winter kz1000 project

ok, so ive been cleaning the bike and doing minor things to it to keep me happy through the regular riding season, BUT its finally time to do some real work. my hand was kinda forced into doing this so early with 2 more good months left but oh well. today i put my drag bars on and stupid me, i forgot to place the clutch in better position so while taking her on a test ride the cable snapped. with that being said, shes going to get a new clutch cable to work with my drag bars and a new master cylinder hopefully as well as a new chain. than the wheels and swingarm (stock) will be powdercoated (after the arm gets a 4+ stretch) and a new exhaust ordered. while those parts are away im going to rebuild, or buy, new carbs and fix the gas tank leak and rebuild the petcock. then its onto trying to fab my rear fairing on with the stock seat. if that wont work as i hope than ill be on the lookout for a 78 kz1000 seat and ducktail fairing. then paint her and ride it til i die.

so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated and any info/criticism will be read with humility as i want my bike to look good and respect the info given to me.

heres the bike when i bought her



heres what she looks like now (first pic w/o the drag bars)

sorry pics didnt work
same order as above

id suggest a 2" over arm for a streetbike

ill do whatever is most feasible. nothing too fancy. so my biggest question right now is...is there any kind of aftermarket master cylinder for the front brakes i can buy to replace that giant black box?

I agree with the 2" stretch swing arm for the street. Mine has a 4" stretch that the previous owner installed and lets just say that the handling is a little sluggish. I'm debating whether or not to just keep it as is or go with something a little shorter. I think I may just keep it as is for playing and getting another bike for everyday riding.

you have any pics of what the 4in looks like? and if you ever wanna swap or get rid of it for some reason im game!

Where's a good place to get a 2" over arm? Like to be able to mount a 180 tire with a 2" over but can't find anyone who will/can make one. D&G starts at 3" over.

sean311 wrote:

ill do whatever is most feasible. nothing too fancy. so my biggest question right now is...is there any kind of aftermarket master cylinder for the front brakes i can buy to replace that giant black box?

have you looked at a rd mastercylinder off a 73-77 900-1000?

racer54 wrote:

Where's a good place to get a 2" over arm? Like to be able to mount a 180 tire with a 2" over but can't find anyone who will/can make one. D&G starts at 3" over.

A Suzuki gs1100E arm is 2 inches longer,2inches lower than the Kawi arm.Easy install and they show up on EBay pretty often.bj

yea ive got a few im looking at. actually just came up with an idea, not sure if anyone on here has tried or even thought of it themselves...
when using drag bars, the stock instrumentation clutters the handlebars pretty badly. i took my front blinkers off so my forks now have nothing on them. i may relocate my blinker control box and the ignition box to a set a modified clubman bars and leave the levers and master cylinder on the drag bars. would def clear up my handlebars and still look decent imo