kz1000p stock to cruise sprocket

Keep in mind, these police specials have plenty of zip with stock sprockets. They were designed for accelerations and cruise on the Highways... ever see that awesome (:blink:) 70's show called Chips! :laugh:

Plus with all the equipment they carried in the storage cases and considering how powerful these old KZ's are, hell that bike won't even know your on it @ 250 pounds...

Same time, If your looking for a little added zip (acceleration) then no more than 2 up on the rear sprocket will do just fine without over ramping the rpm @ cruise...

Just my 2 worthless cents.....

OMR

The reason I initially elected to go to a 16t front was because of chain adjustment. You can only go so small on the rear before you run out of adjustment. The one tooth larger front will eliminate that problem. I was going to do this to the GPZ before I elected to convert to a 530. As I mentioned before the 16t countershaft sprocket was hard to find but I did manage to do so.

Will this 16T fit?
16T countershaft sprocket from Z1E

On the large fours, 15/33 or 15/35 on some models was oem for a long time, at least from 1973 Z1 through 1979 KZ1000.

Going from 15T to 16T gives a lower more relaxed rpm at cruising speeds, but slower acceleration from a stop or crawl speed.

Dropping to 14T gives faster acceleration, but with higher "buzzier" rpm cruising speed.

Both mpg and attainable top speed stay about the same with 14T or 15T or 16T.

Lots of owners have experimented with both larger and smaller countershaft sprockets, and like me, went back to stock as best overall.

It's an easy experiment that costs relatively little, and existing chain length will usually accomodate either 14T or 15T or 16T size front sprocket.

Good Luck!

Z1 was where I went first to get the sprocket but it was and is out of stock. The reason was and is because the importer is out of them. They are made in England and there are none in this country. Also when I changed gear ratios both, my millage and top speed changed drastically. My low end acceleration wend down of course, but I did extend my range quite a bit.

Patton wrote:

Will this 16T fit?
16T countershaft sprocket from Z1E

On the large fours, 15/33 or 15/35 on some models was oem for a long time, at least from 1973 Z1 through 1979 KZ1000.

Going from 15T to 16T gives a lower more relaxed rpm at cruising speeds, but slower acceleration from a stop or crawl speed.

Dropping to 14T gives faster acceleration, but with higher "buzzier" rpm cruising speed.

Both mpg and attainable top speed stay about the same with 14T or 15T or 16T.

Lots of owners have experimented with both larger and smaller countershaft sprockets, and like me, went back to stock as best overall.

It's an easy experiment that costs relatively little, and existing chain length will usually accomodate either 14T or 15T or 16T size front sprocket.

Good Luck!

my new 14/33 and new chain came today.....i stayed with the old school 630 stuff......kinda interested in what the 14 will feel like off the line......

"kinda interested in what the 14 will feel like off the line."...

Not much of a difference really..... Sorry bud

NOTE: Your KZ1000 values may be slightly different but the ratios would come out the same....

Unless of course you changed some other variables such as Primary and gear ratios, tire sizes etc...

OMR

Old Man Rock wrote:

"kinda interested in what the 14 will feel like off the line."...

Not much of a difference really..... Sorry bud

NOTE: Your KZ1000 values may be slightly different but the ratios would come out the same....

Unless of course you changed some other variables such as Primary and gear ratios, tire sizes etc...

OMR

cool graphs dave......thanks for sticking the pin in my ballon...:laugh: ....:laugh:

scubarod wrote:

Z1 DOES NOT STOCK A 35TOOTH REAR BUT A 14 TOOTH FRONT AND A 33 REAR WILL BE REAL CLOSE TO YOUR RATIO.DO YOU THINK THAT WILL WORK?DO YOU RECALL YOUR RPM AT 60MPH?

Try Sprocket Specialists they sell any sprocket you want in steel and aluminum sprocketspecialists.com

I think you will feel the difference off the line. The highway riding will probably feel different to. Now you can compare real world results with computer generated computations.

Kawickrice wrote:

I think you will feel the difference off the line. The highway riding will probably feel different to. Now you can compare real world results with computer generated computations.

that's the plan....seat of the pants versus "the chart"....

Am uncertain of oem sprocket sizes on the 1978 KZ1000-B2 LTD, but am sure the original 1973 Z1 oem was 15/35 which stayed the same 15/35 until becoming 15/33 on the 1976 KZ900-A1 (standard model) everywhere except Italy which kept the 15/35 and the KZ900-B1 LTD which also stayed at 15/35.

If the 1978 KZ1000-B2 oem sprockets are 15/33 and the front is being changed to 14T (resulting in 14/33) -- in other words, simply dropping one tooth on the front sprocket -- that's the same as adding several teeth to the rear sprocket without changing the front, which should result in faster off-the-line acceleration, and faster roll-on acceleration in any given gear, simply because it's akin to using a lower overall gear (think roll-on in fourth as compared to roll-on in fifth).

Am betting my nickel the difference in acceleration from stop or crawl will be readily noticeable, as will the comparative roll-on acceleration (as will the buzzier higher rpm at any given cruising speed). When needing to quickly over-take and pass another vehicle, it won't be quite as necessary to down-shift from fifth to fourth gear any more, because it's already in "passing" gear.

Am also betting the gas mileage won't be greatly diminished (about the same odometer reading between full tank and hitting reserve, but perhaps slightly less). And that maximum attainable top speed will remain about the same as with the oem sprocket sizes.

Have always preferred gearing that allows ability to barely pull red line in top gear. Under this condition with oem sprockets, would expect the countershaft sprocket with one less tooth to likely produce about the same top speed, but with rpm nudging into redline.

Anxious to hear the road test results.

Good Luck!

Brings up a good question, Keith, what was the original sprocket sizes?

I'll run them through the program and see what we come up with...

As reviewed in the image, was assuming you had a 15/35 combo.... If so, then the ratios/math would be ~ the same... If 15/33, then you would feel a difference in accelerations due to the smaller cc sprocket...

Ah hell, I'll just run and display and see what it comes up as....