your thoughts on shaft drive?

so i found a pretty sweet deal for a 79 kz1000 on craigslist with shaft drive. Regardless of how reliable they are, I would always prefer running a chain, just because its more familiar for me. Is it possible to convert these to chain drive? I have never fiddled with a shaft drive bike before so i have no idea. Do any of you ride one of these shaft drive kz's? If so, what do you think of it?

I had a kz550 spectre which had shaft drive. I really liked it, my gold rear rim stayed gold, no oil spraying around, it was also really quiet, and you don't have to worry about greasing (often anyways) changing sprockets or anything. For a performance bike chain all the way, but for a daily driver I kind of miss the convenience of a shaftdrive (oh the blasphemy!)

i would not pass up a deal on a shaft drive.they have the mk11 type motor and can be converted to chain drive.someone will chime in that can tell you how and what has to be changed.i have also heard that the shaft drive frame is wider on the left side so that big wheel conversion and offset countershaft sprockets have more clearance from frame to chain.
here is my all time favorite shaft drive,


leon

shaft drive bikes are great the only down side to them is not being able to change final drive gearing but if your not racing who cares. no adjustments needed very clean and smooth waiting on tax return and will probably grab one for my self this spring.

I have a Suzuki GS1100 shaft drive. Rides nice. They are good for everyday riding, as far as a performance bike stick with a chain drive

I have a 79st that I bought for $800 that I just finished and am hoping it will run well and have some power and decent ride for 30+ years old .It's got a new 1075 kit and dyna s and accel coils ect,ect and I haven't had it out since rebuild because of snow and it did not run when I got it so I am hoping that they are a nice fun ride.If anybody that knows what I should expect please let me know also as there is about another 4 months left to our snowy winter.

I have both the shaft and the MKII chain drive. I rode the chain drive all over the country long before I got the shaft model. After getting the shaft drive looking back at all the miles I did on chain was a huge mistake. Stopping in the rain to lube, wiping off the rear wheel every day on long trips of chain oil. I still have 7 chain drive motorcycles, but if I could have them all shaft drive I would be happy. Be aware parts are a big problem on the 79-80 KZ1000ST and many times fairing and the rest of the aftermarket stuff was added so rarely all the hardware will be still there like the grab bar ect. Here's my favorite ST of all time, all stock and best thing is it's mine.

Really nice bike there RonKZ650 was it in good shape to begin with or did you do a full rebuild.The last kz I had was a 1979 kz650c (I believe) and it accelerated nice and had a nice ride and feel to it .Can I expect much more from my 1000st ?

Thanks, this is how it looked a few days after I got it and cleaned and polished. I paid $2500 so not cheap, but pay more, get more a lot of the time if you're carfeul. The 1000 is much better than a KZ650 on the highway, much more stabil and smoother. I always liked the KZ650 better in the city, smaller, easier in stop/go stuff. To me the 1000ST is one of the best KZs ever.

I wasn't so lucky with mine.It sat for 10-12 years in an unheated shed but I don't think anybody had done anything to it except reg maintenance until it was parked ,lots of rust + all the usual cracked coils ,steering bearing calipers ect all bad.Now just looking forward to getting it finely tuned and doing some break in.It had 60,000 km on it when parked but all the work is now done.My brother picked up a 103ci harley police so I am hoping that I can keep up with him :woohoo: I had to laugh ,when we went to pick up the bike (shipped from Miami to newfoundland )and we put in gas and it started the first thing he said was I think the motor mounts need to be tightened:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Had a Yamaha Maxim 650 with a shaft. Would startle me a bit accelerating on a corner because suspension settled a little 'cause of torque reaction, but other than that was just as clean and user frendly as the shaft drive in your car. I wouldn't pass on a bike because of shaft drive.

you really did nice work....well done....you'll get it all smothed out as the rides progress.....and wow....great job!!!!!


gkz1000st wrote:

I wasn't so lucky with mine.It sat for 10-12 years in an unheated shed but I don't think anybody had done anything to it except reg maintenance until it was parked ,lots of rust + all the usual cracked coils ,steering bearing calipers ect all bad.Now just looking forward to getting it finely tuned and doing some break in.It had 60,000 km on it when parked but all the work is now done.My brother picked up a 103ci harley police so I am hoping that I can keep up with him :woohoo: I had to laugh ,when we went to pick up the bike (shipped from Miami to newfoundland )and we put in gas and it started the first thing he said was I think the motor mounts need to be tightened:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: