OK, here goes

It is time for me to tackle the much dreaded removal of the air box chore, so I can remove my carbs and inspect the carb holders, one of which I believe to be cracked.
Any tips on getting it out without destroying it? Best way to proceed?
Also, I'd like to determine what size pilot jets I have in the bowls. Are they stamped with the #? I don't remember seeing any numbers on the pilot jet I removed from my #4 carb the other night, but then, I was just trying to get the damn thing to run at that point. Didn't really look. Just took it out and squirted some carb cleaner through it.
Because if I destroy my air box and hoses, I'll be buying pods, and I'd like to know if maybe they're in the right range for pods. The bike already has a MAC four into one, but I bought it like that. Don't know the history.

The KZ1000 may be entirely different, but it's like the KZ650, you don't remove the air box to remove the carbs (in fact, it cannot be removed with carbs in place). Instead, you remove the tank, disconnect throttle cables, loosen carb holder clamps, and remove or slide back springs on air cleaner/carb ducts. Then you can wiggle the whole set of carbs out as one unit (afterwhich you MUST have a beer). I have found on my KZ650 that I can only remove them from the right side of bike. It always looks like removing the cam chain tensioner might help, but I've never had to do that. It's a very tight fit, but after you've done it a couple times you find it easier to do. For some reason, I find putting them back in much easier. Ed

It kind of depends on whether your carb inlet boots are soft or hard... Unlike sex, in this case soft is good.
650ed is right, they (the carbs) will come out as one unit. As for the pilots, I seem to recall that the # is marked on them, but if your eyes are old like mine, you will need an eye loop to see any markings on either the mains or pilots. When putting back together I have found that hooking up the throttle cable to the carbs before mounting the carbs in the head inlets saves a whole lot of cussing later on. I wiggle the front sides (head side)into their boots, then (carefully)use a thin screwdriver to lever the airbox side boots over the carb inlets. Once they're on all the way around, I push the spring clamps into place and finally tighten-up the head-side boots. You may need to grind about 1/4 inch off the short end of the 5 mm allen wrench in order to get enough clearance to use it on all of the head-side allen bolts.
Good luck, you can do it.
Grant.

Thanks guys.
I got the carbs out ok. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Putting them back in looks to be fun though.
What's weird is I was having a problem with #4 carb, but #2 carb holder wasn't even installed correctly. The lip was bent over and cracked. I'm surprised the thing ran at all. #4 carb holder looks to be in decent shape, though I did notice the bottom screw was loose, which may have been the cause of my vacuum leak.

New soft pliable carb intake hoses from Z1E is money well spent. Makes carb removal and replacement almost a pleasure.

Soft-N-Sexy

Thanks Patton, but I've been wanting to try some pods just for the cool factor, so I ordered some of those. I'll hang onto my airbox though, just in case. What's funny is how just the outside hoses are hardened. The inner two are soft and pliable. Seems like it shoulda been the other way around.