Hey gang. I've been browsing the threads and see that a few guys have at least thought about using a Kawasaki police bike for a touring mount. I'm looking at this as a fun and ongoing project. Here are a few things I plan to do. I realize the impractical nature of some of this, but that is part of the fun. It will be great to have a bike unlike most. 1) Set up a pillion instead of the box on the rear fender. 2) Get larger hardbags mounted. I'd like these to be in white paint. 3) Mount PIAAs or some such in place of the old red and blues in the fairing. 4) Eventually put a big bore motor in it. I love sleepers, and the KZ1000 motor is one of the most hot-roddable motors going. Any thoughts that move this forward will be much appreciated! Cheers.
I think once it has a bit more motor, that would be in order. With an 1197 motor with proper intake and exhaust, and the right cams, I think three teeth down would be good going.
I rode a stock one several times across the US. It was a great light touring bike, with the single most comfortable seat I ever owned. Put one of those $40 eBay top boxes with a back rest on the radio bracket and it was also one of the best solo tourers I ever owned. If somehow you want to remove that bracket and have a one piece pillion/rider's seat, any from the KZ1000 LTD will work fine. They are a bit buzzy at 75mph with the stock gearing since they are set up to cruise at city speeds or to catch up with speeders. Frankly I don't think they would make a great two-up tourer without lots of mods, which seems like kind of a waste of a good KZ1000P. Good luck with yours.
Very cool response, thank you. I doubt the bike will see much two-up, but I want the opportunity for my girl to go on short weekend trips up to Flagstaff or down to Tombstone. For longer trips, I will be with two buddies who have their own rigs. That seat is part of why I want the bike. I want to keep it and see whether a simple pillion seat could be attached, along with some sort of passenger footpegs. I think I want to paint the bike gloss black with matte accents and a very subtle bit of gold pinstriping, and I think Givi Monokey bags will replace the rather small ones that are on the bikes as used by LEO.
If you start looking for more power with a bigger motor and put the stock exhaust back on it you kind of defeat the purpose.Exhaust and carbeuration with mild cams works wonders on these motors.
I'm having a lot of fun with this. I have just discovered that Mr. Turbo still makes KZ1000 kits. The mild kit nets 140 rwhp on a KZ1000 motor. The exhaust would have to be finished right to work, but I think this may be the coolest way to go. Get the crank welded, do a solid rebuild on the motor, and then dropping three teeth from the sprocket would be no problemo at all.
My daily rider has been a Z1000J with (mostly) a P-engine for the last 5 years. If you need more power... learn to ride... seriously. Now we have that out of the way: 1) Carbs from the very first GSXR750 are 29mm flatslides, together with K&Ns make the engine a lot more lively - if you have more cash to spare go for the Mikuni RS34, don't go bigger, as it will negatively affect the bottom end. 2) If you want to go for a bigbore go for the 1170 kit, with the bigger 1200 kit the liners get too thin. Even the 1075 produces a lot more oomph than a stock GPZ, no need to go for the big liners (which means boring the block, as the P-block has got smaller openings for the liners. 3) V&H or Kerker make your ears bleed and the engine run properly, everything smaller than the 1.75" race-baffle is too restrictive 4) Get some big ammo-boxes, I don't know what the holders for the police boxes look like, but I knocked mine up from some scrap that I had lying around and they haven't let me down (yet?) ! (click the pix to see them in full size) Cheers, Greg
Did the learn to ride thing over the past thirty years-of riding. Drag-raced both a modified FZ1 and a VMax regularly for several years, have put about 200,000 miles on bikes, give or take. So, now that we have that out of the way, fun version of the concept you have there. My plan is to retain the fairing, since I intend to tour on it-and it looks cool in an old school way. I want to make it slightly more refined rather than less so, so it'll be Givis rather than ammo cans (but fun Mad Biker of the Apocalypse nod to you there), and having weighed the pros and cons, the straight rebuild and turbo look like the way to go for what I want to achieve. With a decent muffler, the turbocharged bike would still be quiet, which I would prefer. I do love to see what everyone else has done with such beasts, so please keep sharing.
Sorry Bmblbee, didn't mean to offend you... I am not that serious generally. Regarding Givis vs Ammo-boxes: I have a set of Krauser panniers and they were as far from water proof as a fisherman's net, the ammo-boxes simply are. So if you buy some panniers try them out first... Cheers, Greg
Cheers, Nanno! No offense whatsoever. Great to hear from you. Not sure how I can pre-test sidebags, but there definitely seem to be mixed reviews on the Givis. Since I live in AZ, it is a bit less of an issue, but I get your drift and will dig a bit before laying out any cash. Oh, and I contacted Redline Cycle for their notions regarding a torquey upgraded motor for touring.
One thing that sprang to my mind... the Z1000P-cases are not compatible with the 1100 cylinders (unless I haven't mentioned it before), as the throats are too small. So if you want to go for 1170, you have to get a set of (good) 1100 cases first and with your silver engine you would have to get a set of the Z1100ST (shaft-model) as they're considerably cheaper - but beware late '82, early '83 models already sport the newer crank with 18mm pins. BUT: you can always fit Wisecos 1075 kit, which due to the domed pistons raises the compression quite a bit and if you stick to the standard cams the engine will be mighty torquey and still produce more wrooooom, than the stock GPZ1100. Now if you ask yourself, how does he know it ? Simples, I bought an 1170 kit and wanted to fit it onto my Z1000P bottom end, then got myself a set of Z1100ST cases only to find out, that although an '82 model, it already had the new crank in it... Oh and if the rubbers of the engine mounts are tired, kindly ask the machinist of your choice to turn a set of solid ally mounts (inserts) for you, makes the engine a lot more rigid and if they are a proper fit, the engine will vibrate a lot less than with the loose and hard old rubbers and as an addition (that's why I originally did it) the engine is finally capable of supporting the frame again improving the handling quite a bit in the twisties. Hope this helps... Greg P.S.: Indeed, subtle isn't the strong side of my Zed...
Greg, this is great info. Thank you very much. I am leaning toward a 1075 with well sorted carbs and some sort of 4-1 (though the muffler will most likely have to be slightly rerouted). I figure, though it won't be a total monster, that should give me somewhere near 100 rwhp, which is plenty.
100hp shouldn't be a serious issue with sorted carbs and a proper 4in1 alone... If you want a mild cam, get one from the late GPZ1100 UniTrack (83 onwards model), it's got 1mm more lift than the Z1000 cams and IIRC a tad more duration, but not sure about the latter. I run that in my Z1000J and it's a pretty nice cam, everything that's wilder than this one will also put some proper stress on the valve train and would best be accompanied by mods like shim-under-buckets and harder valve springs. Oh and I am sure you already found the cheap Chinese 1075 piston kits... I would avoid them like the plague, because you don't know what they put in the casting... and original Wisecos aren't exactly pricey in the US (compared to rest of the world) Cheers, Greg
Fantastic, Greg. I shall look into GPz cams. As for pistons, I only ever used Wiseco in other bikes, so no thoughts of going cheap now. Cheers!