Wobble and weave

I used what I had on hand to beef up the gusset on both sides. Next I'll be using larger angle metal to completely cover the gusset top to bottom in the same shape. The one I added to the frame below the pipes helped too. The one above them you can't see. This is a KZ 900 frame and had the same cracking problem. I bought what thought was a Z1 frame but it turned out not to be. Now it's a Franken bike with a salvage title but it's all mine and I can do with it what I please without decreasing it's value. Love what you ride and ride what you love. 
Steve
 

The best thing you can do with that gusset in the front of the Z1/KZ frames is remove the whole thing and replace it with some tubing going from the front downtubes to the lower part of goose neck. Then weld in two tubular braces between the two front down tubes. Then from that lower tube you just welded in place another piece of tubing going from that tube up to the very top frame tube. I can guarantee you that will stop any frame flex in the goose neck area!!!!

This is what Sanctuary does to all of their 50 grand trick Kz1000 builds!!!!! Here in the States the road racers have been doing this to the Z1/Kz900/1000 frames since back in the late 70's!!!!!

These two photos will give you a great idea of what I am talking about. 
 

You can clearly see the tubular brace going from the front down tube to the lower area of the goose neck. Notice the tube that goes from the newly welded in lower tubular brace all the way up to the very top frame tube.
 

wrote:

Rick,  I was involved in the Kawasaki Police Bike Wobble Saga in the early 80s.  I believe at the time Kawasaki was involved in, or had lost a class-action law suit over the situation. I was included in a Nationwide Campaign set up by KMC in CA and KHI to visit Police Depts. and inspect and sometimes work on their bikes. 
The spectrum of how poorly to how well they were maintained was pretty dramatic. I believe Kawasaki's stance was the main issue was bikes that were poorly maintained or had been altered from standard configuration as in non- standard tires, or adding too much weight where it didn't belong. I never did know if the campaign was to gather evidence, the result of a settlement or just a good will gesture on Kawasaki's part. It was fine entertainment for me traveling around with a team of KMC and Japanese guys and meeting Motorcycle cops.

Mike

That had to be pretty interesting going around to the different PD's looking at the police motors.  You are right about the law suit issue too.  Depending on where you go police bikes can be well taken care of or treated like a rented mule.  A clue for me was to always look at the officer that rode the bike.  If he looks squared away with polished motor boots and crisp uniform his bike will be in pretty good shape too.  The second clue was to look at the rear wheel of the cops bike.  If it was filthy you knew how the bike was taken care of.  At the time we had Kawasaki's I was just a part time rider so any time I could get on a department bike was a good time for me regardless of what condition it was in.  For urban use the Kawasaki was a pretty darn good bike.  It was fast and agile and was fun to ride, but we never did buy fairing models for some reason.  Our Harley FL's were pigs by comparison but better on the Interstate for handling but they too left much to be desired. 

When I finally was issued my first full time ride it was a 1985 Harley FXRP and in retrospect that was the best all around police bike I ever had.  It was a "do-it-all" police bike and could handle city use as well as highway use in stride.  It would run an honest 115 MPH and never had stability issues and it would easily jump curbs and go through ditches.  I never really bonded with our few Kawasaki police bikes because I didn't spend enough time on them, but I thought they were an okay bike.  Taxpayers in Wisconsin sure hated to see their troopers riding them though and we caught holy H**L wherever we went on them.  The same could be said for the few BMW's when we had those too.  I vividly recall getting my first new Police Electra-Glide in 1997.  It had a terrific looking color combination and I thought I died and went to Heaven when I rode it out of fleet operations garage.  Being the good trooper that I was I put about 5 miles on it to make sure things were well broken in and nothing fell off and then hit the Interstate for a top speed run.  I was shocked when I could only get 93 MPH out of that bike.  Talk about being disappointed!!!  It loosened up a bit after a while but 97 MPH was all she ever had over the 3 years I had that motor.  I did a little dance when I finally gave it to a new guy.  I will say that Harley was pretty reliable though and I think that was due to good maintenance and the fact it never went fast enough to break anything!

Rick H.





 

wrote:

The best thing you can do with that gusset in the front of the Z1/KZ frames is remove the whole thing and replace it with some tubing going from the front downtubes to the lower part of goose neck. Then weld in two tubular braces between the two front down tubes. Then from that lower tube you just welded in place another piece of tubing going from that tube up to the very top frame tube. I can guarantee you that will stop any frame flex in the goose neck area!!!!

This is what Sanctuary does to all of their 50 grand trick Kz1000 builds!!!!! Here in the States the road racers have been doing this to the Z1/Kz900/1000 frames since back in the late 70's!!!!!

These two photos will give you a great idea of what I am talking about. 
 

You can clearly see the tubular brace going from the front down tube to the lower area of the goose neck. Notice the tube that goes from the newly welded in lower tubular brace all the way up to the very top frame tube.
 

Thanks for the advice Doc. Our advertiser here does nothing with the gusset and the three back pieces won't work with the air box and center stand so I'll use a little of what they all have, what KHI did with their later frames and beef up the gusset as planed. The gusset is flimsy at best but it works with my cooler so I'll keep it. 



 

KHI boxed in the areas where all the tubes meet so at least they were finally getting serious about it. 
I'll be getting a Mig soon so I can get started. It's a cheap HF one but has good reviews and is all I'll ever need plus there will be plenty of money left over for fork emulators among other things. 
Steve
www.harborfreight.com/flux-125-welder-63582.html