I had a flat on my KZ 750

Last night I had a flat on my 750. Luckily we had just taken off, headed home for the night. I have a nice rim from my KZ1000 in my shop with a new bridgestone spitfire. I'm pretty sure the rim is a direct bolt on but the sprocket is my concern. Are the chain sizes the same between a 1980 KZ750 and KZ1000. The motor that the 1000 rim was matched up to was a 80 or 81 MKII motor. Im going to take my compressor over there later and see if I can get it to hold air long enough to ride it the 15 blocks to my shop.

if not the sprocket might fit

Both use 630 chain stock.

Thanks steell. I have the bike in a safe place and tomorrow I will swap everything out. I'll pick the better of the two sprockets and I should be in there.

this is the sprocket from my KZ1000




and a look at the tire

The wheel swap won't work. The axle diameters are different. The 1980 KZ750 axle diameter is 18mm. The 19?? KZ1000 axle diameter is 20mm. I guess I'll swap out the tires, which ARE the same size.
130/90 16.

took the wheels to ccyle specialists in western hills yesterday. Im going to pick them up around 2 today. I have all of the little parts degreased and Ill be putting it all back together tonight once the heat subsides a bit.

Another two wheel happy ending. I had the BT45 swapped out for the Spitfire, a bit of a downgrade but I'm glad the tire is going to get used. I paid $56.68 for the swap out and a new valve stem, a bit pricey but worth it in light of the fact that I really trust Rob and the guys in the service department there. I rarley have others do my wrenching and when I do it's usually a huge disappoinment. I remounted the rear wheel and my 4 into 2 stock exhaust yesterday with a wicked hangover. The shop manual was helpful but far from a step by step guide. It doesn't mention things like the fact that you have to drop the exhaust to get to the axle nut.
I really fought with the exhaust and getting all 8 collars resting precariously in place while I bolted it all back in place. And before someone mentions it yes I know that it all comes apart and that makes it easier to reassemble but somewhere in there was a can of worms waiting for me to strip a bolt or nut etc. I took the briefest test ride in a pin point size downpour without my helmet. Cold wet ouch hurts.....
The rain stopped and I was able to give it a proper run last night. In the long run I think I had two issues that were sorted out by swapping out the wheel.
1) I think the rear wheel wasn't on nice and straight. It didnt spin nice and free before I took it off, half of a rotation and that was it. I line up the alighnment marks, then I look at the chain and use a straight edge to check that its not getting bent or bound by a misaligned sprocket. Then my last test is wheel spin. I spin the wheel with the bike in neutral and if I dont get at least two full rotations I look for something like a bad bearing or a stuck caliper. If im in the ball park spin wise but still under two rotations I tweak the slack adjusters until it spins freely. Then I recheck the chain with a straight edge.
2) I had a tiny exhaust leak on cylinder 3. I suspected this before the whole flat tire issue. I could hear that something sounded a tiny bit louder on the right side as I was riding. Once it was all together and I fired it up it sounded completely different. Smoother than the smooth it already was.

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Yea, there's no Kawasaki I know of that needs the exhaust fooled with to remove the wheel. So some unnessessary work done. Another thing, anyone has a flat tire and you are a few miles from your destination, just ride. A few times I've been in more or less slumsville and thought riding on a flat at 2am beat the alternative. Give it a try. I started riding at like 20mph and finally just rode 40 or so. No big deal. The tire will get hot so you can't ride like 50 miles this way, but less than 10 I just ride. This is coming from probably the most "professional" flat tire motorcycle rider around I know of. Over the years I've been hit with 50 or more flat tires.

RonKZ650 wrote: Yea, there's no Kawasaki I know of that needs the exhaust fooled with to remove the wheel. So some unnessessary work done. Another thing, anyone has a flat tire and you are a few miles from your destination, just ride. A few times I've been in more or less slumsville and thought riding on a flat at 2am beat the alternative. Give it a try. I started riding at like 20mph and finally just rode 40 or so. No big deal. The tire will get hot so you can't ride like 50 miles this way, but less than 10 I just ride. This is coming from probably the most "professional" flat tire motorcycle rider around I know of. Over the years I've been hit with 50 or more flat tires.

No thanks. I'm not fond of the idea of ruining a rim and endangering a passenger just for the convenience of not walking a few blocks.

As far as the exhaust is concerned, it had to drop down. Sittng on the center stand the tire is approx 2 1/2" off the ground. If I dropped the swing arm the axle nut would have been square in the middle of the exhaust. If my jackstand had been empty yes that would have worked.

As far as torquing the axle nut is concerened, they are specs, not suggestions and they are not to be ignored for the sake of convenience.

I appreciate the input regardless.

Of course if you want to torque the bolt to spec you did the only way, however the way to do it without removing the wheel is to loosen the axle, loosen your 2 chain adjusters on the swingarm to full loose, remove the bolt on top of the end of each side of the swingarm and remove the stopper from each end of the swingarm. Now push the wheel forward, slip the chain off the sprocket and you slide the whole wheel/axle combo off the back. Of course you need to unbolt any arm that goes to the rear brake too. After the wheel slides out the back it should fall low enough to allow the axle to be removed then. If not than another option is setting your centerstand on a piece of plywood or something to bring the tire up off the ground a little extra. Of course if you want to torque the axle which is a waste of time you can remove the pipes. About the walking, I'm not too lazy to walk, I walk 20 miles or more a week, but been in places I prefer not to walk in certain areas of the country, get mugged, get the bike stolen or vandalized. Any number of things and riding a few miles on a flat can at certain times be the better choice. You did fine doing it your way, just want to mention there are other ways to do it. I wouldn't remove the exhaust to remove the wheel myself.