new KZ owner, gear down?

Hey there, I just picked up my 1978 KZ1000 on Monday, very excited, it's been great thus far. The bike has had a lot of maintenance and cosmetic stuff done recently (exhaust, tires, chain, paint) and so I don't plan on any major changes for now at least. In my first few rides though it seems like I could go up a few teeth on the rear sprocket. The bike goes well over 100kph (60mph) in second so the last three gears are somewhat redundant. I don't plan on doing much riding north of 120 and would enjoy a little more punch right off the line. Does anyone have experience with this? how many teeth should I go up? Should I go smaller on the front? I'm assuming that the sprockets are stock size but I don't know that for sure. I'd like to hit maybe 90 at 7000 in second.

I would not put a smaller front on since it will accelerate chain and sprocket wear, but rather fit a larger rear sprocket. This will require a longer chain, but if it is new you should be able to get a few spare links and an extra lock from your friendly dealer for cheap and splice in. Done correctly it will not affect strength or reliability.

It is very easy to find out the effect of adding teeth to your rear sprocket. Count the number of teeth. Let's say it has 38 today and that your engine turn 3800 rpm @ 100 kph. Putting a 44T on will give you 4400 rpm in top. And in 2nd, if 7k rpm = 90 kph today, 7k rpm = 90x38/40=77. Or to find rpm @ 90 you take 7000x44/38=8100.

Take a look here:

www.gearingcommander.com/

Hey Kelly! Congrats again on the wise purchase! :woohoo:

You're gonna love it!