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'Kawasaki Kz1000'
The 'Kawasaki Kz1000' is a motorcycle manufactured in Japan released in September of 1976 as a 1977 model to replace the Kz900 model.
It is a sport-cruiser bike with an in-line 4 cylinder engine and 5 speed transmission, a 'one down and four up' configuration.
It was the fastest production bike in it's day and was made famous on the television show CHiPs, used by Ponch and Jon, as California Highway Patrol officers.
This article covers only the models from the Kz1000's introduction in 1977 to the first year of fuel injection in 1980.

Contents

It's Introduction

Performance

Powertrain/Drivetrain

Tires and Rims

Engine Oil (Modern)

Accessories

Ride, Comfort and Size

Police Use

Almost Banned in the U.S.

It's Introduction

Kawasaki introduced the Kz1000 in late '76, replacing it's already successful Kz900(cc) motorcycle in an attempt to appease motorcyclist interest in foreign made bikes.
The only difference between the Kz900 and the Kz1000, however, was the cubic inches of the engine itself - the latter only being bored slightly bigger.
As with any machine, there are variations to specs and assembly configurations, even on the same year and model (i.e. - chain drive or shaft drive options on the '77 Kz1000 A/1).

Performance

As the fastest production machine, it easily out-accelerated any other machine (2 or 4 wheeled) in it's day. (I can't confirm 0-60 and 0-100 records at this time.)
Though the speed is paltry by today's standard, it was still impressive for a carburated engine with points ignition.

Powertrain/Drivetrain

The Kz1000 engine came with either a 995cc or until 1980 the 1015cc, air-cooled, in-line 4-cylinder engine with dual points ignition and dual overhead camshafts.
It also has 4 individual Mikuni side-draft carburators for each cylinder in either 26 or 28mm sizes. The only exception is the 1980 Kz1000 Classic, which was fuel injected.
It exhausts its used fuel/air mixture through a 4-2 exhaust system (each pipe has it's own header, then combines them into two individual pipes [one for cylinders 1 & 2, one for cylinders 3 & 4] which direct the gases out the rear of the bike through a pair of mufflers).
There is also a 'scavenger' pipe that connects the two main pipes under the chassis to harmonize the sound of the exhaust.
The Kz1000 series came in either a chain drive or shaft drive to turn the rear wheel.

Tires and Rims

The Kz1000 sits on a 19 inch front and 18 inch rear wheel. They came in either a cast aluminum or chrome wire spoke rims.

Engine Oil (Modern)

The Clymer Kawasaki motorcycle book claims that the recommended engine oil is SAE 10W.
However, since the Clymer book was published in 1989 (9th printing), engine oils have changed dramatically for 'greener' engines, utilizing roller camshafts and lifters, and straight 10W is getting harder to come by.
Most Kz owner's of the day used the typical 10w-30, which worked fine.
Today, the recommended oil for 'any' engine older than 1995 would be diesel engine oil: Mobil Delvac, Shell Rotella, or Castrol diesel oils in the 5w-40 to 15w-50 range.
Modern engine oils (10w-30, etc.) are too clean and far too thin to handle the demands of solid camshafts and lifters.

Accessories

The Kz1000 came optional with a wind jammer (not the ship), saddle bags, a sissy bar and highway bars - all of which were removeable without any interference with performance or function.
The wind jammer and saddle bags were molded fiber-glass resin to keep the overall bike light weight, while the sissy bar and highway bar were chrome plated to acsentuate the look.
Highway bars were also used for comfort on long trips that didn't require constant shifting or braking and usually held additional lighting, in combination with the single halogen head lamp.

Ride, Comfort and Size

The Kz1000 series wasn't a perticularly heavy bike, which made for great maneuvering on acceleration and at cruise speeds. They did not, however, ride smoothly over raised cracks on streets or highways, not that 'any' bike does.
As a 'middle child' (not a fully loaded cruiser and not dressed as a dirt bike or enduro), the Kz did ride smoothly and take easily to the open road for long trips or local errand running, and was perfectly snug in a back corner of your garage without using up too much space.

Police Use

As a fast, sturdy and manueverable bike, the Kz1000 was a favorite among Police Departments that utilized motorcycles.
It's quick accleration, quiet exhaust and light weight made sure that a running criminal wouldn't get very far, the officer would be able to use his radio and if the officer dumped the bike over at any time, chances are, he'd be able to pick it back up without any help.

Almost Banned in the U.S.

Shortly after its release the U.S. government planned to ban the Kz1000 in the country because several people were being killed in high speed incidents.
It was reported that the bike started to handle "goofy", or start to 'wobble' above a certain speed, some saying it was a characteristic of the bike's design - the short front forks and too steep of a caster angle.
Also, since the machine is lightweight, the brakes tended to lock up quite easily during any emergency braking.
Most owners have refuted this proposal and the ban never came into fruition.