KZ1000ST CAFE monoshock new rear end

added some new stuff to the bike this week.
New rear shock off an 08 R6
New rearsets both sides
new exhaust bracket as well

Hey, awesome bike! I'm new to the site and I just picked up a '79 KZ1000 shaftie for free. I had all these project ideas for a chain drive thinking that this bike was chain driven. I was surprised and maybe a tad disappointed to find out it was a shaft drive, but I never turn down a free bike.

I had something similar to this in mind so its great to see that someone has already done a monoshock swap with a shaft drive. Tell me though, that looks like the stock wheel. Did you say that's a 170 on it in the picture above? Did you notch the driveshaft tube already or is that a stock size tire? And if so, what kind of tire is it, because it looks radial and I've been having trouble finding 130 90 17 radials.

Sorry for the long intro for a few short questions there, but I was really excited to see someone else has already been down this road. Once again, sweet bike!

Congrats. Despite the fact that it is shaft drive, they are great bikes. overbuilt motor with a nice strong crank and little to go wrong.

tire size I posted was a typo. It actually has a 130/70 17 on the rear, not a 170 series.
Can't find radials in this size. i went with a Conti-go bias ply, with a modern tread pattern. I like it so far.
This winters project(if I decide to keep the bike) will be grafting the rear supension off of a concours 14 onto the bike. After some extensive research, i think it will work. To put wider rubber on the stock rear rim, the swingarm would have to be notched, and even then you wouldn't gain much clearance...you may be able to squeeze a 150 or 160 on there, but then agian, you still have the skinny rim to deal with, not sure how a 150 series tire woudl work on a 3.5 inch rim. Might have a little balloon action then!

Anyways, good luck on the bike. Let me know if you have any questions

Andrew

That's funny that you say that about the Concours 14. I have an '09 Connie 14 as my daily rider, and I've been staring intently at her rear and wondering what the liklihood of swapping one onto the KZ might be.

I found some radials in a 140/80/17 which should fit with some notching and also fit the wheel with slim-to-none issues, also thought I'd go with a 110/80/19 up front which looks like it should fit without issue. But now, I may just tread water mocking up for the monoshock and see how your ZG14 rear swap goes. If that ends up being feasible, then I'm definitely going the turbo route.

One question in the meantime, where did you hide the battery? In the tail section?

~Drew

yep, the battery is in the tail section, with all of the electronics, although I had to go with a size quite a bit smaller than stock...those things are huge.
I managed to find most of the parts for a swap to the zg1400 rear end on ebay, although it would not be cheap. i am guessing by the time all is said and done I would spend nearly a grand os so. Having to get a matching front wheel to and fit that on there.
My gas tank started leaking again this past weekend, so I said "screw it" and I took the whole bike apart. It is now in pieces in my basement with the engine apart. Putting in all new gaskets, repainting the case and valve cover, and stripping all of the paint of the head and cylinders. It will be nice to have a motor that looks new and doesn't leak. the motor is the only thing I really haven't touched on this bike as of yet. Also doing a color change this winter as well

I'm curious why your fuel tank was leaking. Is it a fiberglass tank?

No, it is the stock metal tank. Right behind the rear mounting tab that seats in the rubber grommet on the frame, there are 2 small hole in the tank as a result of a tab there that broke off. As a temp fix I filled the holes with mega putty, but the gas eventually eats its way through. Now that the tank is off, I will weld the holes shut once the tank is completely dry of gas.