KZ400 gasoline question

2_DONE_THE_TON

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hi guys!

we just finished our kz400 1979 cafe build and we were wondering which kind of gasoline should we use (95 or 98 octane)?
should we use leaded or unleaded gas?

thanks in advance! :D
 
Seriously? Leaded or unleaded? I don't know where you are, but leaded gas was banned in the US about 40 years ago.

I Googled "KZ400 owners manual" and found this page:

http://www.kz400.com/KZ440MaintainanceFrameset.html

The answer to your question is "87 octane." In other words, regular gas.
 
The Octane ratings in the early 70's was RON, Research octane Number. Nowadays we use PON, pump octane Number. 96 RON is equivalent to 86 PON today. If the owners manual says 95 RON for the bike (The 1976 Honda manual says 95 RON or 86 PON) then 87 is fine. Putting higher octane in then necessary is not giving you any benefit except lightening your wallet faster.

Leaded? Not needed on any bike made in the mid 70's and later, and 2 strokes (Your Kz is not a 2 stroke, I know) hate lead as it depositis on the spark plug electrodes and kills the plugs. Unleaded gas cam out in the mid 70's when Cars started using catalytic converters. By 1975, leaded gas was getting hard to find, most weere unleaded or low lead. The engine mfg's had already hardened valve seats and lead was no longer needed.

But even older bikes live ok without lead.
 
2_DONE_THE_TON said:
my oldtimer mercedes from the same period runs with leaded gasoline....i was just asking

Just curious where do you get it?
You can get 100 low lead at the airport (avgas) but I've never seen a gas station that still sells leaded gas (it's probably illegal, the atmosphere still has over 600 times as much lead in it as it did before the introduction of tetraethyllead in gasoline)
 
From Wikipedia:

From 1 January 1996, the Clean Air Act banned the sale of leaded fuel for use in on-road vehicles. Possession and use of leaded gasoline in a regular on-road vehicle now carries a maximum $10,000 fine in the US. However, fuel containing lead may continue to be sold for off-road uses, including aircraft, racing cars, farm equipment, and marine engines.
 
we are located in austria,vienna.

we either have no leaded gasoline,but we use for oldtimers from this age a little bottle with lead surrogate.we have 95,98 and 100 octane at the gas stations.
however our gas prices are rlly high:)

1 liter about 1,40 euro!
 
2_DONE_THE_TON said:
however our gas prices are rlly high:)

1 liter about 1,40 euro!

Yeah, but you have free healthcare. We have families going bankrupt here from medical expenses.

I would GLADLY pay that for fuel and get free healthcare.
 
AlphaDogChoppers said:
Yeah, but you have free healthcare. We have families going bankrupt here from medical expenses.

I would GLADLY pay that for fuel and get free healthcare.

+1
 
Wikipedia:

...Austria’s health care system was developed alongside other social welfare programs by the Social Democratic Party of Austria in Vienna (during its classical 'Red Vienna' period) initially.[4]...

Not a big enough fan of socialism to swap healthcare...just say'n.
 
SimonDanger said:
Wikipedia:

...Austria’s health care system was developed alongside other social welfare programs by the Social Democratic Party of Austria in Vienna (during its classical 'Red Vienna' period) initially.[4]...

Not a big enough fan of socialism to swap healthcare...just say'n.

Try Germany and France, look at their diet and drinking habits,...... just saying.
 
lol you americans are terrified by socialistic politics...i think you confuse it with communism.

the only thing that the socialism brought to our society is cheap/free healtcare.socialists rebuilt our state after ww2 and brought affordable flats and made austria one of the richest countries in the european union.

the only thing i hate are the gasoline prices and the regulations on motorcycles :)


Nebr_Rex said:
Try Germany and France, look at their diet and drinking habits,...... just saying.

and nebr...i think there is no comparison to the american drinking/diet habits :)
 
2_DONE_THE_TON said:
lol you americans are terrified by socialistic politics...i think you confuse it with communism.

That's because of the Murdoch Propaganda Channel. (Some people call it Fox News.)
 
AlphaDogChoppers said:
That's because of the Murdoch Propaganda Channel. (Some people call it Fox News.)

Truth!

also if you want nearly free or totally free (depending on which province you choose) health care AND cheap gas, just move to Canada... The trade off is being cold as shit for half the year, but we just look at it as build season hahaha
 
D4N63R said:
Truth!

also if you want nearly free or totally free (depending on which province you choose) health care AND cheap gas, just move to Canada... The trade off is being cold as shit for half the year, but we just look at it as build season hahaha

Pass.
I pay 75 bucks a year for bike insurance.....
you?
;D
 
I'm paying about $10,000/yr for my health insurance, and it still costs me $40 to see a specialist, or $30 to see my regular doctor. Also, anytime I have a procedure like an MRI or a colonoscopy, I still get a bill for $200-$400 for the portion not covered.

Greedy fucking bloodsuckers!
 
2_DONE_THE_TON said:
and nebr...i think there is no comparison to the american drinking/diet habits :)

Your right, we have to much processed crap on our supermarket shelves.
 
AlphaDogChoppers said:
I'm paying about $10,000/yr for my health insurance, and it still costs me $40 to see a specialist, or $30 to see my regular doctor. Also, anytime I have a procedure like an MRI or a colonoscopy, I still get a bill for $200-$400 for the portion not covered.

Greedy fucking bloodsuckers!

I have a few Canadian Friends. If you have an emergency, the socialist system works for "free", but if the issue is elective, hope you don;t mind waiting a few months or years....A lot of Canadians come to the US for the elctive surgery because the wait time is so much less.

Plus, socialist medicine is not "free"....Taxes in those societies are much higher than ours, so you are basically on a time payment plan.

pure socialism is to give the government all your money, and let the government feed you, house you, and "fix" you. I have had government run healthcare (Military) and they are not the leading examples of well run medicine. Our system is not perfect, but I haven't seen a socialist society that was any better.
 
i can speak about my country.when i have an accident i get surgery asap.i dont need no credit card to get well again.
if i go to a doctor and he prescribes 20 drugs to get me well again i get charged 5 euros for ALL the drugs.

our health system is deficitary we actually lose money(we still are rich,except me:)) to keep the people healthy.
if you americans would spend one percent of your money spent on tanks planes aircrafts and wars you would probably have a FREE health system.

taxes are pretty low in austria compared to oir neighbour germany.
no comparison to the suisse.
there is a worldwide 'life quality' rank.list on.which austria ranked top the last years.

in comparison to other european countr we pay less taxes,less money for our flats...but get MORE.

the only thing i hate about austria is partly its past.hitler was austrian...
and the party life;-);-)it sucks sometimes.
 
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