Exhaust

So I've been wondering about the original exhaust that came with a 1977 kz1000a
Right now I have an exhaust with a 4 into 1
Header. Its painted black, but it sounds like a kerker. Not sure because it was on the bike when I purchased it. The bike all so has pods on the carbs. My question is this. If I wanted to put an original exhaust back on the bike how much power would I lose and can I leave the pods on the carbs. I like the chrome look to the original exhaust, but I love the power the bike has now. Thanks Mitch

I can't give a number, but I think it'll be a noticeable change. I put my mufflers back on recently (felt a bit embarrassed about the noise) and I'm bothered by the slight power loss, but maybe you'd be okay with the loss on yours. You might need to rejet a bit.

I would say you will be lucky to find an original exhaust in good condition, as for power gains or loss it depends if the bike was re-jetted and tuned correctly when the 4into1 and pods were put on, you can get the exhaust from an Italian company that makes batches of them, so you would need a few people needing them at around $1600.00 a set and if you want to go back to original air filter add at least another $500.00. Power gains or losses on just these two things alone is not worth worrying about.

kevski wrote: I would say you will be lucky to find an original exhaust in good condition, as for power gains or loss it depends if the bike was re-jetted and tuned correctly when the 4into1 and pods were put on, you can get the exhaust from an Italian company that makes batches of them, so you would need a few people needing them at around $1600.00 a set and if you want to go back to original air filter add at least another $500.00. Power gains or losses on just these two things alone is not worth worrying about.

Do you have a link to this company? I've been keeping my eyes open for a few years for a stock set. I even managed to buy a set last year that's in much better shape than my OEM set, but there's a small dent right in the middle of one muffler that has kept me from installing them while my OEMs are still functional. Back in the day (I bought my bike in '79), stock sets went for $150 at dealerships, as people upgraded to 4 into 1s immediately and dealers had virtually brand new sets taking up room in the shop. These pipes were only produced for the '77 & '78 model years.

www.bussosilencers.com/en/ here is the company for the exhausts, a group of members on the UK Z1owners club bought a batch, very good and happy with what they have got.
z1ownersclub.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=47025

I don't know what the shipping costs would be, but the manifold pipes and mufflers look to run about $1,000.00 USC from Busso. I tried to get on the UK Z-1 owners club sight, but you have to be a member to see most everything. I registered and will have a go and seeing what these guys have to say about the Busso exhaust for the '77 KZ-1000. Regarding the Busso exhaust system it looks like pretty nice stuff albeit expensive. My exhaust isn't in bad shape, but it's not great and I would like to replace it in the future. I do like the look of the 4 into 4 system made in Japan, but that is even more money than the Busso one, and perhaps hard to get. Thanks for the info Kevski.
Rick H.

Okay, so I was granted entry to the UK Z-1 Owners Forum and went thru about 35 total pages of entries on the KZ-1000A-1 Busso exhaust system issue. A gentleman by the name of Nigel was obviously the driving force in a group buy effort in order to get a better price from the manufacturer in Italy. It sounds like he bit off a lot of work on his part, but it all worked out in the end. The people that got in on the group buy did get a better price and they apparently all received their exhaust systems albeit there were some issues with damage to a few of the systems. This was apparently rectified by the manufacturer. Surprisingly not much was said after the first few individuals received their Busso exhaust systems. The comments just seemed to dry up unless they moved the thread or it went to facebook which I don't bother going to ever. This all leaves me wondering if someone in the USA would order this Busso system in what condition would it arrive here. There was also an issue with moisture in the shipping boxes and on the parts inside. Assuming the shipping time to the USA from Italy would be a good bit longer the moisture could be a real problem. Does anyone know of someone here in the States that has ordered one of these Busso systems? I think everyone that got in on the group buy orchestrated by Nigel should send him a $50.00 tip for his time and efforts. He did a lot of work for them......
Rick H.

Nigel is the uk distributor of quickglo. ( www.airevalleyclassics.co.uk ). I didnt buy a busso set for my A1 as I have good oem ones on my bike. I did however see an assembled sample set at the stafford show last year and they did look to be good quality. The only aspect that stood out from a visual inspection was that the heat shields were only about 2/3rds the length of originals. As they were assembled I counldn't see the dual wall on the headers so didnt notice the lack of gap issue which other than transit damage seemed to be the main concern of those that did buy. That aside, they did look very presentable and well made.

Just to complete the thread and so that you can make an informed decision.
So a z10c uk member was asking about a oem rep set of exhausts for a 650. A reply mentioned Busso. Below is a cut and pasted reply by the member (Nigel) that organised the Z1OC group buy of exhausts for Z1000a1 owners from Busso. Seems a bit hit and miss regarding the experience leaning more on the miss side if you do experience difficulties which would only be compounded buying from outside the EU.


Author: Ultim8pc » Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:56 am

As you may know I organised a 'group buy' with Busso for their 4/2 for the z1000.
Based on that exercise which took a year to complete, we found that Busso are plagued with quality issues and ineffective packing, meaning you have a 50/50 chance of being disappointed with your purchase and then dealing with the returns process and hoping for a better result with the replacement.
You have to pay them up front via bank transfer, they do not accept any other methods.