I had to grind the inner part of the frame that the pivot bolt slides through to account for a wider area of the swingarm with the bearings. I ground them down to the thickness of the 2 washer and it fit quite snug.

I think I have a similar problem on my 82 kz1000ltd. When I apply th :side: e rear brakes, the rear of the bike shifts to the left, as if the right side has no bearings. I had the bike down to the frame last month. The first time it happened, I checked and tightened the swing arm pivot bolt, which was very loose. The problem is still there though?

Good Morning...

Spent some time on the kz tonight. The first thing I did was get beer out.


Then pull the tank off, and it rattled... not like rust or a nut or something. Come to find out that someone had made it their home while it was barned with no gas cap. Pretty sure I got it all out with the hose. Is there any suggestions on getting the inside of this tank sealed? Do I do it before or after I dent the tank? Not the cheapest way either...


Got the carbs out and the old air cleaners off. They look in good shape, but are dirty on the outside, an overhaul none the less will be required. Are there any suggestions for Velocity Stacks for my carbs, or should I wait till I figure out my exhaust? I think stainless steel lines are in the future as well.



I pulled off most of the right side foot controls and pegs except for the kick start. Any way someone would know the size of that allen bolt?

Oh yeah, I took a pic of the engine serial #. It's a z1 for sure but is it really a 76? Not so sure now.




I pulled the gauges off up front and worked out most of the wiring harness and where everything goes. (hence the blue tape) The lights for the dashboard really pissed me off. How do I get the front cover off to remove the bulbs? I ripped one right out of its socket through the back trying to pull one out.




And last but not least. My friend put some bondo on the aluminum swing arm to smooth it all out for paint. Not MY First thought. Is bondo a good source for smoothing aluminum welds? That was his original plan, but it's chipping off in lots of places. Was it done poorly? Plus, I know painting aluminum is a bitch. I know it needs to be anodized.



[attachment:8]C:\fakepath\bondo'd aluminum.jpg[/attachment]


Well thats it for now, thanks for all of the interest! I know there are sections in this forum for these questions, I would just like to have one one build where a new person can see everything I did, and why I chose that way.

Captain

First thing I would do is take the frame in for black powdercoat. I'm not a fan of color on the frame. Then get some tapered steering bearings and put the front end on and new swingarm bearings put the rear end on. Youcould have a roller in less than a week and that should keep you motivated. And you can send pics to your buddy and rub his nose in it. :laugh:

Hello there, Kelly Thiessen here from Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada. I picked up a 1978 KZ 1000 last week. I previously owned a 2001 Yamaha V-star 1100 (cruiser) which I loved and put many kms on. It was time to move on to something different and I'm very much looking forward to this. The bike is in very good shape overall. I plan to ride it stock for a year or two then slowly upgrade some things, forks, brakes, swing arm. Looking forward to getting advice on this forum.

In no particular order ;

Reasons for KZ1000 Police head shake.

Ever wonder why the radio box is on a pivot with a shock absorber ?
A suit brought by the single largest purchaser of the KZ1000 Police model , The Calafornicating Highway Patrol ,an injured Trooper and the insurance underwriter et all against Kawasaki Heavy Industries proclaimed the bike to be inherently unstable . Although settled out of court the result was that since CHP motor officers are instructed to ride straight up in the seat a concession had to be made to stabilize the bike in turns . This gave us the dubious advantage of the pivoting weight of the radio platform .

The GPZ 1100 uses a 10mm id shell bearing in the counter shaft cover but by the time you decide to mod your KZ cover the shift shaft is also worn so order it up too. While you're in the transmission sub cover replacing the shift shaft replace all the springs . It's just good preventative maintenance .

Every one of the 1000 Police models I have seen , owned , serviced has been bent in some way , shape or form .
subtle bends in the fork tubes
multiple bends and tweeks in the steering stem , upper and lower trees and axle .
steering head
back bone
down tubes
swing arm
swing arm pivot points
swing arm through bolt
rear axle
and in at least two cases a parallelogram or lozenged frame that would straighten with motor mount torque but would eventually loosen with vibration and time .

All Balls racing for steering head bearings . Don't be tempted to put a zerk fitting in the steering head .In the long run it gives a false sense of security and ease of maintenance . The bearings need to be removed , cleaned , inspected , repacked and correctly preloaded at least every time the front forks are serviced .
The front forks need to be serviced regularly . Complete disassembly , cleaning and inspection .
local bearing house for wheel bearings paying attention to the front and rear internal wheel spacers to eliminate side loading of the bearings
The shell bearings for the swing arm are dead after as little as 15k miles and are unfortunately a dealer part .
The 630 chain in conjunction with worn swing arm bearings will oscillate and resonate at certain rpm even when new . If the chain has tight and loose spots in it as well I'm sure you can do the elementary geometry.
A steering dampener may not sound like a bad idea on the surface but on this bike all it does is cover up damage and lapses in service , maintenance and repair .
I have in 27 years of owning and riding the 1000 Police found it to be all but unconditionally stable with the exception of the above mentioned faults .

Look these bikes are abused , daily , at the hands of skilled riders no doubt but abused none the less . They are used in training , off road excursions (planned and unplanned) , daily encounters with curbs , bumpers of witless cage drivers and the occasional pedestrian . They take a beating . When they have filtered down into private hands they are released from service with all their bruises , bends , brakes and road wear . They take an exacting if not practiced eye to find all their sins and even then the gremlins can not and will not ever be completely eradicated from them . All you can do is manage the damage .

~kop

I removed the swing arm and clearly the left bearings were completely shot. This probably explains the side-to-side movement :woohoo:

The swing arm sleeve got chewed by the bad bearings on the left (somebody got the right wrist not under control) but the right side of the sleeve is still in spec.

Left:



Right:






The swing arm sleeve Les recommended from Z1 is in the mail and we shall see if we can get that sloppiness under control...

I removed the swing arm and clearly the left bearings were completely shot. This probably explains the side-to-side movement :woohoo:

The swing arm sleeve got chewed by the bad bearings on the left (somebody got the right wrist not under control) but the right side of the sleeve is still in spec.

The swing arm sleeve Les recommended from Z1 is in the mail and we shall see if we can get that sloppiness under control...

Did u get an answer for your jetting? if not , try posting the question in a separate post in the carb section for a fast answer.

the bearings are new and i just put them in the frezzer for a week before instal thay went in easy i have tryed doing some sanding on the ends of the sleve to clean it up it will go in some but dont want to force it and mash the new bearings !! i will try the bolt in the sleave and try the other way in . it will go in a littel ways. its hard to get a meserment on the inside of them bearings. thanks all i will try all them ideas !!!