KZ1000 front sprocket.

WOW, that rear sprocket is shot.

From the looks of the frame damage, it was not a sudden failure. The chain had to be making a noise from riding / running on the frame, prior to the sprocket coming off.

As others have suggested, you should start your own thread on this. When you hijack someone elses thread, everyone subscribed to that thread gets an email whenever someone posts to it. Kudo's for you inserting your pics into your post though. YA! lol

TexasKZ wrote: Congratulations, that is a nice looking bike. I am glad your brother is ok, that could have turned out much worse.

Based on the chain disaster and all the junk behind the sprocket cover, I would suspect that much or all of the routine maintenance has been ignored. Once the frame is fixed, you will want to carefully do all of the maintenance.

Like JR, I suspect the engine will need to come out.

Thank you for the comment - I was surprised to see that the bike was better than he originally made it seem. Not a bad score for $2800.00 me thinks. That being said, I am going to go over this thing with a fine tooth comb when I am home for a visit next month!

Let's hope the engine doesn't have to be removed!

JR wrote: Frame damage in 3rd photo looks bad and difficult to get at without removing swingarm and possibly also motor.

Hopefully a frame expert will be along soon. If not then start a new post.

Thank you for the comment. Yea, I spoke with my brother-in-law who owned a welding shop for 20+ years. He believes he can button it up without removing the engine, and possibly beef it up via a sleeve/ half sleeve over it as well.

I will post pics when it's completed!

slmjim+Z1BEBE wrote: Never ride a bike on which the road-worthiness has not been confirmed by you or someone mechanically qualified that you trust. Even if the PO "promised" the bike has been "serviced" and is ready to ride, there is no substitute for performing due diligence as to safety & readiness. Brakes first, always; before you make it go, make sure it'll stop. There's no telling what some past Bubba has done that may be hidden from sight. Your brother was fortunate.

MGK612 wrote: ... the front sprocket fell off ...
Judging from the condition of the teeth on the rear sprocket, the entire final drive system ( chain and sprockets ) was likely far past service life. Was the chain checked for "stretch" prior to riding the bike?

... check to see if the output shaft was bent/moved up and down ... A small amount of fore/aft movement ...
There should be essentially zero slop in the output shaft. Running a chain too tight will damage the output shaft and/or bearing, leading to radial play. While the motor is out during frame repair, we suggest the output shaft and bearing be checked for damage.

My concern lies with the frame...
Indeed. Your concern is well founded.

How should I go about button up the frame/swing arm?...
A welder who understands frame welding and the effects of welding heat on frame strength should be involved in this patch.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Thanks for the concern slmjim!

But my brother was well aware of what he was getting into, rides his 2017 Speed Triple virtually everyday, and checked it over (including chain tension) and of course rode it before telling me it was good to purchase.

After my brother-in-law welds up the frame, I am going to have a shop put on the sprockets and chain and do a service check on the whole bike. I've seen YouTube videos where guys talk about the output shaft sometimes going bad on the KZ1000s due to a lack of proper maintenance. So, I will be curious to see what the shop says as well. Hopefully all is well.

Thanks again for your concern and comments!!

old_kaw wrote: WOW, that rear sprocket is shot.

From the looks of the frame damage, it was not a sudden failure. The chain had to be making a noise from riding / running on the frame, prior to the sprocket coming off.

As others have suggested, you should start your own thread on this. When you hijack someone elses thread, everyone subscribed to that thread gets an email whenever someone posts to it. Kudo's for you inserting your pics into your post though. YA! lol

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Thank you for the comment! I will start my own thread, as I do not want to "bug" anyone. That being said, it's always a bit nerve-wracking on whether to "start a new thread" or "add/comment on another".

And, yea, the whole situation surrounding this bike has me pretty bummed right now. But, the upside is I have a 1977 KZ 1000!