KAWASAKI KZ 1000 J FRONT FORK

hello everybody,
does anybody know what would be a tolerance for a front fork free play and where could i buy fork bushings? (us or europe) i have a 1982 kawasaki KZ 1000 j (european version).i'm very thankful for any information that i could get.

If by European version you mean the KZ1000J, the kawasaki.com parts diagrams show the bushing but don't list it. Ron Ayers doesn't even have a parts diagram for the 1000J, but Bike Bandit not only has the KZ1000J parts diagram, they also show the bushing and list a part number.

Should not be any detectable play in the forks.

Bike Bandit

I think, like Steve, I'm also confused...Euro version? Do you mean Z1000J2 or some other version of the KZ1000J2? I also think, that the exploded diagrams tell the tale...the bushings on the inner fork are not available as separate parts...or are you referring to other parts?

hello guys,
i ment actually euro model of KZ 1000 J2 which is Z 1000 J2...as you know they are not exactly the same.i have service manual which is original factory manual( Part No.99924-1026-03) but i'm still little bit confused about the fork that i have.from outside it looks like a fork from J but inside is a fork from K or M....anyway, both of the bushings are bad but inner tube seems to be o.k..i was looking at parts diagram from bike bandit but they only have a bushing for outer tube.i tried to call them few times but they put me on hold each time so i gave it up for now.i made a bushings myself (i turned it on the lathe) but only for the outer tube.the old bushings had a play of 0.2 mm in diameter for inner tube which was damaging the seal and causing it to leak.the one's i made have a play of 0.05 mm in diameter for inner tube and there is almost no play. i wanted to do it out of teflon but i had only polyoxymethylene (POM) plastic at the moment.i took the tubes from the other bike that i keep for the spare parts (KZ 1100 B1)put the new bushings (that i made)changed the seals and fluid and mounted them on the bike..i don't see any play in the fork now.i made about 50 km with the bike and it 's functioning perfectly..i don't know how long the bushings are going to hold but i don't have any other choice for now.anyway,i wanted to know if is possible to buy both of the bushings,for inner and outer tube,cause i don't wanna a buy a whole tube only because i need a bushing . what do you think about the bushings that i made?any similar experience?what do you think about the material that i have used?
thanks a lot for earlier responding guys.

Hello Alen...I looked at the front fork diagrams for the Z1000J2 (Bike Bandit won't have these but I have a copy) and it does not show any bushings for the inner fork tube...only the single for the outer fork tube. If your bike differs from this diagram, it is possible that the forks have been changed. In other models, the bushings on the inner fork tube are just not available from Kawasaki and you must purchase the entire inner fork tube to get them. However, others have made their own bushings from a variety of materials and I think you'll be fine on the path you have chosen.

If you can measure the fork bushings, might try this place www.pyramid-parts.com/contacts/index/ . They will find a match for you.

Larry