Changing gear ratios

I have a hypothetical question on dabbling with the gears in my 82 KZ1100. I find that usually I will skip gears, generally using 1-3-5 gears on my way up to 30mph. The gearing is obnoxiously tight in my opinion, useful only when running to redline.

My inquiry is my primary drive ratio. It's currently stock at 1.181, I'm wondering if changing the gear ratio to just 1.00 is possible, if anybody's ever done it, etc. This would make the bike run at lower rpms at highway and interstate speeds in 5th gear, running just 3,500 rpm instead of 4,200 rpm at 70mph, making long touring runs easier on the engine.....according to gearcommander.

I don't think hill starts would be too much of an inconvenience with as tight as the gears are now...there should be some acceptable wiggleroom. It's likely that a custom gear shop would be in order, and it'd be pretty pricey, but has anybody done this on a shaft drive?

I find my '83 1100 Spectre to be the same, the gearing seems too low. But after riding a lot and trying to decide what is really going on, I think it's that the motor has a really wide powerband, and starts making useful power at under 3,000 rpm. The thing is so tractable. Next thing is that because it's an inline four, the motor is a bit buzzy, vibration wise, and it SEEMS to be revving when it really isn't that bad. If you wind it up some through the gears, then the ratios seem spaced out wide enough. Of course, doing that, you are waaay over speed limits, when telephone poles pass by like a picket fence. And it does top out at 142 mph, and for me, with no fairing, it's more than I like to go anyway.

Try comparing the stuff on your bike to the 79 or so shaft drive models. I think they are geared differently or something, but I don't recall any specifics. Someone over at the Kawasakimotorcycle.org site investigated this a few months back.

I have a Yamaha XV750 cafe bike, and the shaft drive ratios on those bikes is the same thing, too low gearing, and Yamaha never made any different ratios for them, any gearing change was internal in the motor. Might be nice if a taller gear final drive was available as a bolt on, but it's usually not the case, cheaper for the manufacturer to just change a pair of internal engine spur gears than a bevel drive gear set.