motomadlin32 wrote: Thank you, I had the frame, swing arm, and center stand powder coated and they also media blasted a box of parts for me. Totaled out to $460. Which I think is awesome considering the quality of the finish and how much prep work time it saved. Definitely recommend powder coating.

Anybody have any recommendations for fork oil or is it all pretty much the same. I am running progressive springs.

I have been using Bel Ray 15w fork oil in my KZ650 for 35 years, and it works great. Damping is just right and I have never had a fork seal leak. I change it about every 2 years, although there have been times went it went longer between changes. One other good thing about Bel Ray is that they make it in 2.5W; 5W; 7W; 10W; 15W; 20W; and 30W, and they can be mixed together to custom tune the suspension if you desire it a little stiffer or looser than any single weight fork oil provides. Most motorcycle shops sell it, or it can be bought online. Ed

Thank you, I had the frame, swing arm, and center stand powder coated and they also media blasted a box of parts for me. Totaled out to $460. Which I think is awesome considering the quality of the finish and how much prep work time it saved. Definitely recommend powder coating.

Anybody have any recommendations for fork oil or is it all pretty much the same. I am running progressive springs.

Alright got my parts back from powder coating! Turned out awesome!! And just dropped $500 in new parts. Can't wait for assembly. Today I've ordered woodcraft 3-piece split clip ons, Athena engine gasket kit, mushman foot pegs, k&n oil filter, and biltwell Kung fu grips. Still got some more to get but that should be a good start. Any recommendations on tires and tires sizes? Last picture is a tire I have interest in, any thoughts? Running stock forks and swing arm. I ride a lot of canyons and twisty stuff so looking for performance. Trying to keep the tire budget under $300 for the set. Any input would be great. Be sure to follow the build. It's been about four months and I'm finally at assembly time with all the goodies; should be fun!!

Before I go on with more pics, here are my initial plans for this build:

- Tearing down engine compeletely and having it meda blasted and re-painted. I will do a combo of black and silver on the engine.
- Sandblasting the frame and having it powder coated (black semi-gloss)
- Painting tank, seat and fenders black with some white racing stripes
- Rebuilding engine with Wiseco big bore kit (72.0mm) to 1075ccm with new valves and guides
- Replacing front and rear drive train sprocket along with new 630 chain
- Changing the carbs from stock CV to Mikuni RS36 with K&N pod filters
- Change to Dyna S ignition with Dynca Coils (I am keeping the option of running the stock ignition)
- Changed fork stanchions (as they were shot) and springs to Hagon Progressive. Also putting on a fork brace.
- Changed rear suspension to progressive suspension, was thinking of Öhlins but I have to save up for that
- Installing hydraulic clutch system from Z1 Enterprises
- Replacing all bearings in stem and swing arm
- Replaced the stock Kerker baffle with 2" competition baffle
- Clip ons (that one was obvious?) and rear set installation
- Replacing front master cylinder and all brake lines with new and improved ones
- Fresh rubber on all wheels

Some non performance, but still cool addons:
- Acewell speedo/tacho
- Keyless ignition (RF-id based)
- LED blinkers

Wanted upgrade (stage 2):
- Brakes, I will need to see how they perform now after switching to new front master cylinder and brake lines.
- Front and rear assemblies of a ZRX (i hear that this is not to difficult to fit together)

I started a little side project for the bike yesterday while I was waiting for parts. I picked up a swingarm stand and modded it for SSSA usage. All I needed was the stand, a 2x6" black steel pipe nipple, 1"x1/16" square tubing, a pair of old 20x42x12 wheel bearings, a bent Vfr750 front axle, and an old R6 axle.

Some cutting, grinding, turning, and some welding and BAM!




I did get some goodies today.



And yesterday, I got the Katana indicator light pod. I think I'm going to mount the gauges on the fairing mount. This will allow me to put the lights at the bottom of the cluster. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to mount it. Perhaps an aluminum or plastic plate?



Later, Doug

The GSX600/750 has a steel swing arm. Why not use the 83-85 GPz750 swing arm with the GSX600/750 wheel? I used a 2000 GSX750 front end and both wheels for a 750 four conversion, then turned around and sold the frame so I still have the parts.

The frame number would help narrow the search down. The engine serial number will also give you lots of information - the stuff before the 'E' is what's important.

I've got a '77 KZ1000A1. I'm looking at the pictures to see what is the same as mine, but keep in mind that most of the liter-class bikes (650, 900, 1000, maybe 1100) from this era used a LOT of the same parts. FOR THE MOST PART the frames were largely the same for all of these bikes, as were the forks, swing arm, brakes, etc. Anyplace where I say "'77" I mean that era of '75-ish to '79-ish.

The single front brake with the dual rotor LTD wheels is one of the things that I've done on that bike. I've added an LTD front brake system to mine to get the dual front brakes onto the calipers.

The seat is definitely off a different bike - the rear fender mount is exposed, and normally it's covered by the seat on the original A1 seat pan. There are aftermarket seat covers that will convert the flat seat to an LTD seat, but I think the pan is from another bike, so that's probably why the LTD seat.

The carbs are the older mechanical slide carbs that are stock on the '76 through '78.

The front brake master cylinder is the older '77 era. The gauges look like the standard gauges from the '77.

The rear fender looks identical to the '77, but the missing front fender and missing 'Kawasaki' cover on the front forks don't say anything conclusive.

The tank and fuel cap are right for a '77.

The rear brake master cylinder is definitely different than my '77, but there appears to be some bolt-on metal there that could mean the rear MC is from something else.

The headlight mounts are the same as on my '77 (except that mine has a Vetter now). The headlight looks like it's not chrome, but it seems to me that this was an option, rather than a differentiator.

The "DOHC" point cover was a specific part from the '77 era bikes IIRC.

There's something missing under the left side cover. That's where the rear MC sits on mine,

Fuel petcock is a mechanical petcock from the '77 era.

The handlebars look after-market - pseudo "cafe-racery". The throttle is a standard dual-cable system (which makes sense with those carbs).

Update on the build. Should be picking up my powder coated frame, swing arm, center stand very soon. Ordered a few new parts such as; chain, all balls steering bearings, fork seals (installed) and swing arm bearings. Also made some progress on the tank. After lots of ideas and research I plan on doing a bare metal tank, any advice on coating or clear coating to prevent rust and have a nice appearance would be appreciated. Pics are the tanks progress. Still have a little more sanding to do to get the grain on the metal where I want it but loving the appearance thus far. In my previous post I put up a picture of the powder coating it was thinking about and is what I've chosen to do. Should be a good contrast to the bare metal tank.
Last picture is the powder coating that will be on the frame, swingarm and center stand .