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Might be joining the club Saturday with this...
- NorthernMaineLTD
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Vince
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- SWest
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- 10 22 2014
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Steve
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- TexasKZ
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I'm with SWest on the bars, though you may find them comfortable. The factory shocks were nothing to brag about when new, and have not gotten better with age. Hagon and Progressive make some reasonably priced upgrades. Ohlins and Penske are at the top of the food chain, but are not necessary on an otherwise stock bike of that vintage. New springs in the forks may also be in order, as the stockers may have sagged a bit.
A genuine Kawasaki factory service manual and some JIS screwdrivers are priceless initial investments.
Welcome to the madhouse :woohoo: :silly:
1982 KZ1000 LTD parts donor
1981 KZ1000 LTD awaiting resurrection
2000 ZRX1100 not ridden enough
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- SWest
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Oh and welcome.
Steve
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- Tyler
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I agree, shocks, maybe fork seals and oil, and defiantly handlebars. I hate the LTD bars with a passion. You can get the stems to mount the turn signals from head light bucket too. The handlebar mounted signals look kind goofy to me...
It looks to be nice bike that you can ride away on, if it runs and the price it right you found a good one.
If I knew what I was doing all the time life wouldn't be any fun.
'80 KZ650 E 700cc, dyna ignition and coils, frame up restoration, daily driver
'81 KZ1300 A3 full restoration, custom big bore pistons, 1400cc 6 cylinder super bike
"77 KZ650 B1 - Barn Find, work in progeress
"74 Yamaha DT 400 Enduro
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- SWest
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Steve
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- Tyler
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Eh elephant ears, crossing lights, what ever it's a matter of choice. Steve your bike look Purdy the way it is...
Hey Vince welcome to KZR, let us know how it turns out. Condition is everything in used bikes, so take note of the little things like cables, the battery, oil leaks, carburetor leaks, and so forth.... and haggle accordingly.
If I knew what I was doing all the time life wouldn't be any fun.
'80 KZ650 E 700cc, dyna ignition and coils, frame up restoration, daily driver
'81 KZ1300 A3 full restoration, custom big bore pistons, 1400cc 6 cylinder super bike
"77 KZ650 B1 - Barn Find, work in progeress
"74 Yamaha DT 400 Enduro
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- NorthernMaineLTD
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- SWest
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Steve
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- The_Proletariat
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Tyler wrote: You can get the stems to mount the turn signals from head light bucket too.
Do you have a link to this? Thank you.
1982 Kawasaki KZ550 LTD
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- wrenchmonkey
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I guess it's just me being a relative newb here too but I love the looks of the LTD and wouldn't change a thing if I found one in that condition. Personally, I found those bars to be comfortable, especially for long cruising but maybe it's just my size - I'm under 6' tall and weigh less than the engine by itself most days (Thanksgiving/Christmas excluded! :whistle: )
Definitely follow the advise to get a factory authorized manual for your model. There simply isn't a better bang for the buck in all the purchases you'll make for it.
One thing I will say about doing the service - valves, forks, carb syncing - do them sooner than later. The very thought of these made me nervous and so I delayed them on other bikes but the after-the-fact, reality is the tasks are pretty easy (if you follow the FSM) and by doing them sooner, you benefit from two things: (1) knowing more about your bike. (2) enjoying a better ride/performance sooner.
Have at it man! $700? That's totally fair in my opinion for a running and maintained bike with low miles.
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- NorthernMaineLTD
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