center stand

Hey everyone. Not real good with using the site yet. I finally got my 1977 kz1000a. I received it last Saturday from Johnny s vintage Cycle in wadsworth Ohio. Man am I excited. Its still a little work in progress but man does it run. So I have 2 questions. First is what is the method for getting the bike on the center stand. I tried to do it,but i stopped because I felt like I wasnt in control of what was about to happen. So I stopped. Kind of seemed like I needed A spotter. Second question is I want to upgrade the carbs. Mucini ? smooth or flat? I want the bike to perform well. Not trying to make A drag bike out of it, but I would like to give it as much edge on the hot rod side that I can.
Thnks for your comments and suggestions. Mitch. And I will take pics. this weekend and post them

To put the bike on the center stand. Put your right foot on the center stand and force it down to the ground. Rock the bike gently to ensure both sides of the stand are on the ground. Grab the back rail and lift while gently pulling backward.

Back in the day lots of people switched to Mikuni 29 mm smoothbore carbs for better performance, but the stock carbs on an A1 are pretty good.

To add to HardRocks method if you still have trouble you can run the rear tire up onto a piece of 3/4” thick plywood or even two layers of 1/2”. It will help as you not lifting the bike as far.

hardrockminer wrote: To put the bike on the center stand. Put your right foot on the center stand and force it down to the ground. Rock the bike gently to ensure both sides of the stand are on the ground. Grab the back rail and lift while gently pulling backward.

Exactly! The first few times you do it you will be nervous. After a while though you will be surprised at how easy it is and wonder how anyone would think it was difficult. Ed

Mikaw wrote: To add to HardRocks method if you still have trouble you can run the rear tire up onto a piece of 3/4” thick plywood or even two layers of 1/2”. It will help as you not lifting the bike as far.

I've been doing this to but still have got my wife to help the last few years (just in case). Have lost a lot of strength due to a kidney problem and age. Always has made me nervous even in the early years but with a little practice I'm bettin you'll be good. Maybe get a spotter for the first couple times just till you get the feel.

Just wanted to add like Hardrock says "lifting up" while pulling back is a must.

Yeah you're probably right except this bike sat around for a long time and Johnny's vintage motorcycle shed that they clean them maybe even rejected them so I'm wondering about the float any overall capability of the carburetors and how well they'll perform I thought it would just be easier to replace them rather than trying to rebuild them but thank you I appreciate that

Thank you that's a good idea I could see how that could help

Yeah I'm counting on that you're right there. Ed because I know it's better for the carbs from what I hear to have the bike sitting on the center stand when it's not being used rather than on the kickstand put the fuel leaning over the one side like that

Yes I think I have some of the same issues you do lost a lot of strength in the last year stop probably will use a spotter for a couple of times anyway thank you

If they need it just clean the original carbs. If you replace them with something different you will spend many hours and dollars trying to tune them so the bike works well. Keep in mind that Kawasaki engineers worked very hard to make the bikes fast and reliable. They didn't just pick the carbs off a shelf because they were handy. Ed

The only time it's more difficult than it should be is if the bike was lowered somehow. then the angle of the centerstand is not right and you have to do a lot more lifting up and stepping down.

Thanks for the tip I'm getting it on the center stand preciate that so you Mikuni 29 mm smoothbore I'll have to check into that thanks for at least pointing me in a Direction very confusing with all the different numbers they have 3430 6:40 bench I like to get some head work done to