80 KZ1000 LTD rim swap

I'm looking to pick someone's brain here for some info. I'm in the process of getting most if not all of the parts I will need for my build and I've come to the wheels/rims. I know the factory specs on my bike come with 19'front and 16' rear, which I'm not a fan of. So my question is can I swap out the wheels from a police bike, which from my research are both 18'? and if so, is it a straight swap or would I need to do a lot of modifications? any help I can get I would really appreciate. If the police swap is not feasiable, is there any other models that come with 18' that would be an easier swap. Oh and I want mags not wire

Hey there,
I don't have many answers for you, but I have the same project!

I found an 18" rear mag wheel with the same design as my LTD, which means it's either from a Z1R or a KZ1000P.
All I got was the wheel, and I thought I could just put all the parts from my 16" wheel and it would fit there. (sprocket carrier, disk brake, spacers and caliper)
Ends up this wheel is narrower so when put everything on it, there's a gap on each side of roughly 3/8".
Now I have to figure out if this wheel is from a KZP or a Z1R to know which parts to get to make it fit.

I asked Jim, from Redlinecycle for some usefull info, and he told me that all swing arms have the same width at the axle, so it's only a question of having the right spacer, sprocket carrier, disk and caliper combo!

Felix

The MKII uses a 18" rear wheel as well. The Z1R was the only model (besides KZP) to come with a 18 front wheel. The easiest way to adapt the 18" police front wheel would probably be swap the whole front end. Plus you get beefier forks and triples.

Tavo is correct, that the swingarms are the same. if it is a 1980 or earlier 18 rear wheel it uses the same sprocket carrier as other 18" mags. check kawasaki.com parts diagrams. you can look up brakes, spacers what ever and see what other models they were used on. not sure how to identify the difference between the KZP wheel and the Z1R and MKII wheels. maybe someone else can chime in here.

When i swapped to wire wheels on my LTD i ended up getting the whole rear hub, spacers, sprocket carrier, and brake setup to get it to jive. but once i had everything it was a direct swap.