, I wonder what to expect when starting it? Will it will be louder than the stock pipes?

Does anyone have a suggestion with regard to what fuel jetting to start with? I want to utilize the stock air box (modified), and no pods.
Dynojet has only a stage 3 kit available specifically for the KZ1100, so my options are limited.
How different are the BS34's from an 82' KZ1000J to a stock 82' KZ1100A? There is a Dynojet stage 1 kit made for that model.

Gorgeous bike!

pulling the top-end apart -- Why?

Will it will be louder than the stock pipes? -- Probably a little louder, but depends on which baffle is fitted.

Would retain stock carbs and stock jetting until test riding with the new 4>1.

Good Fortune!

If it has a reasonable "street baffle", probably only small jet change. Maybe up one size. If you run a straight pipe equivalent, all bets are off.

While it's apart, clean the carbon out of your exhaust ports. Look closely at the valve guide protrusion into the ports. Look for any guides that appear to be protruding further into the port than the others.

The last 2 J heads I've done both had sinking exhaust guides.

That's a good pipe you've selected. It will be relatively quiet with the stock baffle and packing. If you want it louder, leave the street baffle in it and remove the packing. If that's too loud, put half the packing back in it.

Drill the pilot mixture plug caps and pull them. You'll probably have to tweak the pilot mixture screws a bit. Leave the airbox on the bike and get a K&N replacement filter for it. Stock Jetting should be pretty close.

That bike is in excellent shape.

Smart advice, just what I'm looking for.

The bike was ensnared in a Vetter touring package when I bought it in September of 2000. The engine top end has been re-done several times since. The first time I let a hack do the job. The next was a professional engine machinist. A normal person would probably have sold it, but I enjoy mechanical stuff, so it keeps me in the tinker state.
The head (installed last night) came off an 82' 1100A, with just under 11K miles. The engine it came from had a serial number that preceded my bike's by a couple thousand. It is in better shape than the two previously on the engine, with all threads perfect, and a very nice casting.
The carbs are stock, but currently have sliders from a police bike. I attempted to put the original ones back in, but had trouble getting the rubber to seat properly under the caps. So I put the cop sliders back in again.

The original slider rubber needs to get stretchy again, and I wonder if a short soak in gasoline might swell, and rejuvenate them a little. They are soft (and pliable), but have shrunk some after sitting in a box for two years.

Well, the cam's are calling...and I've been sitting here long enough for now. One could easily spend hours, just scratching the surface of so-much brain power found here in this forum.

Larry,

I took a look, and the #4 exhaust guide is just like you said. Is it salvageable (at what cost), or is the head junk?
That valve was replaced, and seat re-ground when I bought the head a couple years ago.
My engine-tech suggested it had run with the bent valve for a while, but was able to grind the seat in.
That head came off a mid-nineties Las Vegas police engine, which likely took a beating.

That explains some things...

The new head is gorgeous, and she's almost ready to fire up!

Man, am I excited!!! It's like she just had implants done, and I'm going to have some fun.

Patton,

You asked why did I remove the top end? Over the Winter, I found a beautiful 82 1100 head on ebay, and decided to no longer have it boxed on my bench. Besides, the old one had some issues.

It is off the bench, and on the bike now, along with the 4>1 header. Re-torqued, and all seals are tight. I've put around 150 miles on, and checked my plugs a few times along the way. They are completely clean of oil and carbon, whereas with the old head they'd be fouled.
The spark plugs all look good, but maybe the fuel/air needs tweaking. Jeff (Z1) suggested running a couple sizes up on the main jets, which would be 125 from 120's (so done). The pilot air jets are stock 40's. I may need to bump one of those a little more, since I'm hearing an occasional backfire out of the exhaust.

She's running way-better, and hits red-line very fast. There is no hesitation on acceleration, and deceleration is very smooth.

I found with the stock air box cover in-place, backfires were excessive. That was reduced by 90%+/-, since installing a modification to the air box, after removing the cover. I really like keeping the stock air box, which serves both to protect the intake system from the elements (far better) than individual pods. I think it also serves as a plenum for fresh air to be drawn from, with the rubber air boots serving as quasi-velocity stacks.