Rear Caliper Repair Kit 82 KZ750 32-1286

So I ordered a repair kit for the rear caliper on my 82 KZ750E and it does not fit. It is a K&L 32-1286 which says it fits the rear but it is too big. The piston is 43mm piston and the piston seal is too large (measures about 45mm). It is really the dust boot I was after but no go. Too big.

Is the standard piston 43mm or do I have some other caliper on my bike. It is a Canadian model but don't think that will make a difference.

Never mind I got it. One of the harder ones I have had to put in but finally got the dust boot seated.

All good

K&L brake parts are suspect. Hope it's truly sorted. OEM caliper seals and dust boots are still available from Kawasaki. A safer bet.

100% with Nessism on this and other K&L parts.

Rick H.

I've never had a problem with K&L. All the parts were made in Japan & appeared identical to oem.

Same here. I have used their parts on both my CB750 and XS650 builds. So far no issues. The rubber dust boot was a little tricky to get on but I suspect that was due to it being new. Once on it fit fine as did the slide boots and seal.

I've only used OEM on brake calipers (they're only a few dollars) so I can't comment on the quality of other brands. However it is important that the caliper and piston is clean before installation. If you're repairing a caliper it's usually because it's old and leaking, and that old brake fluid can crystallize on both of those parts. They can be a pain to clean, but the grooves on both the caliper and piston must be completely clean for a good seal (both the piston seal and the dust seal), and if there's crystallized brake fluid in there, you'll have clearance issues like you have described.

I could write a story book about all the crappy K&L parts I've come across: caliper seals that bind up the pistons (more than one application), master cylinder kits that had a warped plunger, float needles that have a weak spring and won't hold up the weight of the float, and of course lets not forget the crappy valve shims that would shatter inside your engine (fortunately, I didn't experience this one.) I'll never use them again unless out of last resort.

Everyone has a story some good, some bad about parts suppliers. Quite some time ago I was guided by this forum to only use OEM parts whenever possible. Well at first I didn't listen of course and bought some non-OEM parts. The ones that stick out in my brain are master cylinder parts and valve shims. Both gave me grief and I learned that OEM, if at all possible, was best even if it meant spending more money. The valve shims were the convincing factor as in short order the non-OEM ones had worn into a pattern the likes of which I had never seen on any machine part before and I discovered the adjustment wasn't in spec which required replacement quite soon after initial installation. So the moral of the story is simple, if you buy something and it works for you great, wonderful and happy days are upon you, but I now make every attempt at buying OEM parts if at all possible to avoid having to re-do something I have already done once. I won't bother going into the saga of my rear master cylinder which was a cluster from the get go.
Rick H.