You have begun your affair with your KZ by making a classic & common mistake - breaking fasteners. This problem is extremely simple to avoid; no fastener should ever be broken when being removed. Breaking the carb holder fasteners is one of the most common mistakes, but there are others that will break too if brute force rather than chemical assistance is used. As you are learning the hard way dealing with broken fasteners is no fun at all.

Please consider the following; it's a shame you hadn't read it before applying too much force to the screws, but it can save you headaches in the future.

TOOLS

Buy a can of Kroil penetrating oil and use it to soak stubborn fasteners for a couple days before trying to loosen them. Remember, the original screws and bolts were installed on your bike when Jimmy Carter was President, so many of them may be hard to remove. Kroil can be bought online, at guns shows, and at some other venues. This stuff has saved me MUCH heartache on fasteners that hadn't been removed in more than 30 years.



Before reaching for that Phillips screwdriver to do a repair or maintenance PLEASE do yourself a big favor and visit the following link. It explains the fact that Phillips screwdriver tips will wreck the crosshead screws (they are not Phillips - they are JIS screws) on your KZ650 and tells how to easily deal with this issue so it will not be a problem.

kzrider.com/forum/21-tools/532335-budget...ewdriver-tips#532335

Before reaching for that wrench or ratchet consider the following. The bolts are steel, but your engine and front forks are aluminum. The bolts are much tougher than the aluminum and if over tightened will strip the aluminum threads. Although these can be repaired, preventing damage by applying proper torque will save you grief, time, and money. Tightening fasteners properly requires torque wrenches. Various vendors, including Snap-on, CDI, Sears, etc., market torque wrenches. The two most popular types are the bar type and micrometer type. Either will work, but the micrometer type is a bit easier to use, especially if you are tightening several fasteners with the same torque - such as cylinder head covers. You will need a torque wrench calibrated in INCH POUNDS for many of the bolts. You will also need a torque wrench calibrated in FOOT POUNDS for the larger bolts. Don't try to use the foot pounds wrench on the smaller bolts as it will not be sensitive enough at low torque settings to provide accurate torque. There are many fasteners that require low torque. These include such things as 6mm oil pan bolts, cylinder head cover bolts, etc. for which the torque in 61-78 inch pounds. These low torque bolts require a wrench that is accurate at low settings and this wrench should be graduated in inch pounds. In addition, there are numerous high torque fasteners such as the front axle nuts (51 - 65 foot pounds) or swing arm pivot shaft nuts (58 - 87 foot pounds). These require a wrench that is accurate at higher settings; this wrench should be graduated in foot pounds. Using the proper torque wrenches to correctly tighten fasteners will help prevent damage and contribute to a safe bike. The Kawasaki Service Manual will list the various torque specs for the bolts. I suggest you get the manual before buying the torque wrenches so you can decide which wrenches best meet the torque specs.

MOTOR OIL
The ingredients in oils have changed over the years. For example, today's Castrol GTX oil (and pretty much all other AUTOMOBILE oil) is not the same as it was in the 1980's. Back then it worked great in KZ bikes. But, things have changed. Early AUTOMOBILE oils contained zinc phosphorus compounds (ZDDP) to protect engine components from metal to metal contact. This was good for engines, but it was found to be destructive to catalytic converters. Consequently, in AUTOMOBILE oils ZDDP was virtually eliminated and replaced with different chemistry generically referred to as "Friction Modifiers." These work fine and offer good protection for normal AUTOMOBILE engines. However, today's AUTOMOBILE oil "Friction Modifiers" are destructive to wet clutches. KZ bikes (and many other brands) have wet clutches. As a result of these oil chemistry changes a distinction needed to be made between those oils which are suitable for wet clutches and those which are not. That distinction was documented by the Japanese Engine Oil Standards Implementation Panel (JASO). JASO developed a number of different oil specifications for different applications. The specifications that apply to 4 stroke motorcycles fall under the "4T Specifications." Within the 4T specifications the JASO MA class oils are specifically formulated for 4 stroke motorcycles with wet clutches.

There are synthetic, semi-synthetic, and non-synthetic oils that meet the JASO-MA standard and any of them will work ok. However, using oils that are not designated as meeting the JASO-MA standard is destructive to KZ clutches.

Ed

a thread on custom fighters has alot of swingarm pivot width info.
www.customfighters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55407

it list the 05 gsxr 1000 @ 225mm

and the 01-02- gsxr 1000 @228mm

couldn't find the 03 gsxr 1000 width. :pinch:

leon

I'm sorry, to be more clear, the pivot point on the stock arm is 8.5. Not sure what it is on the gsxr swingarm. I've heard it may require some shaving. I can't for.the life of me find the measurement online before I buy the part. My google fu is off these days.

I copied this from a post from Jeff Saunders(owner of Z1 enterprises)

Motorcycle Wobble Causes

There's a LONG list of potential area that can cause this.

These are not in any particular order
Wheel bearings
Steering bearings - repack grease, check tightness
Swing arm bushings/sleeves/bearings - replace is worn, repack grease
Fork springs aging - check spring length
Unequal fork oil - if seals leak, then your damping can be ineffective
Rear shocks aging, damper leaks - if you have oil leaking from the seals, the damping is toast.
Worn Tires/Mismatched tires/tire pressures/wrong size tires
Wheel alignment - don't trust the chain adjusters - I visually align the wheels.
Bent rims/broken spokes - get the wheels off the ground and spin them - check for runout / damage
Front disc warped - check for runout
Steering & swing arm bearings are very common problems, but so are tire issues (pressure/mismatch) and wheel alignment.

From www.kzrider.com 650ED

Here’s how I was taught to balance a tire/wheel. Put the axle through the wheel bearings and suspend each end of the axle on something high enough to keep the tire from touching the floor (I use ice chests because I don’t have bar stools :laugh: ). Give the tire a gentle spin – it should rotate freely for a while before stopping. When it stops put a small piece of masking tape on the wheel at the 12:00 o’clock position. That is the lightest side of the wheel/tire combo. Give it another spin. When the tire stops spinning the masking tape should be at the 12:00 o’clock position again. This verifies that is the lightest spot. Tape 2 separate 1/2 oz. weights where you marked the light side. Spin the tire. When the tire stops spinning if the weights end up at 12:00 o’clock replace the 1/2 oz. weights with 2 slightly heavier weights – maybe 3/4 oz. and try again. If the weights end up at the 6:00 o’clock position trim a little equal amount off each on and spin it again. When you have found the correct amount of weight the tire will stop at different positions each time you spin it.

Now here’s why you use 2 weights. You now need to move one weight 60 degrees to the left of the spot you marked as being light and move the other weight 60 degrees to the right of that spot. Tape them in their new locations and spin the tire. It should stop in a different location each time. If not; adjust both weight a little but by equal amounts until it does. Once you reach the point where the tire stops at a different place after each spin mount the weights in those positions.

By moving each weight 60 degrees away from the light spot you have created 3 points on the wheel that balance it out, the original heavy spot and 2 weighted spots, and these 3 points are evenly distributed around the wheel – each is 120 degrees from the other. If you only use a single weight and place it 180 degrees away from the heavy spot you create a barbell effect that is not desirable. Ed

It is 1000% better than it was last year. It feels familiar since it is still MY bike, but it does not feel like a 35 year-old anymore - it is rock solid! Of course, I can't point at any one thing that makes the difference since I did the swingarm, the wheels/tires and the springs all at once. Once I address the speed wobble, my wife will no longer be leaving me behind with her FZ6

Leon, you'll be interested to know that I found a local semi-retired machinist, so I got a very reasonable price on the spacers I needed for the rear axle. I'll have to get as many parts made as possible before this guy sells his equipment!

treitz wrote: Also, based on that info, it appears they do carry a replacement on Z1Enterprises.com - www.z1enterprises.com/ItemDetails.aspx?i...asaki&item=AB40-3038

That looks like it should work. Great price! Ed

Ok so do to having more money than spare time, I'm looking into other options in regards to building my bike. I've got a79 kz400. I was originally goin to stretch the stock swingarm myself but as I've said, time has been short for me.

Now as I understand it thanks to lurking around, a gsxr swingarm is a likely candidate for a swap.

First, is this true?

Secondly if it is, will it really matter if its from a 600/750 or a 1000?

Thirdly, what kinda issues can I expect to run into and what else will be necessary to make this swap? I know the obvious things like wheel, shock and links. But what else?

Thanks in advance guys.

Also, based on that info, it appears they do carry a replacement on Z1Enterprises.com - www.z1enterprises.com/ItemDetails.aspx?i...asaki&item=AB40-3038

That's why I couldn't find them! Was looking for "bushings" not "bearings". Thank you immensely.

Good news! The 1979 KZ400 does not use swingarm bushings. It uses needle bearings and they are an "Active" part,so they are still available from Kawasaki. Partzilla lists them at $9.30 each (needs 2). Ed

find.partzilla.com/?r=t&q=92046-1115&x=9&y=12