The Shady KZ1000 Restomod

I went with the biggest ones I could find on the website, here is the title : Piston Kit with Gasket - 73.0mm - 10.25:1 - KZ1000 - 1981-2005.

Injected wrote:

Good progress, what piston kit did you decide on?
 

I went with the biggest ones I could find on the website, here is the title : Piston Kit with Gasket - 73.0mm - 10.25:1 - KZ1000 - 1981-2005.

I installed these. 
kzzone.com/studs.html

Wow that is ugly, you have done a nice job of welding the holes but my concern would be that the "wall thickness" of the tubes looks to be about half of what it should be (they rot from the inside out) this is a key structural area of the bike and any "flexing" will have you weaving down the road.
From the pics it looks like you had invested at least $2000 in "tuning" parts, personally (only my opinion) I would invest a couple of hundred more in a replacement frame that is "solid" as a foundation for your build (you could at least use sections from a "good" frame to replace the rot but it would be easier to simply replace the whole thing)
As I say, only my opinion and it's great to see that you are "all in" on bringing this old girl back from a dark place

Should this thread be moved to the Projects section?

SWest wrote:

I installed these. 
kzzone.com/studs.html

 

Thanks a lot sir! I will be ordering those!

Wookie58 wrote:

Wow that is ugly, you have done a nice job of welding the holes but my concern would be that the "wall thickness" of the tubes looks to be about half of what it should be (they rot from the inside out) this is a key structural area of the bike and any "flexing" will have you weaving down the road.
From the pics it looks like you had invested at least $2000 in "tuning" parts, personally (only my opinion) I would invest a couple of hundred more in a replacement frame that is "solid" as a foundation for your build (you could at least use sections from a "good" frame to replace the rot but it would be easier to simply replace the whole thing)
As I say, only my opinion and it's great to see that you are "all in" on bringing this old girl back from a dark place

That's actually not a bad point. I had heard a journalist on an old show say that they made the frames thinner to save weight in those years so I assumed it was ok. I will look into maybe welding support sections, or another bike for parts with papers, maybe even a new frame online? I will have to look into the compatibility of certain years to make sure the replacement frame fits the parts. I do like the look of the 70's bikes a bit better with the "straight" seat and the sleek fuel tank, kind of like the z900 or z1. Let me know if you have any suggestions I will have to do some research, good thing I'm waiting for parts anyway. The last thing I want is to invest all this money in a bike and have it handle like crap. Thanks for the suggestion Wookie

TexasKZ wrote:

Should this thread be moved to the Projects section?

I thought I was in the projects section when I started this, not sure how to move it though. It would make sense for it to be there! Sorry my 1st time posting a thread on a forum 

Wookie58 wrote:

Wow that is ugly, you have done a nice job of welding the holes but my concern would be that the "wall thickness" of the tubes looks to be about half of what it should be (they rot from the inside out) this is a key structural area of the bike and any "flexing" will have you weaving down the road.
From the pics it looks like you had invested at least $2000 in "tuning" parts, personally (only my opinion) I would invest a couple of hundred more in a replacement frame that is "solid" as a foundation for your build (you could at least use sections from a "good" frame to replace the rot but it would be easier to simply replace the whole thing)
As I say, only my opinion and it's great to see that you are "all in" on bringing this old girl back from a dark place

You're giving me ideas, should I pull the trigger on this? I'd get the better looking seat, tank and tail (in my opinion).

 

Souleymane wrote:

 So my impulsive self pulled the trigger on a 900$ 1981 Kawasaki KZ 1000 sold by two shady gentlemen. I was able to get the price down to 800$ which I now realize was way too much considering all the problems the bike has and the fact that it has no registration... I know I'm crazy and impulsive sometimes. It can be a good thing but also a bad one.I checked the Carfax report as well as the police database and it is not stolen so I should be able to register it once it is restored. If not I'm fucked but at least I got to wrench on something and that was the point!
 

I heard its a lot harder to obtain a clear ownership at the MTO in the past 5 years. I have previously done this on a couple of bikes of my own using the affidavit method and a notary signature, but I was told they no longer accept that method. You should look into this sooner than later.

Personally I am at the point now that I won't even look at bike without a current registration in the sellers name.

Souleymane wrote:

You're giving me ideas, should I pull the trigger on this? I'd get the better looking seat, tank and tail (in my opinion).

 

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Those pre 80 frames are different to your 80 onwards and you will need some slight modifications to the mounts for your later engine to fit..
The same goes for the interchangabilty of the rest of the chassis parts.

Souleymane wrote:

TexasKZ wrote:

Should this thread be moved to the Projects section?

I thought I was in the projects section when I started this, not sure how to move it though. It would make sense for it to be there! Sorry my 1st time posting a thread on a forum 

No worries, I will move it for you.