1977 KZ-1000

My neighbor has a KZ-1000 #KZT00A-503335 built in 11-76 it has 5,359
original miles on it. It has been sitting unused for about 20 years,
the
tank is full of rust, and probably junk, the carbs are going to need at
least rebuilding, the exhaust has been changed to 4 into 2, the seat
has
been replaced, the rotors are rusted, but turn. He wants to sell it,
can
anyone tell me if tanks and carb kits are still available, what might
it be
worth fixed up, and what should I offer him? Thanks, Doug

 

The KZ1000 had a 4-2 exhaust as OE.

It's a long way from being the most desirable Big Zed, but definitely
worth restoring if you get it cheap enough. 500 bucks?

 

Car guys always ask about carb kits, saying, "I'm gonna throw a carb
kit in there and that'll get 'er done." Car guys don't understand
motorcycle carburetors ayway.

You're talking about maybe $30 per carb kit, four kits required. That
may be a waste of money if you don't need all the brass parts.

www.oldbikebarn.com sells carburetor kits, but, with so few miles on
the
motorcycle, you might not even need any parts except for float bowl
gaskets.

You might be able to spritz out all the gum and varnish with Berryman's

B-12 Chemtool Choke and Carburetor Cleaner (the aerosol spray).

I don't recall whether the KZ-1000 has slide valve carbs or butterfly
constant vacuum carbs. You can look at www.partsfish.com to see if it
has
the constant vacuum carbs with rubber diaphragms and throttle
butterflies.

If you have a carb with a torn diaphragm, the whole vacuum slide with
rubber diaphragm costs about $100...

 

Slide. Trust me.

 

If it were me and I owned a 76 and know it inside and out, I would pay
zero for the bike as is. I would restore it and if I didn't decide to
keep it, I would offer to split any profit over the cost of getting it
running. Then I would spend the following:

1. 29MM smooth bore carbs, still available from Sudco, if you can find a
shop that will get you a discount, maybe $400 or less. The stockers were
awful, 26 MM instead of the previous Z's 28s. They were the first of the
smog controlled versions with an idle air screw on the bottom instead of
the idle gas screw on the side.

2. Aftermarket replacement for the regulator/rectifier. What's in there
is probably fried or will be shortly if you get it running.

3. Boil and replate anything that's chrome that isn't perfect, exhaust,
fork legs, etc.

Tanks can be found, not from Kawi but from parts brokers that bought
parts from Kawi when declared out of date.

If it is a 1000 and not a KZ900, it's a 77 introduced late in 76. The
crank was reballanced and has a bit more flywheel than previous. The
frame is a bit stronger with roller bearings in the swingarm pivot. It
rode a little nicer than my previous (73 and 75) Z1s but it was a big
disappointment in sales because it received a lot of non-delivered hype
and there was suddenly competion from big Honda (Goldwings) and the
Yamaha triple and the Suzuki Z lookalikes. You likely might have to send
the crank to Falicon if it has set enough to rust the bottom end
bearings. The stock exhaust was quite good as a 4-2 and didn't have the
rust problem that early 4-pipe exhausts had.

 

Car guys don't understand car carbs either. Not really. Shoot krusty, there
are mechanics over the age of 26 that never drove a car with a carb let alone
worked on a car that had one.

Soon there will be no carbs on motorcycles. Everything will be fuel
injected. When that occurs then the only thing we will have to work on are
classic/antique vehicles.

pierce

 

<Nods in agreement>

Already it's getting harder to find mechanics who understand that (for
example) older bikes' brakes are not "defective", just "made that way".

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

Are you referring to the amount of pressure on the levers to make them
stop? I can understand that. I rode a ST1300 and the brakes on it are
akin to power brakes compared to my dual caliper, dual piston front brakes
on my 25 YO Honda.

pierce

 

If it's any consolation, HD brakes required a lot more lever force than
any UJM brakes. Brute strength was needed on a Sportster I rode
briefly.

Then along came large diameter 13" disk brakes in the mid-1980's. My
friend installed a set of PM brakes on his GSXR-750 and also installed
a brake lever from his RG-500 Gamma, which had more lever ratio. He
warned me, "You're used to grabbing a big handfull of brakes. Just use
one finger to pull the lever, and maybe two fingers after you get used
it it."

He was right, one finger was enough to stop the machine at ordinary
windy road speeds. But he apparently forgot his own advice and braked
too hard going into Turn 1 at Willow Springs. A witness said that he'd
never seen anybody land on their head that hard and walk away from it...

 

Well, yes, that and the actual retardation available (I'll admit that
modern tyres help enormously here, too).

And if you think dual caliper dual-piston brakes are poor on a 25
year-old Honda, try riding an early SOHC Honda CB750 with *one* disc
boasting just *one* piston.

Actually, my recently-acquired Yamaha XS650 (Yay!! Got one again -
every five or six years the bug bites and I *have* to buy another one),
with its single front disc, is a bit sphincter-puckering in the brakes
department, too.

 

It would be nice to put some brakes on my aging CBX that would make it
easier to brake. I am concerned that if I put on calipers with bigger/more
pistons there might not be enough volume fromm the master cylinder to
properly stop the bike. The brakes are currently stock including the pads.
Maybe some organic pads which are softer but grip better?

pierce

 

If you put on larger, more powerful calipers, you may indeed need a
bigger capacity master cylinder, but it's not a hard mod.

You're right - stock CBX brakes were considered marginal 25 years ago. A
change of pads won't help.

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

Gee I always considered the CBX brakes to be pretty good. Especially
compared to the CB550 I had before that. The brakes on my son's 99 Magna
are about the same as the CBX. I can haul that CBX down in a hurry with
two fingers and if I grab a handful, things get pretty interesting.

pierce

 

You want to try something a bit more modern, to make a true comparison.
And CB550s, with their single-piston caliper and single disc, weren't
great stoppers, anyway - agree.

In fact, the only single-disc SOHC four whose brakes fully matched its
performance (IMHO) was the CB400 Four.

The CBX's brakes are OK up to about 80-90mph. Trying to stop in a hurry
from 100+, or less if you're carrying a pillion, and you realise they're
seriously deficient. They're more or less the same calipers as fitted to
the SOHC CB750F2 and they have another 30bhp, 50lbs weight and 15mph to
cope with.

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

WHAT!?!?! Knowingly break the law by intentionally driving over 100
MPH?!?! I would never do that! >)

pierce

 

I *wish* I'd kept my old speeding ticket with "in excess of 118mph" on
it.....

Cost me my licence for a month, that did.

 

the tank is no problem if it isnt ate out completely ,just throw some
heavy nuts or a piece of chain (heavier than a dog chain your local
hardware store should be able to help you out there) and rattle the hell
out of it for awhile .
Eastwood company sells a tank sealant kit that will seal any pin holes
the tank may have and basically make it like new and protect the inside
a lil better than plain steel ,I've even heard of guys taking brand new
tanks and coating it with it just for extra protection ,and to paint it
well the rattle can can do a pretty good job if you use a high quality
paint and primer it properly too helps alot ,I've seen some nice bikes
that were painted with rattle cans and the owners just did the normal
prep (cleaned off the old paint and rust ,primered with a self etching
primer ,paint then wet sanded it down smooth and sometimes had it
clearcoated and wet sanded again)and it comes out great looking and
eastwood does sell some nice selection of paints for everything from
drivetrain parts to chassis and wheels.
another alternative to chrome is getting it powder coated with a chrome
powdercoat ,I've seen a couple examples of it and it is hard to tell
that it isnt chrome,it looks like the chrome they used to put on parts
decades ago with the thick nickel plating they did before final
chroming(unlike today where they are more conservative with it),and
another plus to powder coat is it is more durable than paint and even
better than actual chrome for durability and it hides any little
scratches in the metal
good luck and good riding

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

Comparing brake improvements from a CB550 to a ST1300 is like comparing
brakes from a 1958 Ford Pickup to the Brembos on a Porsche.

pierce