My 79 KZ1300
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- calif wingnut
- Platinum Member
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- Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:10 am
- Location: Patterson, Calif 44 years winging it
My 79 KZ1300
From the archives 1989.
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Last edited by calif wingnut on Fri Mar 29, 2019 11:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
- Whiskerfish
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Re: My 79 KZ1300
I remember my Parents riding group had a couple of those in it. Do not remember hearing much about them.
"Agreement is not a requirement for Respect" CDR Michael Smith USN (Ret) 2017
"The book is wrong, this whole Conclusion is Fallacious" River Tam
"Yea I do dance awkwardly, and I am having more fun than you" Taylor Swift
2008 GL1800 IIIA "TH3DOG"
1984 GL1200 Standard
1975/6/7/8/9 Arthur Fulmer Dressed Road bike
1975 Naked Noisy and Nasty in town bike
Psst. oh and by the way CHANGE YOUR BELTS!!!!
"The book is wrong, this whole Conclusion is Fallacious" River Tam
"Yea I do dance awkwardly, and I am having more fun than you" Taylor Swift
2008 GL1800 IIIA "TH3DOG"
1984 GL1200 Standard
1975/6/7/8/9 Arthur Fulmer Dressed Road bike
1975 Naked Noisy and Nasty in town bike
Psst. oh and by the way CHANGE YOUR BELTS!!!!
- Lucien Harpress
- Honored Life Member
- Posts: 4083
- Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:41 am
- Location: Michigan
Re: My 79 KZ1300
Very large. Very fast. Very heavy. Quite fun, though.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete
All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete
All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
- 240zron
- Tin Member
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2018 1:31 am
Re: My 79 KZ1300
That brings back some memories, my dad still has a 79 KZ1300 in mint condition with around 30,000 miles on it. He blew a head gasket on it and has been sitting now for around 30 years. Was a fast fun bike.
Take care
Ron
Bikes I own or have owned
78 goldwing
80 goldwing
2-81 goldwings
2-82 goldwings
4-84 GL1200 goldwings
94- 1500 goldwing
95- 1500 goldwing
02- r1150rtp BMW
04- k1200GT BMW
03- k1200LT BMW
00 r1100s BMW
03-GL1800 goldwing
Ron
Bikes I own or have owned
78 goldwing
80 goldwing
2-81 goldwings
2-82 goldwings
4-84 GL1200 goldwings
94- 1500 goldwing
95- 1500 goldwing
02- r1150rtp BMW
04- k1200GT BMW
03- k1200LT BMW
00 r1100s BMW
03-GL1800 goldwing
- Lucien Harpress
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- Location: Michigan
Re: My 79 KZ1300
While GETTING an OEM head gasket is getting harder, actually replacing it isn't that bad. There may be other things after 30 years of sitting, but the motors tend to be pretty bulletproof.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete
All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete
All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
- calif wingnut
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 1650
- Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:10 am
- Location: Patterson, Calif 44 years winging it
Re: My 79 KZ1300
With my favorite Classic Car 87.
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- calif wingnut
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- Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:10 am
- Location: Patterson, Calif 44 years winging it
Re: My 79 KZ1300
Maintenance records for my brief ownership of 1.5 years. This is the 3rd stator replacement, with first 2 by oem owner.
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- calif wingnut
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 1650
- Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:10 am
- Location: Patterson, Calif 44 years winging it
Re: My 79 KZ1300
Here's the oem owner, Frank Saito, a WW2 veteran from the decorated 442nd Japanese/American combat regiment.
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- rcmatt007
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Re: My 79 KZ1300
the Army sent those guys into the toughest places.
-Rodger-
all it takes for evil to prosper is the want of a few good men to do nothing-Edmund Burke
The question is not how much time do you have, it is what you do with the time that you have Gandalf
"One of the greatest dignities of humankind is that each successive generation is invested in the welfare of each new generation." Fred Rodgers
"it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert" ancient saying
78 constantly modified/customized since 1978, BOTM June 2015 de-evolving this very moment viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65511
76 Ltd "cookies bike" ALMOST DONE
79 project, finished, FOR SALE
'86 1200 (Beth's)(FOR SALE) with motorvation sidecar (sidecar sold) , July 2017 BOTM
'17 HD Road king and 08 HD Heritage softail (Beth's) (FOR SALE). I guess you can say we have MBS
all it takes for evil to prosper is the want of a few good men to do nothing-Edmund Burke
The question is not how much time do you have, it is what you do with the time that you have Gandalf
"One of the greatest dignities of humankind is that each successive generation is invested in the welfare of each new generation." Fred Rodgers
"it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert" ancient saying
78 constantly modified/customized since 1978, BOTM June 2015 de-evolving this very moment viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65511
76 Ltd "cookies bike" ALMOST DONE
79 project, finished, FOR SALE
'86 1200 (Beth's)(FOR SALE) with motorvation sidecar (sidecar sold) , July 2017 BOTM
'17 HD Road king and 08 HD Heritage softail (Beth's) (FOR SALE). I guess you can say we have MBS
- desertrefugee
- SUPER BIKER!!!!
- Posts: 3947
- Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 9:33 pm
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Re: My 79 KZ1300
There's a neat little write-up in this month's edition of VJMC magazine on the KZ 1300. Interesting read by a former owner of a couple of them. He wasn't an enthusiastic hardcore owner, but spent some time with them.
- Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It's about learning to ride in the rain.
- Lucien Harpress
- Honored Life Member
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- Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:41 am
- Location: Michigan
Re: My 79 KZ1300
I THINK Motorcycle Classics magazine did a cover story about the 1300 about a... year ago, maybe? A pretty good overview about the machine and experiences in riding it.
I've said way (way, way, WAY) too much about the particulars of this bike in my build/repair/existential breakdown thread, but the short version- its a STRANGE combination of straightforward, solid engineering in some places and cluttered, ill-thought-out and/or over designed solutions to easy problems in others.
The engine really is built like 6 individual single cylinder engines, and solidly simple. The gearing for the ignition pickups is a bit wonky (and the pickups DID change location nearly every model year), but apart from that the engine is built like a tank.
But everything under the seat... is a mess. The battery holder is 4 pieces that doesn't hold the battery that well, brackets are oddly shaped and bolted to weird places, etc. The overall impression is that a bracket was made to fix some issue, but it created an issue someplace else, so another patch was made to fix that, but THAT created a problem in a DIFFERENT place, so on and so forth.
They're odd bikes and definitely not for everyone, but have a VERY unique charm because of it.
I've said way (way, way, WAY) too much about the particulars of this bike in my build/repair/existential breakdown thread, but the short version- its a STRANGE combination of straightforward, solid engineering in some places and cluttered, ill-thought-out and/or over designed solutions to easy problems in others.
The engine really is built like 6 individual single cylinder engines, and solidly simple. The gearing for the ignition pickups is a bit wonky (and the pickups DID change location nearly every model year), but apart from that the engine is built like a tank.
But everything under the seat... is a mess. The battery holder is 4 pieces that doesn't hold the battery that well, brackets are oddly shaped and bolted to weird places, etc. The overall impression is that a bracket was made to fix some issue, but it created an issue someplace else, so another patch was made to fix that, but THAT created a problem in a DIFFERENT place, so on and so forth.
They're odd bikes and definitely not for everyone, but have a VERY unique charm because of it.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete
All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete
All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
- calif wingnut
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 1650
- Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:10 am
- Location: Patterson, Calif 44 years winging it
Re: My 79 KZ1300
Nice flock of them here.
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- calif wingnut
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 1650
- Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:10 am
- Location: Patterson, Calif 44 years winging it
Re: My 79 KZ1300
Another excellent picture of the flock :<)
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- Lucien Harpress
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- Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:41 am
- Location: Michigan
Re: My 79 KZ1300
These always did seem to be more popular overseas, for some reason.... (that's a.... German rally? European, for sure.)
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete
All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete
All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
- calif wingnut
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 1650
- Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:10 am
- Location: Patterson, Calif 44 years winging it
Re: My 79 KZ1300
It was a wonderful era back in the day with the yamaha venture-xs1100-kz1300 etc, all looking to dethrone the Wing but it was never to be :<)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_Z1300
https://www.pinterest.com/lestermutton/kawasaki-z1300/
https://www.kz1300.com/index.php/forum/ ... 019-europe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm1TiONtsfY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_Z1300
https://www.pinterest.com/lestermutton/kawasaki-z1300/
https://www.kz1300.com/index.php/forum/ ... 019-europe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm1TiONtsfY
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