1973 z1 wheel question

maybe i didnt look into it or search right but i cant seem to find any DETAILED info on wheel swaps on early z1 900s. the bike i purchased was a dirt drag bike. among other problems the wheels are beat to hell and i was considering different wheels. i have access to a machine shop but im trying to do as little fab work as possible. my thoughts so far are :

1. we are going to build a swing arm. therefore rear wheel isnt a problem.
2. i want to go with a newer disc style braking system in the rear (zx6r seems plausible and cheap)
3. i definitely want to go with sportbike wheels. my issue is what kind.

so my questions to you guys are

1. what is the easiest sportbike wheel type to use with original z1 forks?
2. are there any that are a direct swap?
3. how hard would it be to make a zx6r braking system work on z1 forks?

the guys who know this stuff are asleep.....i'm on the west coast and it is 10:30 here


post some pictures and you are also on the right track...the bike of the month...the copper kz900 of old man rock on the home page is running zx6 gear....look for his thread...

The problem with using a sportbike wheel in the original Z1 front end is the lack of space. The forks aren't really wide enough to accept a modern 3.5" wide rim and the attached brake system.

You may be able to get away with a 3.0" wide rim front an early Katana 600/750 but you still may have issues.

I've used a police (Kz1000C) front end. It's wide enough to use a 3.5" rim and has 38mm fork tubes instead of the smaller 36mm.

Later, Doug

well explained....

Do you have a picture of the 73 as it sits?
Have you considered selling the 73 to somebody who wants to restore one?
You could probably make enough money selling the z1 to pick up a later kz900/1000 and still have money to pay for a lot of the mods that you want to do without having to torture the poor z1 any more than it already has been

It's not easy to graft a sportbike wheel on. A front-end transplant is easier to do.

Even assuming you can get the wheel to fit, the caliper / disk rotor alignment present considerable challenges. In all likelyhood, you'd need to make some adapter mounts for the caliper.

If you used a Z1 caliper, you'd need to find a disk rotor the same diameter. You also have an offset issue in that most modern rotors stand further out from the wheel. THe old Z1 rotor is 7mm thick - with a wear limit at 6mm. Most modern rotors are far thinner - around 4.5mm or thinner. This means the caliper piston has to have another 2.5mm of travel to accomodate the thinner rotor. If/when brake pads wear thin, the caliper piston seal is getting close to the edge of the bore..

thanks for the replies guys. i can deal with a front end swap. but i want to stay with European style handle bars and all the kz handle bar hardware and original gauges. would that be an issue with a different front end? heres a few pictures of what she looked like on the ride to my house and after arrival

wireman wrote: Do you have a picture of the 73 as it sits?
Have you considered selling the 73 to somebody who wants to restore one?
You could probably make enough money selling the z1 to pick up a later kz900/1000 and still have money to pay for a lot of the mods that you want to do without having to torture the poor z1 any more than it already has been

oh and sorry wireman....im really not interested in selling it. it took me forever to find this one

Going by the bodywork, the bike appears to be a '76 or later Kz model. Have you researched the VIN?

Later, Doug

forks and tank and other stuff is 76?

still basic same as 73 ,903 cc , but that is a 76kz900 i think

like i said it was a dirt drag bike so im not sure where the tank and plastics came from. but the vin (which is barely visible anymore) is definitely at 73

hence the reason i dont feel bad about hacking it apart