1982 KZ1000 LTD as daily driver?

  Hey guys over the past year I’ve gotten more serious about riding. Love it and want to ride everyday which is what I’ve been doing unless it’s wet out. Mostly commuting to work and just cruising around on fun solo rides. Bike runs great, but question is anyone else using theirs as a daily driver? I know the bike is tough, but I don’t want overdue it being 40+ years old. Zero issues out of the bike right now. I’m staying on top of maintenance. I work as a bicycle mechanic and have found a love for doing maintenance on this motorcycle and learning about it. I’m not concerned about adding milage on the bike or keeping the bike in amazing picture taking shape or thinking it will be worth something one day. I really just want to ride this bike like it was intended. Do you guys feel it’s fine to ride an 82 ltd everyday?  Or do you think I should look into another bike for daily driving and commuting? 

Bike looks good in purple:) using it shouldn’t hurt it if you stay on top of the maintenance- sitting in a barn for 20 years does them no good at all 

It's all about maintenance, and the condition in general.  The things people rarely do, like lubing wheel bearings, swingarm bearings, steering head bearings, clutch release mechanism, and lubricating cables.  Also, keep up on valve adjustments, which some people neglect.  I could go on, but you should get the idea.  

Your pipes look heavily colored, and I see china pods.  I'd get some real K&N's, and make sure the jetting is proper, and not lean, cooking the pipe and engine.  Fine details matter as you rack up the miles.

I hear ya and I’ve since taken those cheap pods off. They were on there when I got the bike a year ago. Replace with UNI pods last month. Thoughts on those? Anyone use them? Yeah pipes are nasty and trying clean the blued seems to make it look worse so just letting it be unless someone knows what to clean them with that works? Doesn’t bother me too much if it’s cosmetic, but how do I know if it’s running lean other than hot pipes? Been trying to figure out if I should change jets or not from day 1 a year ago when I got the bike in “good running order” which it was. What are other signs the bike is running lean? I don’t have back firing, idle is steady and drops right back down when I rev it. No hanging rpms. Never dips then goes back up to idle. Pipes hot yes. Starts right up every single time easily too. What else are signs it is lean? Bc runs good otherwise.

Guy had the pods on there when I got the bike and I’m not sure if he changed the jets or not when he installed the pods. What I haven’t done is synced the carbs. Would that cause over heating? Cleaned them of course. 

Spark plug color can tell you about mix....synchronizing carbs have to do with smooth idle mostly,....does not affect much at higher RPM.,,,but just the same I'd check that too.

Pitty does not have factory air box and exhaust, .......in general ' extra power' you get out of that is actually pitiful, not worth bastardizing bike from factory, and making it nosier...but if you say is running fine, it should OK by now I suppose.

If treated with respect and given it religious maintenance,....any machine will out last a human. Any part can be replaced in a machine,....most human vital parts can not be replaced, ,,or work poorly for short time.  

I've been running my 78 Z1R everyday for over 26 years as my main transport ,
It's never been off the road due to a breakdown.
There's no reason why yours won't do the same as long as you maintain it.
 

If not proof in the pudding, take note of how long these similar powerplants have been utilized by municipalities for decades in enforcement daily drudgery pouncing the pavement. And..still running when shuffled off to auction houses and snatched up by funeral procession fellas directing traffic. If used, even sometimes abused, they drool along just fine. And parts, readily available. Fine steed for daily commute.     

Spark plugs didn’t tell too much of a story. They didn’t look overly black and oily or light grey last time I pulled them out. Looked be ok. I just started working on and learning about motorcycles this past year, but I’m all in on KZ’s though like as in I’ve watched the original mad max more times than I can count this past year haha. Such awesome bikes and story/history. Yes I’ve always wished the air box was still on and don’t fully get wanting to go with pods other than if you just like the look. From what I understand these bikes already came tuned very lean from the factory already to meet emission standards and to meet advertised mpg at the time so why add even more air if it risks hurting the engine from heat? For more power? As if it’s not powerful enough already geez? Bike is so fast already! Meaning I’m not sure I’ve even be able to tell a few added horsepower up or down anyway, but I’m sure there are guys who can. I’m not getting that deep into the power-band, I ride it more like a cruiser I’m not hammering it for real. I get it though and don’t get me wrong a cafe racer done right can be a thing of beauty, but being a “cruiser” model I’d rather stick with the cruiser aesthetic. I looked into buying an air box, but honestly in the end I hit the easy button and bought the Uni pods for time being. May look into getting an airbox back on there this winter. Sure like most things not as easy as it sounds. Prob have rejet again? Yes pipes are so darn loud. I would be completely fine if it still had the 2-1’s werr on there still. The stupid aftermarket pipes block the oil drain plug anyway so have to move them out of the way every time I change the oil. At times I do love the sound the pipes can make on open road tho. When contemplating going cafe racer style when I first got the bike as previous owner was trying, I found that the LTD/CSR engines are tuned differently from the J model and the actual frame was different too. Do the 2 engines perform that much differently? The LTD/CSR vs the J model that is? Is there actually a difference between the 2 engines or did I read that wrong? Talking like 81 82 models. I just feel Kawasaki intended for the ltd’s to stay cruisers and if you want a cafe racer you should prob find a non ltd/csr model to convert. Am I wrong there? Or are guys turning the LTD/CSR into sick cafe racers too? But also I get that if it’s your bike you can do whatever the heck to it you want too and in a way that can never be “wrong”, unless it’s truly hurting the bike, like the pods possibly can if not set up proper.

The “J” has more lift and duration on the cams so makes around 10% more power (carb jetting is also different to suit the cams)
If you want to see what an 82 Ltd can become check out my build thread (link in my signature) Ltd/CSR are popular to modify as they are about the cheapest of the big “Z’s” to buy initially 

So back to my original post I think what I was trying to say is the bug bit me and I know I’m about to put tons of miles on this bike. For maintenance my next job I need to learn is checking valve clearances. Question about that is should I go ahead and buy the complete shim kit from Z1 before getting in there? Is the entire kit necessary to have on hand or are there a few standard sizes I can pre order before getting in there? Guess I’ll get the tool they sell as well for removing the shims. My budget has been getting wiped out and hate the full kit is over $100 and still need get a carb sync tool as well. I guess I can always open it up measure then order the size shims individually that I need (if any I guess), would just hate waiting for them to come in while bike is down. Maybe that can be a winter job? Or do you guys feel that’s important enough to do sooner than winter? No known issues with the valves, but I feel I can always make myself hear some sort of tapping If I listen hard enough, think mine is just normal engine noise as of now. Don’t know last time it was checked if ever is why I know I need to get in there.  After checking valve clearances what are other import jobs I should be doing regularly? Talking good preventative maintenance type jobs. As of now I’m checking oil, tire pressure and chain slack regularly. I’ve bleed brakes, cleaned carbs, replaced spark plugs (for hell of it really not sure that was needed), new clutch and throttle cables, checking tire and brake pad wear regularly, checked the clutch release mech and found it was screwed completely in and tell me if I’m wrong for an 82, but I backed it out completely then turned in 1/4 turn clockwise from there and locked it down there. What should I learn to do after checking and adjusting valve clearances? I’m all ears for sure.

Wow 10% is more than I thought the diff would be! Like I said though this engine is more than powerful enough for me. Couldn’t imagine wanting more as of now. I’ll check out the post I like knowing the bike can be modified diff ways and all are badass in the end!