Pray for me, I'm going back in... '82 KZ1000LTD

Howyadoin,

Hi, I'm "The_Raven"... You may remember me from such threads as "Why won't this gawddamn thing idle right?" or "Why won't this other gawddamn thing that I bought to ride while I was fixing the original gawddamn thing idle right?" or "AUUUGGGGGHHH I give up! I'm taking estrogen and getting an electric scooter!"

Anyway... I was surfing craigslist this morning and found my next Big Mistake. An '82 KZ1000LTD. boston.craigslist.org/sob/mcy/3771947951.html

If (IF!) the bike runs correctly, it's a steal. At that point, I sell the '82 KZ1000-J and the '80 KZ440LTD, and all is right with the world. Sounds like a plan, right?

So you're probably asking, "So what the hell does have to do with anything chassis or suspension related?" Well, if you look at the picture in the Craigslist ad, the tires on the bike are Dunlop Qualifiers with raised white letters. I love the look, but if this is anything like my KZ1000-J, those tires date back to the Bush administration. Poppy Bush, that is. Now my KZ440LTD has nice fresh rubber, in fact the front tire only has about 50 miles on it (how sad is that?).

So finally, to my question; Bikez.com says the wheel and tire specs are the same for the '82 KZ1000LTD as for the '80 KZ440LTD. Can someone confirm this? I'll save a boatload of money swapping those wheels and tires over.

If you've read this, thank a teacher!

Welcome home. Swapping the wheels ain't gonna happen, but the tires are the same nominal size. According to Kawasaki.com the '82 KZ1000LTD has a rear disk brake but the KZ440 has a drum brake. Ed

Yup, that would be correct on the rear wheel... I think I'm just gonna sell the 440 as a parts bike and put the proceeds toward new rubber for the new KZ1000. I might sell my old KZ1000 to a friend who is currently sans bike, if he can find a mechanic down his way that would work on it.

[May place ad in classified forum.]