KZ1300 for cheap

[850 Combat]

Actually, Tom, you are close, but you have to many zeros in there and the 1 is in the wrong place.

When it was released (and I got mine ) the magazines were saying that wet weight was 710 pounds.

They also said it handled surprisingly well for its weight. I agreed with them. When I moved up from my KZ650, I was expecting a heavy, powerful beast that I was going to have to mind constantly, to keep from being thrown. Yeah, it took a bit more oomph to get it up off the side stand, but once moving, did not feel any more ponderous than a GS G model (any size). The torque curve was also flat enough that there was no sudden rush of power, but it took all of its 120hp to get it moving.

.

Why do you think that there are so few survivors? I suspect that there may be fatal mechanical issues that take them off the road.

[JEEPRUSTY]

I have been reading as much as possible on them.
It seems they are plagued with Reg\Rect issues as well as weak ignition coils.

I suspect there are more issues but this has a low 20k kms
Approximately 12000 miles in total.

Owned by a little old lady not from Pasadena?
Perhaps owned by some older person who put it away years ago cos it scared the crap out of him\her\it.

[Toasty]

Actually, Tom, you are close, but you have to many zeros in there and the 1 is in the wrong place.

When it was released (and I got mine ) the magazines were saying that wet weight was 710 pounds.
.

710 pounds??? Holy crap.

Good deal though on that bike, too big for my liking though.

[Flyboy]

^^^^^ What Steve said, and Jeepster.
I loved mine, was smooth powerful and was no more of a handful than my 850G once it was moving.
Suffered the very ignition issues that Jeepster mentioned, would sometimes run on all six and sometimes on four.
Found it would par boil your legs in summer behind those outside cylinders, was glorious in winter though.

Ok....time to step away from the keyboard, Dale will skin me alive..............

[Steve]

Why do you think that there are so few survivors? I suspect that there may be fatal mechanical issues that take them off the road.

Oh, I know that one for a fact. The drive for the water pump was a convoluted affair that had a few gears and shafts in the process. One of the gears was NYLON, and prone to getting brittle if overheated. Mine actually lost two teeth AND cracked, it's a wonder that the bike did not overheat. The dealer that was doing the work could not find a replacement gear, I managed to get one from another 1300 owner in Canada, who claimed to have the last such gear from Canadian sources (his brother-in-law worked at a dealer).

I have been reading as much as possible on them.
It seems they are plagued with Reg\Rect issues as well as weak ignition coils.

To give you an idea about the condition of their charging systems, they use the same stator as most of the GS bikes.
Yep, the R/R is the same, too, but might have different electrical connectors.

Both of those parts cross-reference on many of the stator supply shops.

.

[850 Combat]

Oh, I know that one for a fact. The drive for the water pump was a convoluted affair that had a few gears and shafts in the process. One of the gears was NYLON, and prone to getting brittle if overheated. Mine actually lost two teeth AND cracked, it's a wonder that the bike did not overheat. The dealer that was doing the work could not find a replacement gear, I managed to get one from another 1300 owner in Canada, who claimed to have the last such gear from Canadian sources (his brother-in-law worked at a dealer).




To give you an idea about the condition of their charging systems, they use the same stator as most of the GS bikes.
Yep, the R/R is the same, to, but might have different electrical connectors.

Both of those parts cross-reference on many of the stator supply shops.

.

Too bad. I like them. Nothing exceeds like excess.

[tatu]

Why do you think that there are so few survivors? I suspect that there may be fatal mechanical issues that take them off the road.

I think there was also lube/cooling issues too, the A2 came with a larger sump.

Gs1000s was faster and handled better, my mate Mark had one and on Mad Sunday '86 I had to wait for him after the mountain (both times). Mark was not exactly known for his slouching around.

[jeff.saunders]

Lots of unique parts on these bikes. They are very difficult to get parts for. They are not something you would want to rebuild.

[6pkrunner]

They are not something you would want to rebuild.

Slated for the scrap heap of history. In museums and books.

[Montanaman]

I liked those big bikes - back in '81 I knew a guy who rode one of those everywhere, and he would go touring with the Gold Wingers -

They'd be riding, and talking on their radios, and right before they got back into town, they'd be feeling rowdy, cranking up the speed a little, and when they got to the last big uphill on I-90 he would say "Lets go Home" into the radio, twist it wide open, and it would look like the Wingers hit the brakes - I'd like to have a nice one of these -

[sedelen]

I always thought that was a great looking bike, but oh so heavy. I'm surprised to find it had all those issues in an otherwise great bike.

[GS1000G Shopper]

Too bad. I like them. Nothing exceeds like excess.

I agree. I had looked at one of these a while back, but the liquid cooling was a big negative in addition to the other factors noted here. There is a website to get info and help with problems:

http://www.kz1300.com/tech.html

EDIT
I see the see owner is bailing out as of December 2012.

[Flaggo60]

I always liked those. A real tank on the road, but that motor should go forever. Bet its a real pig to pick up though......

[evan132]

Heres a cool old video of Arto Nyquist doing a few stunts on one, I think its been posted before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmIZd8C-oOA