Converting KZ1000 Police?

Wow! This board has changed since I was last here...

Anywho, I know there was a member or two that owned a police KZ1000 and turned it into a streetbike (e.g., no boxes, normal seat, and pegs), but I can't remember who it was and since the forums are lost, I can't do a history search.

Here's what I want to do:

- Standard 2-seater seat (loose the single-saddle)
- Loose the fairing
- Loose the footboards

I've managed to take care of most the other things (actually removing the fairing and installing a normal 7" light with ears and turn signals, remove all the engine gaurds, remove the boxes, and exchange the fenders).

Here's the main concerns:

- I heard a KZ1000 CSR seat ('82 vintage) bolts right on...any witnesses?

- When you remove the fairing, do you saw off the front fairing mount (on the neck), or just ignore it? It doesn't get in the way too much...

- How did you install foot controls and pegs? Did you saw off the footboard mounts and get controls from a different year bike? What year?

Thanks for any help! I don't really want to go hacking away at my bike ( :pinch: ) until I can get a decent to-do list going....and if I don't have to...

PS- I really like the new site! Very streamlined...

russbernhardt wrote:

...Anywho, I know there was a member or two that owned a police KZ1000 and turned it into a streetbike (e.g., no boxes, normal seat, and pegs), but I can't remember who it was and since the forums are lost, I can't do a history search.
...

Welcome back!
It was Sandracer, yes? And as for the old forum, just click on "Archive" from the menu at the top...

Yo Russ!

I believe you are thinking about the bike owned by Sandracer. If you look in the "Archive" tab, you will find that most of the old posts are still there. A lot of the old pictures are gone though. I am sure you will get a reply from Sandracer. He's the expert on this topic.

Biquetoast wrote:And as for the old forum, just click on "Archive" from the menu at the top...

:whistle: I actually just noticed that "Archive" button about 0.5 seconds after I clicked the submit button...oh well.

I'll take a look at the archives and see if I can't dig something up.

Hey apeman, how's the weather? Nice huh?

Thanks!

I was just the other day wondering what ever became of you...

And before you lose that solo seat, you should U2U me. I might have a buyer.

Have you ridden this bike enough to have a "feel" for it? Don't start pulling off things that affect the way you and the bike mesh unless you have tried it out.

That having been said...if you cut any mounts, you're going to wind up with a bare-metal stub that has to be ground off, smoothed out, and painted. Know this before you start up the saw.

What kind of controls are on the bike now? I confess to not knowing, but simply assuming it has foot shifter and brake controls made for footboards, and that mounting stock peg-and-lever controls in their place (with proper hookups, of course) would suffice. Don't saw off anything. Does the footboard/control assembly include a toe-and-heel type shifter? If it does, look at it real close before you saw off that "mount." But what do I know on that one? I just know it worked on an HD we modified, so I assume it's not too difficult here...

Tell me when you're done and we'll both know.

The cop bike ebay seller from Canoga Park California has a couple of options they sell... dual seat and passenger pegs. You might want to do some research and check them out. I don't have the link anymore after my last crash... As far as getting rid of the driver floor boards, those brackets are welded to the frame so some cutting and welding will be necessary. The heel/toe shifter will have to be removed as well as the big square brake pedal... Peg mounts will need to be welded on.

wiredgeorge wrote:

The cop bike ebay seller from Canoga Park California has a couple of options they sell... dual seat and passenger pegs. You might want to do some research and check them out. I don't have the link anymore after my last crash... As far as getting rid of the driver floor boards, those brackets are welded to the frame so some cutting and welding will be necessary. The heel/toe shifter will have to be removed as well as the big square brake pedal... Peg mounts will need to be welded on.

I'll check out the seller...

I'm cool with cutting, but I was hoping to get away with not having to do any welding (or paying for welding)...I might be able to get away with frame-clamp mounts, huh?

Removing the existing hardware is a cinch, but I'm not sure how "standard" rear brake hardware will fit on the frame...

Thanks for the tips, wg.

Post edited by: russbernhardt, at: 2005/11/24 16:13

I seem to recall there is a KZ cop bike forum out there somewhere... I used to have a link to it. That type site might have more info on converting. I was real serious about a cop bike that was on eBay about a year ago... I think it was being sold from Okie. Had been converted much as you are talking about except they left the boards on... the cop bike bags were replaced as well with some soft luggage but it was sweet...

Post edited by: steell, at: 2006/04/18 10:38

Hey there, not sure where you are with this. The guy in Canoga is where I got my bike. It's hollywood motors corp. number is 818-888-2200. He has a rear seat and pegs but you can do it yourself. I'm about to post some pics in the chat section so you can see what I did. The rear seat is a harley seat. The pegs I just grabbed off a yamaha parts bike and they screwed right in to some threaded holes that I think were for the bags. The floor boards sit in a metal frame so to speak, wouldn't do it. Besides, they are comfortable. The fairing should be easily removable. I say that with no experience but know that mine has no parts left from the fairing. U can U2U me if you want. Good luck

i might be interested in the floorboards and pedals if theyre not too expensive?

This page/thread isn't displaying properly for me so I hope this post works OK...

The boards and rear brake would be pretty tough to use on a KZ900. The frame on the cop bike (KZ1000P type) have two brackets for mounting the boards; these are welded to the frame the boards bolt to them. The rear brake would be the biggest challenge since it is part of the mounting system and I am not sure how hard it would be to convert to actuating a drum rear brake. If someone had good welding skills and had a donor cop bike frame to cut the mounts, it MIGHT be possible but I wouldn't try it as it is beyond me.

Thanks for the info sweet back, but I pretty much want to do away with the saddle as well, so instead of a pad in the back, it would be an entire seat, like a KZ1000 LTD (I've already tried an early 80's KZ1000 LTD seat and the pan doesn't fit at all, so I'm still lookin').

As to how far I am, the seat and tank are the only two things I want to modify.

Here's what I've done:

• Removed fairing and installed aftermarket headlight ears and mounted the turn signals in the frame using brackets from my hard cases
• Sawed off rear brackets (where the rear m/c and exhausts are bolted)
• Sawed off right-side floor board mount (got in the way of the KZ1000 CSR brake pedal)
• Installed KZ1000 CSR peg/exhaust brackets on both sides (this was trick as the KZ1000P frame only has one hole where the peg brackets will mount, so I have to make a bracket for the bracket, so to speak I'll post pictures later )
• Rear m/c bolts right up to the right-side KZ1000 CSR peg bracket
• Lengthened rear m/c to rear caliper brake line (the stock length won't reach the m/c mounted on the peg bracket)
• Installed clubman style handlebars
• Installed a 2005 Honda 1000RR radial master cylinder to help clear the gauges
• Installed a modified mirror mount (from a spare clutch lever) as the 1000RR m/c doesn't have one
• Removed all case-savers and such

The problem with the clubmans is that they hit the tank about 1cm before the head-stop (or whatever it's called that keeps the handlebars from turning 360 degrees) on each side. So I either need to install low-rise bars to clear the tank, or re-style the tank to be more like the cafe tanks with large recessions on each side to accomodate the lower riding position.

There are still a few pending problems that I need to work out (like my left-hand turn signal not illuminating all the way...I suspect a weak ground...)

Thanks all! Pictures to follow.