converting from chain to shaft

A friend and I were bench cruising (not bench racing!) and we got into talking about what would be involved in converting a kz1000 police bike to shaft drive. Is it possible? How many parts need to change?
Bruce
'81 GPz
Elkhart, Kansas

i think id just buy a shaft drive bike,much easier!

Like wireman said. It can be done but why? Anyway, you will need a shaft motor (79-80), swingarm, rear wheel and probably a bunch more stuff.

I'm not familiar with the police bike frames, but the KZ1000Shaft frame is about 2" wider where the swingarm pivots than a standard KZ1000 is in that area.

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Woops I guess that wuold put a kink into the plan! :ohmy:

Thanks for that last info! Glad somebody knew that before we started tearing his bike up and rounding up parts!
I'm learning late in life that a stupid idea is only stupid if you go ahead and do it without asking if anybody else has tried.

The main problems would be that the shafty swingarm doesn't have an "axle" running through it like on the cop bike. There are two small shafts on each side that pivot on needle bearings. In order to use the swingarm off a shafty you would have to weld and drill the frame on the cop bike and I think this wold be pretty much precision work as these pivot mechanisms are pretty complex work. The shafty swingarm integrates a tube for the drive shaft and bolts to the rear drive unit. You would have to use an ST engine that mounts differently than an 82-05 cop bike engine and would require some serious welding on the cop bike frame to get the motor mounts located.

wiredgeorge wrote:

The main problems would be that the shafty swingarm doesn't have an "axle" running through it like on the cop bike. There are two small shafts on each side that pivot on needle bearings. In order to use the swingarm off a shafty you would have to weld and drill the frame on the cop bike and I think this wold be pretty much precision work as these pivot mechanisms are pretty complex work. The shafty swingarm integrates a tube for the drive shaft and bolts to the rear drive unit. You would have to use an ST engine that mounts differently than an 82-05 cop bike engine and would require some serious welding on the cop bike frame to get the motor mounts located.....

...you'll also need to shim the driveshaft properly so you don't end up with vibration issues and possibly engine/final drive damage.