modified, aftermarket, or custom. nothing is safe (78 KZ1000)

[SeekingZero]

Dude! I saw your project down at Moto Guild SV but I don't know how the two of us never ran into each other. Between my build and yours, you think we would have! Congrats on the banner too, well fucking worth it. You made one gorgeous bike! Hit me up the next time you're around.

[doc_rot]

Thanks man. I need to change some tires soon so I'll be down there

[doc_rot]

Got the aftermarket throttle on there. I had to modify the switch to get some room but I think it worked out OK. I will fill the letters in with 1 Shot eventually. The throttle throw is better; I can go WOT without re-positioning my hand but its still a pretty long travel so hopefully it wont be too twitchy. I also got the new OEM clutch in, changed the pilots and main jets, and fitted Oury grips. test ride tomorrow.

[canyoncarver]

Nice mod.

[1fasgsxr]

I hope you like those grips better than I do. They are pretty good for damping bar buzz but if you don't wear gloves every single time they feel sticky...at least mine do. I will be changing them soon.  But an awesome build !!

[irk miller]

I run those Oury grips on a bunch of my bikes.  I like them.  I like that they have a tack to them.  It's especially good off road, or in rain. 

[doc_rot]

The oury grips do break down pretty quickly but i love the stickyness of them. i feel like it helps me from over gripping the handlebars, I have been running them on my daily for a couple years now and it really helps when you're cruising.

[doc_rot]

Test ride went pretty good.

One size up on the pilot (20) fixed the stumble off idle, but it think i went one size too lean on the main (127.5), it pulled harder on the 130 i had in there before. The OEM clutch appears to have fixed the shifting issue. I can now still shift through all the gears easily, and I had it up to 8000 RPM in 4th and the clutch wasn't slipping. I think i might put some more gear in it; seems too tall right now, it won't redline before it runs out of power, but getting the jetting perfect will come before that. The cam caps are leaking again, as cool as they look i might switch back to the rubber OEM ones, these ones are super hard to seal anytime i change the valve gasket.

The aftermarket throttle i bought does not have a positive stop so when braking hard my hand will turn the throttle closed past idle and because its a push/pull throttle it will force the intakes closed past idle and the motor wants to die. Any suggestions on dealing with this? Its livable right now but I want to get the throttle as close to perfect as I can.

[doc_rot]

Progress update
The jetting is pretty dialed in with the 127.5 on the main, needle on the middle clip, and 20 pilot. I checked the plugs the other day and they were the perfect "coffee and cream" there is no stumble at all and it pulls hard steadily from 3k RPM and up. I still want to get it on the dyno eventually to see what this thing is pumping out i'm hoping i blew by my modest goal of at least 100hp a the rear wheel. This thing power wheelies in second no problem, but it also has a shorter wheel base . The suspension is a bit stiff  but isn't bad. i need to weigh this thing to see  how much it weighs , have preload that I can take out (need to set the sag front and rear)

[doc_rot]

UPDATE

The throttle action is really good now. I moved up to a bigger 36mm throttle tube for even quicker action, and I drilled and tapped a hole in the throttle clamp for a positive stop. works great.

I thought the shifting issue was resolved with the new clutch but it was just better. It still was difficult to down shift. I FINALLY figured out the root cause of the shifting issue. Way back when I was first tearing down the motor I got a used shifter off ebay to replace mine which had worn out splines. What I bought was was listed as a 1980 but actually got a 1981+ the main difference being the over-shift  arm is 5mm shorter not allowing a full down shift. The easiest was to tell the difference between the shifters is the late model shifter has a small relief on the lower arm. The bike now shifts silky smooth with the undercut trans; speed shifting delight!

Finally got the cam plug caps to stop leaking, but when I removed the valve cover a screw fell out! One of the top idler assembly screws had backed out and the whole assembly was close to catastrophic failure. The leaking cam caps were a blessing in disguise because I probably would not have caught this until it was too late. I contacted Liska Racing about it and they sent me a new one free of charge. Hopefully that wont happen again.