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After 2 weeks of not working on my bike, I was about to go crazy! Here is a perfectly good KZ just dying to be taken apart, and I haven't been able to make it out to my families place to do anything about it. Well, today I did!

I got her striped down pretty good.

The engine looks REALLY GOOD so far. The pistons look like they hardly have any miles on them to me.

Sorry for the wonky angle, my camera battery was about to die, so I took it quick. But the pistons and the rings looked really good to me. I'm going to split the cases next weekend and take a look at the inside. I'm also going to take my vacation so I'll be able to go out during the week to work on it. I never thought that taking my vacation, to go out and work in 100 degree weather, would be something I would look forward to, but there ya go.
I am planning on installing a new cam chain, and to swap out all the sprockets with these:

And I even plan to change out the stock chain tensioner with this one:

There is something about an actual sprocket on there, instead of a hard rubber roller, that I just find a better idea to install. That being said, in the middle of the cam chain is a roller wheel.

Should I replace that with a sprocket as well? Or will the tensioner push into it and make for an unhappy engine? And then of course, an unhappy Michael.

While you've got it apart, install one of these: www.kriegercamchaintensioners.com/

I was actually giving some thought to this. I like the idea of an automatic tensioner, but after taking it out, I could foresee a few problem areas. I was just thinking of a different solution. With these automatic tensioners, it says to install a longer screw before removing it from the bike. I was thinking of putting the tensioner back on, loosening the longer screw to tighten the chain by turning on the crankshaft, and then leaving in, and tightening up the longer screw to hold it in place. Then if I ever do hear any noise, I can just loosen up the screw and repeat the process to tighten it up. This way I don't have to spend money I don't have. What do you think?

Yes, it works well. It just makes it a manual tensioner. I had problems with my auto one and I installed a manual one from a 77 650. Engine is much quieter now and even starts easier.

Chaotic Reason wrote: ...Ps, I also noticed that one of the wee rubber blocks was not on one side of the rod holding the sprocket in place. Where can you even get those??? Can I just make one? Or does it have to be specific material, thickness, and so on?

Those little rubber blocks (qty. 2 part #92075-123 needed and qty. 4 part #92075-232 needed) are still available from Kawasaki. Replace them all while the engine is apart. Ed

Good idea Ed, will do. I just found them on Z1 a few days ago. You know how they list parts alphabetically? Well, I'm looking under "cam sprocket block" or whatever and can't find squat. Then as I'm scrolling thru, I see it under "rubber cam..." DOH!!! It seems so obvious now.
Any thought about that middle roller I was asking about? Keep it, or go with a sprocket?

Chaotic Reason wrote: "Any thought about that middle roller I was asking about? Keep it, or go with a sprocket?"

I don't have enough experience with it to say, but I wonder if having sprockets all the way around might cause an issue as the cam chain stretches? It seems possible that if the cam chain stretched some there might be a problem with the chain seating in a sprocket if it's also trying to seat in multiple sprockets upstream and downstream. They could possibly pull against each other which might cause premature wear. I don't know if this would be an issue or not, I'm just speculating. Ed

Has this ever happened to anyone? I put the slides of my carbs in an ultrasonic cleaner with some degreaser in it for cleaning, and when I pulled it out, there was purple foam all over it. I immediately cleaned it with water, and this is what it looked like:






So, I used a fine grit sanding block and some WD-40 on it.




It does seem smooth again, but nowhere near where it was. I WILL NOT be putting the other slides in there, but I thought degreaser, not outer coating remover!
In your opinion, is there anyway I can salvage the situation? Or will I just have to give it a try and see if it works?

that is rather unfortunate. i think i would give them a go and see if they work. nothing to loose now.
if not, u can try ebay for another set of carbs, or maybe someone here has a set ?

purple degresser has lots of (sodium hydroxide) very corrosive to aluminum. I'v used a more concentrated form to strip anodize finish from aluminum works great just dont leave it on to long.

So, after many months of wishing I had parts to put my bike together, today I got some! All for the engine, head bolts, cam chain tensioner, pillow pads, and some valve stem seats. And I've also gotten a new throttle body slide.
Thanks largely to getting a new job at the beginning of November. After playing catch up with some bills, I could finally afford to get some parts.

And the kicker is that the transmission in my truck is in need of repair, and I would rather spend the money on parts for the bike than to fix the truck. Tranny work is never fun, esp on a 4x4. I'd much rather get the bike on the road. HEHEHE

The new job has many bonuses; one of which is that one of the other mechanics I work with, was a motorcycle mechanic for over 20 years. Guess who's going to help me put my engine together? I took the head and jugs in to work to prep them. All the old gaskets are finally removed, and the head is disassembled, waiting for all the new parts to come together.
I will take some pictures as progress happens, but for some reason, my computer doesn't want to recognize my memory card... I'll do my best to get that sorted out too.
I just wanted to thank everyone for helping me out along the way.
And I'd love to tell you more about the plan, but it's 10:30, and 4:30am comes too early as is, so have a good night everyone, and I'll write more soon.

sounds like everything is looking up .

congratulations,keep us posted.

leon