Oil pump question -overheater

It's been awhile since I've been on here and as I don't have a garage currently my bike has just been sitting idly in a carport covered up for a year. I plan to drop the oil pan and check out the pump and screen and anything else I should do while in there.

Can anyone direct me to some good instructions for this. The bike overheats and I'm wondering if I will find the culprit today. Do I need new o-rings or gaskets to do put it back together? Any help would be greatly appreciated.if so, what's the fastest way to get them? I've searched the forum for instructions but only found references to them. I'm no expert on bikes but not afraid to try. Should I get compressed air to blow through passages or could I really screw something up? If I can't solve this overheat issue I'm going to have ro sell it and I hate to think of doing that.

Also, any KZ guys near Lexington Kentucky that may be able to either work on it or at least take a look and give me some ideas?

'80 1000 ltd

First off how do you know its overheating? What makes you think its oil related? Is your carbs adjusted correclty? Is your oil pressure light on when driving? If you believe it is oil you can get a gauge that screws in the test port on the right side of the block to check for oil pressure. But if you do drop the oil pan and pump you want a new oil pan gasket and if it was me i would buy a new oil pump o ring and oil filter and oring as well. But unless you have the light on, i would check your plugs to see how if the carbs are adjusted properly. I guess ive never seen kz overheat because of lack of oil without tripping the light. Not saying its not, but i would inspect the whole bike for other culprits first. You can get the parts from z1 enterprises, bike bandit, ron ayers.

Wow you "think" it's over heating and the first thing you think is the oil pump, why is that? The most common cause of overheating is the carbs are jetted to lean. What makes you think it's over heating?

Thanks for replies. I should have mentioned that the carbs were professionally cleaned/jetted by PO just before I got bike. I saw the receipt (I think). When I start the bike it will have the oil white and frothy within couple minutes of riding or sitting. The little oil cooler doesn't get hot so I assumed oil isn't making it to or through it. This is why I thought maybe oil pump.
I put the same 4 into 1 pipe on that it was supposedly carbed for but now that I think about it it did get a little hot before this. When I put the temp gun on the engine it reads about 100 degrees too hot around the headers (300f).
Would the carbs making it lean get it this hot this fast possibly? Do you think it's a bad idea to check out oil pump/passageways?
I guess I should try the oil pressure gage first. Don't remember oil light on but haven't started in a couple months.

If you dont have oil pressure then your light should come on. You light should also come on when you turn your key on with the bike not running. As far as the oil turning white and frothy as you call it, is a good chance that your just warming the oil up and will mix and attempt to burn out all the moisture causing the oil to look wierd. It mainly happens when you havent rode for awhile or dont ride far enough to get the moisture out of the crankcase. It probably wouldnt hurt to change your oil if you havent recently. Everytime you change pipes or even a adding or removing baffle you will need to adjust the carbs. Just beacuse carbs was jetted before dont mean they are still perfect. They can get plugged with dirt or old fuel from sitting or if the bike gets dropped. I would start out the FREE way and pull your plugs and see how they look that will tell you plenty starting out. As far as the oil cooler not warming up. It should warm up some. You could have a plugged cooler. One way to tell if its plugged is remove the lines and try to blow air thru it. OR My little dangerous but safe if you do it correctly way. lol If it was me and i wanted to see if it was plugged or not, i would take off the return side of the cooler and stick it in a bucket and start the bike only for a SECOND OR TWO. Just enough to see the oil come out the other end. Then hurry up and shut her down. As long as the bike has been running shortly before it should have oil in the top end enough to run for a second or two. Just dont be reving the hell out if it.

lexor wrote: Thanks for replies. I should have mentioned that the carbs were professionally cleaned/jetted by PO just before I got bike. I saw the receipt (I think).

That statement doesn't really mean anything, just cause someone calls themselves "Professional" means they get paid for their work, not that they know what they're doing.

When I start the bike it will have the oil white and frothy within couple minutes of riding or sitting. The little oil cooler doesn't get hot so I assumed oil isn't making it to or through it. This is why I thought maybe oil pump.
I put the same 4 into 1 pipe on that it was supposedly carbed for but now that I think about it it did get a little hot before this. When I put the temp gun on the engine it reads about 100 degrees too hot around the headers (300f).

300 degrees around the exhaust port on the head is not hot, it still hasn't warmed up yet, 400 degrees is common.

Would the carbs making it lean get it this hot this fast possibly? Do you think it's a bad idea to check out oil pump/passageways?
I guess I should try the oil pressure gage first. Don't remember oil light on but haven't started in a couple months.

How about a few pictures . When I hear a oil cooler is not working , I wonder how it is plumbed into the motor. I remember one company selling a cooler setup that was plumbed weird and wouldn't flow. Just a thought to check and a picture would answer the question.

the poor thing needs ridin son
DONT let idle long and rev it then it will get HOT
its called a AIR COOLED Engine!

(Don't remember oil light on but haven't started in a couple months) you really what me to answer that part............FIRST thing you look at when starting bike!

Your first problem is Assuming the P/O knew what they were doing. I NEVER trust anyone else's work unless they have proven to me they know what they are doing. If a 4 into 1 pipe was installed and the P/O did not get the jetting correct then the engine could be overheating due to a lean carb condition. "Steell" is correct I have seen a lot of so called professional tuners do some pretty stupid stuff that I had to fix so do not trust what they tell you. What do you mean "white and frothy?" You cannot let these bikes sit in a garage and idle without some sort of air being blown over the engine, that is the perfect way to overheat one. Whenever I am tuning a bike air cooled or water cooled I have a BIG ass fan blowing air onto it.

I feel like I just got lectured by my dad as a kid, but I think I read a couple things that make sense. In my defense, I understand air-cooled and have never let it idle sans fan for more than a couple of minutes. I havent ridden it cuz I've been afraid it was going to blow due to the heat and some smoke around exhaust port. I finally have a bit of time to investigate. Ok, enough defending myself, I want to get this bike back on the road. Will check oil light, plugs, and temp again. Since I put new pipe on, even though it's same one as was on it, maybe it just needs adjusting and is lean. Whoever questioned whether or not it's overheating, trust me, it is. I've had enough bikes to know what overheating is. Thanks so much for ideas, I'll also check oil cooler again. I know it should be fine without one but I guess if it isn't flowing through there's a problem.

My daddy always said: "Son, your bike is a reflection of your opinion on life. If it ain't running right...something is wrong." :dry: