78 Z1R upgrades

Cheers

531blackbanshee wrote:

Nola wrote:

531blackbanshee wrote: curious as to why you would put bronze pivot bushing in place of the needle bearings ????

leon

I plan on riding it somewhat aggressive but not right to the edge....so I was thinking based on riding style, ease of maintenance, and with everything else I'm doing to it the bushings would be suitable?
I'm not that informed on the needles though, and would welcome your opinion.

Cheers

the early 900's had bushings,the later bikes got needle bearings.
sooo,did kawasaki consider it an upgrade??? i don't know...
but no other later kawasaki's returned to bushings,they all have needles or a combination of ball bearing and needles depending on the model.

if you plan on "spirited" riding i would consider a stiffer swingarm to be the first handling upgrade.
as the seamed tubing used in the swingarms is slightly stiffer than a noodle.
and, when pushed hard is the biggest cause of instability imho.
i have 3 78 z1r's and one 80 z1r and have never felt that they didn't stop well enough.
so you may want to get the stock brakes up in working order and decide then if you want to upgrade or not.

here is a pic of my 80 z1r which i custom built a braced chromoly arm to deal with my "spirited"riding.

i have a little too much tire(190mm wide)but i like the look and love the stability of the braced arm and large contact patch.

as you can see i upgrade my rear brake to the blue spot r1 rear brake and can't tell any advantage over the stock rear brake.

leon

p.s. i do plan to convert my front end to a usd and matching r1 front wheel and brakes.
the way it sits now is the best handling kz i have ever ridden,my hope is that it handles and stops at least as good as it does now when i convert the front end.hth

Stupid me, I just assumed it came with bushings. Obviously il go with needle bearings, cool bike by the way.


Cheers

650ed wrote: I don't know if you have already done this, but you may want to ride the bike and see how well the brakes work before going through too much trouble changing them. If you flush the brake system and replace the brake fluid you may find that they are pretty well matched for the size of the tires. I know that is the case on my KZ650-C1. If the brakes seem a little wonky you may need new brake lines and/or pads. Braided steel lines encased in a black sheath would not hurt the stock look much at all.

Take a look at the 1978 Z1R road test at www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/kawasaki/kawasaki_Z1R.htm
Notice under BRAKING it states:

"The Z l-R has the best brakes ever installed as standard equipment on a stock Kawasaki street bike. The dual front discs are very powerful, yet progressive, and- give the rider a superb "feel" at the lever. You can haul the big, heavy R down to a screeching halt in short order, under full control and in a straight line. Fade doesn't appear to he a problem under hard usage, and the cable-operated remote master cylinder causes no mushiness in the lever or erratic operation.

The rear brake is powerful and progressive enough to do a good job, although an over-zealous right foot will lock the rear wheel much more easily than an eager right hand can lock the front. The rear wheel is also liable to hop and skip if locked up under certain conditions, although it's no worse in this respect than most other contemporary street bikes."

Thanks for the info and link!

531blackbanshee wrote: curious as to why you would put bronze pivot bushing in place of the needle bearings ????

leon

Leon, he might not be aware that the later year KZ swing arms have needle bearings already?

It seems the stock twin discs are pretty good brakes to me with the stock tire sizes etc. If you really want more bite fit the single disc smaller diameter master cylinder or something in between, Also try braided hoses. I think with the stock Kawasaki setup they were too concerned about people locking up the front wheel, so by fitting the bigger MC they made it so you had two discs with about 1/2 the brake force each you had on the single one, But there are two differences between then and now, one is people are used to powerful brakes they are not coming from a cable operated front drum, on the average early 70's 250, so they are not going to immediately pull it with all their strength, which seemed how you stopped back then - pull with all your might and then hope for the best if it was an emergency. Secondly modern tires have so much more grip than anything from the 70's did you can brake appreciably harder without locking the wheel.

I think suspension improvements is the first area where big gains can be made. Good rear shocks, even just thicker fresh oil in the forks and new tires will be a big improvement IMO.

Perhaps many didn't actually ride these bikes back in the day, but they were pretty capable machines and still are without the need for huge changes. I sometimes wonder how people think we managed to get around with points ignition and so forth, but we did. Perhaps if you are coming from an R6 your experience might be different.

z1kzonly wrote:

531blackbanshee wrote: curious as to why you would put bronze pivot bushing in place of the needle bearings ????

leon

Leon, he might not be aware that the later year KZ swing arms have needle bearings already?

Correct sir.

redhawk4 wrote: It seems the stock twin discs are pretty good brakes to me with the stock tire sizes etc. If you really want more bite fit the single disc smaller diameter master cylinder or something in between, Also try braided hoses. I think with the stock Kawasaki setup they were too concerned about people locking up the front wheel, so by fitting the bigger MC they made it so you had two discs with about 1/2 the brake force each you had on the single one, But there are two differences between then and now, one is people are used to powerful brakes they are not coming from a cable operated front drum, on the average early 70's 250, so they are not going to immediately pull it with all their strength, which seemed how you stopped back then - pull with all your might and then hope for the best if it was an emergency. Secondly modern tires have so much more grip than anything from the 70's did you can brake appreciably harder without locking the wheel.

I think suspension improvements is the first area where big gains can be made. Good rear shocks, even just thicker fresh oil in the forks and new tires will be a big improvement IMO.

Perhaps many didn't actually ride these bikes back in the day, but they were pretty capable machines and still are without the need for huge changes. I sometimes wonder how people think we managed to get around with points ignition and so forth, but we did. Perhaps if you are coming from an R6 your experience might be different.

Thanks so much for the insight, my only experience comes from my H1E, and my buddy's 75 Z1....obviously apples and oranges when comparing to the Z1R....I just assumed the brakes would be shite.....so steel braided line, some grippy pads, and il go from there.



Cheers

Nola wrote:

z1kzonly wrote:

531blackbanshee wrote: curious as to why you would put bronze pivot bushing in place of the needle bearings ????

leon

Leon, he might not be aware that the later year KZ swing arms have needle bearings already?

Correct sir.

Cool Nola. What a Score you got with that motorcycle! Good Luck with it all! I might be wrong with the 78's.
But the 80 Z1R had a double wall reinforcement up at the steering head coming down in the down tubes?
And a little history about the Z1R's. No one bought them in 78, they were called ugly. The Factory had too much inventory. Dealers still had new ones in stock to sell 2 & 3 years after their introduction. That's why there was not a 1979 Z1R.
Then they changed up the 1980. Different sized tank, 19" front rim. But that's about all I know about them.
Your off to a GREAT start!
Enjoy it!

z1kzonly wrote:

Nola wrote:

z1kzonly wrote:

531blackbanshee wrote: curious as to why you would put bronze pivot bushing in place of the needle bearings ????

leon

Leon, he might not be aware that the later year KZ swing arms have needle bearings already?

Correct sir.

Cool Nola. What a Score you got with that motorcycle! Good Luck with it all! I might be wrong with the 78's.
But the 80 Z1R had a double wall reinforcement up at the steering head coming down in the down tubes?
And a little history about the Z1R's. No one bought them in 78, they were called ugly. The Factory had too much inventory. Dealers still had new ones in stock to sell 2 & 3 years after their introduction. That's why there was not a 1979 Z1R.
Then they changed up the 1980. Different sized tank, 19" front rim. But that's about all I know about them.
Your off to a GREAT start!
Enjoy it!

Thanks.....Ya I believe the 78 had the extra gusseting at the head, as far as I know the lack of interest Was one of the reasons Kawi sent a bunch to have turbos installed in a hope to sell them..I read that they were still selling 78's four years later in the UK. Funny how they are so coveted now.

A episode of CHIPS Ponch lost one to a old lady on a game show.
Steve

swest wrote: A episode of CHIPS Ponch lost one to a old lady on a game show.
Steve

So funny, the day I bought it, my buddy and neighbor calls me and says come over....and shows me the very end of that episode....lol

z1kzonly wrote:

Nola wrote:

z1kzonly wrote:

531blackbanshee wrote: curious as to why you would put bronze pivot bushing in place of the needle bearings ????

leon

Leon, he might not be aware that the later year KZ swing arms have needle bearings already?

Correct sir.

Cool Nola. What a Score you got with that motorcycle! Good Luck with it all! I might be wrong with the 78's.
But the 80 Z1R had a double wall reinforcement up at the steering head coming down in the down tubes?
And a little history about the Z1R's. No one bought them in 78, they were called ugly. The Factory had too much inventory. Dealers still had new ones in stock to sell 2 & 3 years after their introduction. That's why there was not a 1979 Z1R.
Then they changed up the 1980. Different sized tank, 19" front rim. But that's about all I know about them.
Your off to a GREAT start!
Enjoy it!

It is strange to me how the Z1R is so popular now, because as you rightly say they were really poor sellers at the time, which is why they came up with putting the Turbo's on them to move them out of the showrooms. I really didn't like them back in 78, much preferred the normal KZ1000. However nearly 40 years later I find them much more appealing than I did in 78, I still recall looking at one in the dealer showroom and calling my friend over" look a Z1R" in those days just the fact it was a 1000cc bike was cause for excitement, but it was not really appealing to me. Perhaps it was ahead of it's time, we certainly weren't used to the "square look" back then and I guess others felt the same way based on sales. Am I right in thinking that as the 78 sold so slowly, there is no 79 model?