BlackZ1R wrote: Ok the main spacer inside the hub. Does that mean the bearings don't have a shoulder to bottom out on inside the hub?
BTW, why are you shouting? :whistle:

The bearing on the brake side of the hub does and it's held in place by the circlip. The other bearing doesn't have a circlip. It's held in place by the two spacer shafts 13 and 19. Those shafts are held in place by the collars on them that press up against ridges in the two hubs. This doesn't guarantee that 17(E) will be up against the shoulder inside of the hub. That should be okay, I think.
By all that's holy, the distance stack up from parts 24, 10, 13, 17(E), 19, 17(A), 4, and the disc brake bracket should be roughly equal the distance between the legs on the swingarm. But, I can tighten the axle nut way too far and it causes binding. Something is wrong or missing. Gotta take it back apart when I can find the time.

And, I have no idea why he is shouting...

Checkout "Z1-900 Stage II" in my signature.

What are my options for changing the rear brake caliper? Something smaller, lighter, and better looking is what I'm after. But I would like to keep my 18in rear wheel, stock style brake stay (or not), and stock replacement rotor?


If anyone has pix of the gs1100 swingarm with upgraded brakes, I would love to see them.

Larry; I really enjoyed your KZ FAQ page/write up. I've had a 76 900 "daily rider" since around 99. I stripped the bike a couple years ago to freshen it up, adding a new stator, solid state rectifier, voltage regulator, halogen headlight, etc etc, but I did not touch the motor except for rebuilding carbs. In hindsight, I wish I had "at the very least" removed the head to port it and do a valve job, but at the time my line of thinking was "it was ok before, should be ok now". This spring I did reinstall the stock air box and sync'd the carbs. Other than a Kerker, it's bone stock but it does run very well.

I'm 51, used to rebuild motors on the side (V8s), did a little drag racing on the side, and I'm doing a frame up restoration on my ole 70 Chevelle SS. I say all that just to let you know a bit of where I'm coming from, my abilities and experence. I'm good with motors, and pretty good with carbs; I just do not have the experience or knowledge with the KZ motors, or for that matter; motorcycle engines of any type. (but I have the ability to learn and understand).

Two things in my future. #1: I have a 77 KZ 1000 LTD I'd like to build for the street for me, basically the KZ that will take me to the age of no more riding. The goal on this motor would be the a good mix of output and reliability. In other words; how many pony's can I get out of it and still have decent street manners. Then; what's it take to achieve that.

#2: I have a 76 900 "parts bike" that I'm seriously thinking about modifying for the vintage motorcycle racing venue. This is a "recent" bug that has bitten me but I think it would be the most fun a person could have with their clothes on! I'm in the process of finding out what all would be required. I don't mean the rules; I have those, I mean what do I need to do to the frame, front suspension, what swing arm, what rear shocks, where do I mount rear shocks, where do I need to gusset up the frame and on and on and on.

Can you point me in the right direction? Appreciate any help you are willing and able to provide.

Chuck Marsh

Bozo wrote:

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Intro, I'm new to this forum, I owned my Z1R since I first bought it Dec 1977 in Melbourne Australia. So far it has covered just on 200,000 kms. Many bikes came and went but the old Z is still here and still puts a smile on my face everytime I ride it.
Currently - Engine -1080 MTC pistons, J model valves, mild speedway cams, ZRX1200 carbies (the best mod I had). Dyna coils and ignition, Dyna rev limiter (crank not welded therefore limited to 10,500rpm), heavier valve springs.
Frame- modified the usual places, front discs/ calipers are from 2006 R6/R1, hydraulics are GPZ (zx) 1100, clutch is also hydraulic with GPZ900R actuator.
Rear end has GPZ750 turbo swingarm modified to suit with a GPZ900R wheel/ brake (saved 25Kg in weight)
Exhaust - Marving racing, without duobt the best pipe I have ever tried and I tried many
The bottom end/ gears are still original, apart from the shaft seals.

The bike now handles brilliantly (for an old bike), brakes better, The engine goes like the clappers, it beats my other work horse a modified FJ1200 in both topend torque and power and still delivers better economy.
Thanks for listening, I hope I can contribute to your forum

Looks Like It Should Be BOTM ( Bike Of The Month), to me. Great attention to detail, well except for the failed weld. :whistle:

Hi,

My name is Kieran and I live in Melbourne Australia. I own a 1980 KZ200 A3.

I bought it early 2009ish? and well I still haven't fixed it. It's sat in my back yard a few years, the engine was rebuilt kinda... And then for another few months a friend offered to work on it. I decided to get it running again as it's just a waste of space otherwise.

A bit more detail:
I took it in for a roadworthy and was given a long list of things to repair already having spent too much for it in the first place...

After seeing the list of problems I decided I could fix most of them with my brothers help.
We've replaced the bearings. front hub, rear hub and swing arm. Changed the tail light over and done a few other things. It constantly fouled the plugs and I was told the motor had to be rebuilt to fix it. So I've had the cylinder bored out and a new piston installed along with a new gasket kit for the top end. And well since then we've never been able to get it started.

I saw there are a few other KZ200 owners on here so I decided to join here to get some advice.

So yeah that's about it.

Cheers,
Kieran

Here's a pic back from 2009 after a few things had been fixed. (before the motor was rebuilt)

I just machined some small spacers that go in place of the factory spacers they are just 16mm inside instead of 25mm made of stainless steel. Took me 10min and.I'm a novice any machine shop.could easily.do.it.and some off the shelf washers on eitheer side and ur done ill take some pics.of.them if u need

So another day of work. I couldn't afford les' swingarm so I found another one on craigist with a wheel tire brake rearsets and bolt on extensions. I payed 150 for all of it its off an 04 gsxr. I turned it upside down and machined some adapter to make my factory swingarm pivot bolt work and two stainless washers and she fits great. Mocked it up with the shocks just sitting on top of the swingarm. What do u think guys am I going the right direction???. Frame was sand blasted and sealed haven't painted it yet still some fab work to do

BohicaBob wrote: You should consider a number of things before proceeding. I'll use my Z1-900 as an example. Years ago I upgraded the stock spoked wire wheels to DID alloy rims and SS spokes/nipples, a 2.15" x 19" front and a 3.00" X 18" rear on the reinforced but stock swingarm. Handling improved as I changed the front fork damper rods to later model KZ900's along with Progressive front springs and Progressive rear shocks. So the stock geometry was not significantly changed from stock if at all by the changes. I braced the frame a long time ago by the way.

In 2006, I replaced the DID alloy wheels with wider 17" Excel alloy wheels wide enough (3.5" and 4.25") to support the use of radial tires, and added a GS1100 swingarm and a rear disc brake setup. Here I had to consider how this bike's geometry and total height/ground clearance would change along with its handling because of the 17" wheels. I even took into account the actual diameter and width of the Avon AV45 and AV46 tires I wanted to use, the resultant trail changes, wheelbase change (the GS1100 swingarm is longer than the OEM Z1 swingarm) etc. I missed one important item that surfaced with use of 17" wheels and OEM KZ1000 front and rear calipers: I will spare you the details for the moment.

im sure i can figure those out ,

i did find out this dose have front and rear disk, dual up front.
so that at least makes me feel some what better. how ever still would not mind finding something to do with the swing arm to make it a bit more stable and also help the performance on it. not looking for a drag bike, but like that look.

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

Motorcycle Wobble/Vibration 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 if 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 run out/ damage

Balance the wheels- makes a big difference.

Check for wheel run out(out of round).

Front disc warped - check for run out (out of round)

Dragging brake pads

Steering & swing arm bearings are very common problems, but so are tire issues (pressure/mismatch) and wheel alignment.