Information needed

Thanks to those who have posted here, I have substantially reduced my list of needs, and will be spending some time at Cycle Chaos. As of this moment, here is what I have left.


1979 KZ400H1
1980 - 81 KZ440A, B, D
1983 KZ440D5
1980 KZ750G LTDII
1981 KZ750 H2, L1 - still need engine numbers
1982 KZ750R1 - still need engine numbers
1986 ZX550A3
1987 - 88 KZ305B
1988 ZX750 GPz
1990 - 93 ZR550B
1991 - 93 ZR750C
Copcycles - P6 - P24

Also, can anybody confirm which, if any, of the following models got the MKII engine?
KZ1000C3 - C4
KZ1000E (ST)


Yes, it has been a quite a bit of work. Probably 18 or 20 hours so far.
At work, I use a Mac and am quite comfortable with it. I am doing this at home on a Winners machine running Office 365, and am constantly reminded of why I love Mac.

Mikaw, I think the MKII was only sold in 1979 and 1980. Yes to your other questions.

The valve train is most diffrent part of the engine:

Z1/KZ900/KZ1000 crank chain sproket = 15 teeth
Z1/KZ900/KZ1000 cam chain sproket = 30 teeth
Z1/KZ900/KZ1000 cam chain = 122 links (roller chain)
MKII crank chain sproket = 16 teeth
MKII cam chain sproket = 32 teeth
MKII cam chain = 124 links (roller chain)

Later engines had HYVO chains.

TexasKZ, Scirocco thank you both.

Here is a post from Jeff at z1enterprizes.

May 27, 2005
in 1979 & 1980, Kawasaki produced the MK II engine. This engine used a slightly different crank - the center section of the crank was beefed up and uses a 16 tooth cam chain sprocket on the crank and 32T camshaft sprockets (versus 15T and 30T on the Z1/KZ900/other KZ1000 motors thru 1980). It's this superstong crank center section that attracts the drag-racers to those engines.

You have to be careful in shopping for those engines. Not all KZ1000 engines made in 79/80 are MK II motors. The LTD bikes in 79 used the 15T crank - the only way of knowing for sure is to pull the cam cover and count teeth on the cam sprockets.

In 1981, Kawasaki created a new engine - AKA the J motor as the first model with it was the KZ1000-J1. The cylinder head on these bikes was modified from the earlier Z1/KZ900/KZ1000 head to take advantage of the bore size (up to this point, all the Z1/KZ900/KZ1000's used a head design geared around 66mm bore - so the hemispherical combustion chamber was only 66mm across - even thought the KZ1000 was 70mm). The crank stroke and bore size changed too - some parts are interchangeable with the earlier engines, but it's best to think of them as a whole new engine.

Some people will disagree, but generally these J motors are not as good as the earlier motors (except for the head). They are excellent running engines, just not as desirable for performance engines.

The 1979-1980 KZ1000E shaft drive for sure had the MKII engine, the 1980 KZ1000 fuel injected model had it, the 1979 KZ1000B3 LTD did not have it, the 1980 KZ1000B4 had it. As mentioned the MKII was only made in 1979-1980 and was only actually designated MKII on the sidecovers of the 1979 KZ1000A3. The 1980 KZ1000A4 looked the same basically but no longer said MKII anywhere on the motorcycle. The 1980 Z1R KZ1000D3 also had the MKII engine.
So all KZ1000s had the MKII engine in 1980, except the police model. I could be wrong on that fact though. In 1981 they went to the smaller, lighter, more powerful KZ1000J engine that had a load of problems, but I believe the police bikes still used the older engine that year, and went to the J in 1982.

After a few days off, I have made a bit more progress. I am still in need of---

1981 550 B2 engine numbers
1983 440 D5 engine numbers
1988 305 B3 vin and engine numbers
1992 ZR 750 C2 vin and engine numbers
1993 ZR 750 engine numbers

Police bike frame and engine numbers P6 - P20

TexasKZ wrote: After a few days off, I have made a bit more progress. I am still in need of---

1981 550 B2 engine numbers
1983 440 D5 engine numbers
1988 305 B3 vin and engine numbers
1992 ZR 750 C2 vin and engine numbers
1993 ZR 750 engine numbers

Police bike frame and engine numbers P6 - P20

A couple of steps forward, several back. I decided to include the ZR7 and ZR7S since they share the same basic engine architecture as the KZ650/750.
This means that I also need vin and engine numbers for the
2000 ZR 750 F2
2001 ZR 750 H1
2002 ZR 750 H2
2003 ZR 750 H3
2004 ZR 750 H4
2005 ZR 750 H5

Great undertaking. Thanks a lot!
The 1986 Zx550A would have been an A3 if I'm not mistaken... and I'm not sure the U.S. got that model. I thought 85 was the last year in the U.S.

I know we all assume that Kawasaki increments the model designation one number every year, but I have found at least 1 model where that rule does not hold true according to Kawasaki's parts fiche. I don't remember exactly which bike model did not follow the rule. If I can find it I'll let you know.

Here's how I think the Zx550's break down.
1984 Zx550A1 (Gpz)
1985 Zx550A2 (Gpz)

1986 Zx550A3 (Gpz) available in the U.S.? Canada only?

loudhvx wrote: Great undertaking. Thanks a lot!
The 1986 Zx550A would have been an A3 if I'm not mistaken... and I'm not sure the U.S. got that model. I thought 85 was the last year in the U.S.

I know we all assume that Kawasaki increments the model designation one number every year, but I have found at least 1 model where that rule does not hold true according to Kawasaki's parts fiche. I don't remember exactly which bike model did not follow the rule. If I can find it I'll let you know.

Here's how I think the Zx550's break down.
1984 Zx550A1 (Gpz)
1985 Zx550A2 (Gpz)

1986 Zx550A3 (Gpz) available in the U.S.? Canada only?

Your info on the 84 and 85 confirms what I have found.
I found a source that lists a North American vin for the 86, so I have included it, but I have no confirmation whether it was Canada only or not.

This has been an interesting and informative task. I had no idea there were so many KZ models sold in North America. One of the interesting tidbits I found is that starting with a couple of models in 1977, then spreading to all of them, KZ engine numbers have the letter E in the middle, suggesting to me that this is an easy way to tell an engine number from the vin or frame number. This practice carried over into the early ZN and ZX bikes that used KZ engines. Also, the Lincoln vins are easy to spot. they all have a 5 as the first of the sequential numbers ---
JKAZXDE1_FB5XXXXXX. I have found one exception (1980 440A2 LTD) , which raises some doubt in my mind about the accuracy of the source.

TexasKZ wrote:

loudhvx wrote: . One of the interesting tidbits I found is that starting with a couple of models in 1977, then spreading to all of them, KZ engine numbers have the letter E in the middle, suggesting to me that this is an easy way to tell an engine number from the vin or frame number.

They were doing that in '73. The Z1 frame numbers start with Z1F-xxx, and the engine numbers are Z1E-xxx. They dropped the "F" for the frame when they changed the VIN format in 76 to be the model and subtype (KZ900B-xxxx), but kept the "E" in the engine number. It looks like they didn't widely adopt the new VIN format until '77 as you say. For example the '77 KZ1000 used KZT00A-xx and KZT00AE-xxx.

DOHC wrote:

TexasKZ wrote:

loudhvx wrote: . One of the interesting tidbits I found is that starting with a couple of models in 1977, then spreading to all of them, KZ engine numbers have the letter E in the middle, suggesting to me that this is an easy way to tell an engine number from the vin or frame number.

They were doing that in '73. The Z1 frame numbers start with Z1F-xxx, and the engine numbers are Z1E-xxx. They dropped the "F" for the frame when they changed the VIN format in 76 to be the model and subtype (KZ900B-xxxx), but kept the "E" in the engine number. It looks like they didn't widely adopt the new VIN format until '77 as you say. For example the '77 KZ1000 used KZT00A-xx and KZT00AE-xxx.

The frame / vin numbers are pretty bewildering. For instance, for a couple of years the KZ200 frame numbers began with KZ200, while at the same time, the KZ400 frame numbers began with K4. The modern 17-digit numbers began with the 1980 Police bikes (C3), then spread to all but three of the KZ line the next year.

Welp, I have posted what I have found so far. The list is arranged by year, and then by displacement. I am still missing info on the cop bikes and the Zephyrs. If anybody has reliable information on them, I would be happy to include it. As the document title suggests, it includes only those models sold in North America. Yes, some were also sold in other markets, but the list does not include any sold only in other markets.

The document is posted in the Filebase, under General>Chassis>KZ by the Numbers.

If anybody finds an error or three, please send me the corrections and the source of the correct information. As I mentioned before, I have relied most heavily on factory service manuals, the genuine Kawasaki Model Identification brochures and to a lesser degree on Partzilla and Zedder.com. When I found a conflict, I chose the official Kawasaki sources over the others. I have noticed a few anomalies in the Zedder numbers, but left a couple of them in the document as I have no official documentation to confirm or deny.

I hope the document proves useful, it certainly was an interesting task.