Finally mine, KZ1000ST

Ever since I was way pre-geezer, I've lusted after this bike. Used to have pictures of it all over my work site in the way back when. Never could afford one though. Well, just ran across one that's been in storage since before forever. It has 10k on it and other than leaking fork seals and master cylinder, it seems near perfect. Now it's in my garage,wooohooo.
You guys know how I feel about now...I'll probably be back with a few questions and pix,but mean time, had to share the joy. Curious though, any issues/common problems, mods, upgrades common to this model?
ss^,
Ken

Nice!! Welcome to KZR and look forward to pics!

Thanks for the welcome, hard to tell from the angle but looks like you've got a very nice KZ 650 from the looks of it. Used to ride one myself, left me with a lot of stories.
ss^,
Ken

Welcome!

Photos! We have to have photos! :lol:

I have the 79 and it is a little modded but all mods are reversible to stock (no cutting or such). Common issues are pretty much the same for any 30 year old bike; wiring, tank rust/varnish, gunky carbs that might have stuck slides, hard and cracking rubber anythings like hoses, grommets, cam end caps, etc., stuck cam tensioner, rusty brake master or calipers, bad brake hoses (even if not cracked they are balloons and MUST be replaced),rounded out screw heads or stuck bolts and such.. oh and did I say wiring? (if you want to have a dependable ride then you have to look at the harness and the connectors.

Here's mine with a few mods to give you an idea of a direction you may or may not want to go.

Nice scoot you've got there, here's those photos you asked about. In the background is my 09 Streetglide feeling some what spurned.

Nice scoot you've got there, here's those photos you asked about
. In the background is my 09 Streetglide feeling some what spurned.

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Had to diddle with the images to get them to load, this should do it...

fxdl2051 wrote: ...It has 10k on it and other than leaking fork seals and master cylinder, it seems near perfect...

No kidding, that is a real beauty. GREAT score. And welcome aboard.

Wow it is clean! Very nice score! Thanks for the photos.

wow!

i would love to have a shaft drive kz.

you both have very nice bikes.

i love how rages bike is lightly modded.

and i cannot believe how clean fxdl's bike is.

what are the plans for your bike fxdl?

thanks for postin.

leon

Thanks for the good words, originally I was planning on buying it as a tug for my Vetter Terraplane sidecar, they look like they're made for each other with the same 70's styling. But the more I look at it, the more I'm not sure, because it's almost too pretty to hack (though it would be a show stopper if I ever get it the way I want). I'll just have to see how it runs once I get the brakes working on it, because right now it wants to go, but doesn't want to stop.
I'd like to improve the handling, low speed it just doesn't steer well, the feel being top heavy and abrupt, I guess that's a problem with the breed. I wonder if there's any easy mods to the forks that would help here, different springs, fork oil, etc? Or would a different front end make a bigger difference? Any one tried this? Mostly I want to restore it to perfection. It's a rare piece of history and I'm lucky to have it. Makes me feel young again, like I'm still back in the days when I had hair.
ss^,
Ken

It will feel heavier than say a modern bike but it shouldn't fell like you have to muscle it.

I only rode mine a 1/4 mile before tearing it down so can't say how much of a difference it made but mine feels about the same as any 1000 from the era that I've ridden.

Your bike is in such great shape (probably the best original example I've ever seen) that I'd be hard pressed to blame anything. Tire age - inflation, head bearings too tight, even the difference in your 2 rides could make for just a difference in feel. I always feel like these old bikes handle better with superbike bars rather than the stock but that could just be me.

I would at least service the forks, those seals might still be good but the oil in there is very old.

It is an awfully nice example of an original shafty to add a hack onto, done right it would be a one of kind but if the marriage doesn't go well as far as handling or even looks there would be no going back.