I have a '78 KZ1000a with a GS1100 swing arm and I'm planning on using some air shocks.. The shocks have a range of 10 3/8" to 13" max.The bike will sit a bit lower and I'd like to go with a shorter side stand. I was thinking a stand from an LTD model, but not sure what year. I'm also concerned about the bike falling over if the shocks develop a leak. I need some feedback. Thanks in advance!

Got the jets yesterday so Ive been busy sorting the carbs.I got some nice new rubbers to make things easier for mounting

Any ideas on whats going on here? Seems to be a hole that is exposed. Is that normal?

Another question. What are these rubber rings for? They sit in a recess under the gasket with no apparent use.Can I do without them??(Im missing 2 of them)
I also fitted the chain guide(?) Swingarm protector(?). I ground it down with a belt sander to make it as slim as possible. Ill use it for now until I get the swingarm situation sorted.


Other than that,I got a load of small odd jobs done. New plug caps and HT cables fitted,battery earth cable trimmed and mounted, fuel tank sorted (sensor/petcock/fuel cap fitted) and the clutch hose measured up and ready for ordering next week.
Nearly there.

Both have since been sold.

I think I am going to ride it as is this next season to see if I REALLY want to start swapping parts. The classic look and exhaust note IS what attracted me to this bike to start with.....

Thanks everyone for your input!

Wow Kenty. Thanks very much. A nice positive post to start the new year with. Im glad youve enjoyed the build and congrats on your stamina.
Taking your points on the swingarm,I see what you mean about the slack when the throttle is closed. More reason to sort it out.I have shaved the original rubber slider from the GSXR and Im going to mount that for now.I know its not the best fix but its only temporary.I just want to get the bike running and worry about the swingarm later. Its not the time of year to be out clocking up the miles on any bike,let alone a freshly rebuilt bike.
I did look at ZRX arms but theyre up there at 250-300 quid which is way out of my budget now.I do like the idea of channeling the arm that Ive got but I cant weld aluminium. So to get that done (and get it repowdercoated) would probably be 250quid(ish).
The sprockets,Ive thought about. The front will have to stay as it is because thats an offset jobby. Ill have a word with my local shop and see if hell swap me the rear one for something bigger. Though from looking at the line,I think itll make very little difference to the clearance.
The clearance at the shock might not be as problematic as I thought, and again Ive stopped losing sleep over it. If there is going to be an issue,I can turn the rear sprocket around (the back side is recessed) which could give me a couple of mm extra.

So,the situation now is that I have to clean up the points and auto advance. Get the cases fitted. HT cables and spark plugs.Battery earth lead.Carbs put together and mounted. Brakes bled.Oil and petrol.Hydraulic clutch hose fitted and clutch set up. Speedo cable fitted.
Thats it ( I think)
Im still waiting on the speedo cable and the carb jets and I still have to order the clutch hose. Other than that,I have everything I need.
Will keep you posted.
Oh and the posty brought me this


Bling Bling.

first off , i've not been on here for quite a while so ,apologies for that , and secondly this thread is massive and i've spent all morning looking through it , personally i really dislike the styling of the CSR and did wonder what your project would end up looking like .. Congratulations on the outcome , great stance and what a difference to it's original appearance ..... a few things i would like to offer my appreciation for , the seat looks fantastic , really nice job . the speedo mount is another great job well executed and the tail piece looks the business too .and the colour is great . id like to offer a couple of ideas to your problem of the chain touching the swingarm , i used the largest sprockets i could fit on mine , possibly a 17 tooth front sprocket and 46 tooth rear , i would have to check ,but i had to modify the front sprocket guard to get the front one on . i see yours was broken already . this gave me a bit of extra clearance . I also used a piece of stainless steel as a chain slider on top of the swingarm bridge to stop the chain eating into the ally .. you need as much clearance as possible at the bridge , when you shut the throttle the slack in the chain run is suddenly at the top of the chain run and what looked like clearance isn't enough ..... eventually i had to channel the swingarm bridge area and get a piece welded back in , luckily i can weld ally so i did it myself . also your chain is a long way off your rear tyre and you could move it over to gain some clearance for the chain / rear shock area , you only need a little gap , when the wheel is spinning centrifugal forces make the tyre narrower and increase the clearance . I also ground a small area away on the rear spring seat , every little helps . alternatively you could swap the swingarm again ! 2001 ZRX swingarm is a relatively straight forward conversion , already has twin shock mounts and has more clearance at the bridge area .. and it looks good IMO..

Tyrell Corp wrote: I've seen quite a few z1000 specials wearing GSXR rolling chassis bits. Enticing as it is to fast forward 20 years in bike technology the sum of the constituent parts never seems to equal the input -for me anyway.

As kw-a-holic hinted at, If you must be prepared to work around it properly, think slab yokes for offset and spacers for length if necessary. Nothing worse than seeing an ELR or CBX1000 dragging a few inches off the floor with some goofy USD forks and 17" wheels and six pot calipers leaning on the sidestand at a 60 degree angle...complete with an ancient tube frame :side:

Controversial post i know, just think the iconic silhouette shape and ride height that made you buy this in the first place. Then do it better than they could at the time. Or buy a GSXR 1000.



Early GSXR slabside , even in project form is worth decent money now,

Ahhh. Finish the year with some fighting words !?! Release the dogs!!!

I've seen quite a few z1000 specials wearing GSXR rolling chassis bits. Enticing as it is to fast forward 20 years in bike technology the sum of the constituent parts never seems to equal the input -for me anyway.

As kw-a-holic hinted at, If you must be prepared to work around it properly, think slab yokes for offset and spacers for length if necessary. Nothing worse than seeing an ELR or CBX1000 dragging a few inches off the floor with some goofy USD forks and 17" wheels and six pot calipers leaning on the sidestand at a 60 degree angle...complete with an ancient tube frame :side:

Controversial post i know, just think the iconic silhouette shape and ride height that made you buy this in the first place. Then do it better than they could at the time. Or buy a GSXR 1000.

Early GSXR slabside , even in project form is worth decent money now,

i have the 750 forks on mine the 1100 would be a better choice i think they are 1 to 1.5 inches longer

Hi all...just an update. 550 is waiting for the frame to be blasted still; all other parts done. I am debating on a big bore kit and a megacycle cam with a road race grind. It would wake it up nicely. The 1100 is mostly done, rear end is mounted with a modified stock swingarm and the 87 gxsr 18" rear wheel. I purchased a 87 gixxer rear brake and rebuilt and mounted it. Had to weld a bracket on the bottom of the swing arm for the torque arm. Mounted up the zephyr shocks, no prob. Front wheel FINALLY fitted with the 86 gsxr 18" wheel, had to mill the mounting points for the rotors almost 10"mm. Fabricated adapters for the brakes and milled spacers and shims for the 15 mm to 17 mm bearing and axle. And it all works....18" gsxr wheels on a GPZ1100. Really makes it look like S1 with those wheels. I bought a zrx 1100 swing arm, but..it does not bolt up, slightly to wide between pivot holes. Also the lower bar of the arm does not clear the Kerker pipe. So I guessing this needs to be modified (the kerker?) The tank still needs to be sorted, I really want a late model J tank, I have two GPZ1100 tanks I could trade for one? I was also thinking about dropping in a megecycle .385" cam to beef it up a bit.

Hey all! Yes, sorry I didn't respond with what bike.. it's the 650 e1 with the 16" mag rear.

Funny enough, I was triolling Craigslist and found a guy giving away a 77 650 c3 with 18" mags and disc brakes all around.

I picked it up, and I'll do the swap and use the c3 swingarm if needed.

I