TOPIC:

Grateful to be on the forum.  I'm currently reviving a 1979 KZ1000A3A MKII. Previous owner seized a piston due to oil starvation. (More on that later)  Prior Kawasaki riding history:
My first motorcycle was a 1976 KZ400D3. 18 years old in the Marine Corps - purchased new in Arlington Texas. 2 days later rode to my duty station in Camp Pendleton, CA. Six months later, traded in for new KZ1000A1. That one got stolen - replaced by Insurance.  That one was totaled when I ran off a curve in San Diego County back country.  Insurance was not renewed for some reason....  Shop owner let me revive it (New frame required). From my experience, was hired part time as a parts sales man. When I got out of the Marines in 1979, I went to work as a full time Parts Manager at the shop. Later partnered with the Sales manager to buy salvage wrecks which we restored and sold.  He was the body/paint guy - I was the wrench.  Various motorcycles owned/raced/restored over the years include:
1976 KH400 triple - raced AFM
1980 KZ550A - raced AFM
1981 KZ750E - took cross country with my girlfriend (now wife of 39 years)
1983 GPZ550 - street ride & raced AFM (Last race April 1984 - too busy with new job) 
1986 ZG1000 Concours - rode for 80K miles+  Several long trips.  In 1986, I rode the Concours, wife rode the GPZ550 from Oceanside CA to World's Fair in Vancouver BC and returned.
1979 KZ1000B LTD - rebuild/sold
1982 Yamaha 650 Seca Turbo - rebuild/sold
1978 KZ650C (x2 - basket cases) Restored both - sold
Had 3 KZ1000P's that I rented to officers wanting to practice for Motor School. Since sold all three.
2003 BMW R1150RT - sold after 9 years
2014 BMW R1200RT - current primary ride
1971 Norton 750 Commando - Resto-mod. Originally picked up in 1989 as a basket case. Current 'tinker' attraction
1979 KZ1000A3A MKII  Present project, .  Picked up from PO in pieces.  Currently have the engine apart. Identified 2 issues for oil starvation:
1.  Apparently he kicked up a plastic bag while riding along the freeway in So Cal. When I took the countershaft sprocket off, there was a wad of plastic behind it that had forced the seal into the engine. It was dangling there with a huge gap for oil to mist out to the chain, case, rear wheel etc.
2. Split the cases. Previous mechanic(?) installed a too-long bolt in the right lower engine mounting position.  The bolt was apparently over-torqued and subsequently forced the oil -passage plug inward. The plug now covers 2/3rds of the oil access port for the Pump to Filter pathway.  Trying to come up with a workable solution (maybe drill out the plug then install a threaded plug? - May have to enlarge the engine mounting hole for access, then install a bushing to return to correct size). 

Enough for now!  Looking forward to sharing, learning and growing in the hobby.  

Bob F.
 

Welcome to KZR
I fixed your pictures to be full size
Next time click the insert all tab
Dave

Welcome from the UK

Welcome to KZR...the A3A is a sweet motorcycle.

Just a thought on the oil way plug issue, could you do the following

• Drill and tap the plug blind at 6mm or 8mm (pink arrow)
• Screw in a piece of all thread
• Run a nut down the thread to a large washer against the outside of the casing, thenwind the nut downto pull the plug back into place
• Drill through the casing (green arrow) and "pin" the plug to keep it in place (sink the pin below the surface of the casing and peen over to ensure it stays put

As I say, just a thought 

There's enough room in the oil filter chamber to insert a steel rod and either knock the gallery plug back into position or drift it out through the engine bolt hole and replace with a tighter fitting one if it leaks.
Been there , done that..


 

Welcome to our obsession.  Looks like you've also had it for a while.   

Welcome to our little interwebs corner of motorcycle madness.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Thast interesting.  I ran into the same issue with a KZ900 engine i'm working on where they used a longer bolt and pushed the 12mm plug into the 10mm bore. But in my case the case popped open. So it was leaking back into the sump and also out the side and all over. All the pieces were still there but bulged out and cracked. I removed the pieces and smoothed the edges a bit. I was thinking of welding it up and machining for a new plug but the cost would be a bit. I thought about it and decided to make two plugs, the first would seal the oil supply port and the other would seal the outer case. I figured there was enough wall thickness to seal so the plugs were a tight fit and I also used some red locktite which should keep them in place. The plug that seals the outer portion was set a bit deeper and filled with JB weld also. I was thinking of tack welding those two plugs but I think I will leave them as they are. I plugged the oil  pump supply cavity with thin oil and had no leaking past that plug. I will also leave the case like it is rather than attempt to weld around those plugs.

Much thanks for the suggestion.  I was planning to take the case to my friends shop Saturday and drilling out the plug, replacing with threaded plug. Like your suggestion.  Will try that first. Thanks again!

You should be able to tap that plug out 

Bobf wrote:

Much thanks for the suggestion.  I was planning to take the case to my friends shop Saturday and drilling out the plug, replacing with threaded plug. Like your suggestion.  Will try that first. Thanks again!

As already mentioned above.
The plug will easily knock out through the engine mounting bolt hole using a drift inserted from inside the filter housing.
I have done many and simply replaced loose ones with a tighter fitting bung machined on the lathe.