Before and After

Great detail Globemaster, thanks.

It does beg a couple of questions about the popular upgrades / retrofits for shallow sumped '79s (which of course I have!)

From your notes looks like there are two main options;

1)Keep shallow sump, fit 5.3ltr clutch cover and radially-mounted baffle and 2 x gaskets, in effect increase oil level.

D'you think the risk of the clutch basket splashing aeration is fully prevented by the baffle, i.e. a worthwhile upgrade on balance?

Then the one I've read about most often;
2)Fit 6.2ltr sump, with appropriate oil pick-up hardware to match.
What I haven't read is folks fitting any baffle or matching clutch cover with this one.
As you say the 6.2ltr baffle won't fit if the earlier crankcase doesn't have the two tapped bosses, so I was wondering if the big sump casting is still a good idea without it's matching baffle?
And/or is fitting the 5.3ltr baffle still constructive with the 6.2ltr sump casting?

I'm guessing also that a 4.8ltr clutch cover used with a 6.2ltr sump casting will actually result in slightly less oil being stored (as the sight marks are lower?) but most of the capacity increase must come from the sump.

That is indeed very interesting Globemaster. Like many others, I would assume , I have never looked at the crankcase diagram to view the baffle or ever seen one for sale or talked about. The kicker being that the bikes have , 1980 included, has no baffle , but has the large clutch cover and oil pan. Will have to check my engine numbers and see where my bikes fit in the sequence.

The oil frothing/aeration- how big of a problem is it ? Would it be difficult to get some copies made if someone had a template /original to copy. No doubt would have to be the complete ring from the 1980 bikes.

Thanks for that excellent information GlobeMaster! I added it to the FAQ. Unfortunately the Editor's hotlink function is too obscure for me to grasp. Your information is, for now, appended to the end of the "Oil" section.
Bill
KZQ

Kawboy - I cheated. When the KZ1300's were new, I worked in Japan as an engineer. My ride there was a brand new 1979, luminous blue KZ1300. All of the information I posted came direct from Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Wish I could contribute more to this fine forum.

RChaloner - To the best of my knowledge, the anti-aeration baffle was effective in preventing air bubbles from draining into the sump from the clutch housing. The baffle itself sits behind the clutch, and above the oil drain hole in the crankcase. I believe it to be a worthwhile upgrade. I would not fit the 5.3 L clutch cover with the shallow sump without the radial mounted baffle.

The ultimate upgrade is your #2 option: 6.2 liter sump, and long oil case. I would not use this combination with the full 6.2 liters of oil without the baffle. You have a good idea about using the 4.6 L clutch cover with this option. As the oil level markings are lower, you might safely operate without the clutch churning the oil. Based on the ZN1300 configuration, 5.9 liters of oil fill should be safe. If you try this, put the KZ1300 on the center stand on level ground and observe the oil level in the sight glass after filling with 5.9 liters of oil (with a new oil filter change).

Consider this. The ZN1300 Voyager uses the exact same 6.2 liter sump as the KZ1300, but has no anti-aeration baffle. Kawasaki did this by lowering the oil fill to 5.9 liters. Based on this, your option #2 should work fine if the maximum oil fill is 5.9 liters. The ZN1300 oil fill is on the shift cover and so is the sight glass. There is no sight glass on the clutch cover. This makes me wonder if the ZN1300 shift cover and the clutch cover could be fitted to a KZ1300. This combination with a deep sump would have the correct 5.9 L marking by the oil fill hole and a sight glass that matches the level for 5.9 liters of oil.

tackelhappy - The original ring style baffles are sometimes for sale on eBay, but usually sold with the clutch cover. It should not be too hard to construct a baffle if an original is used as a pattern. Forming components by stamping from sheet steel is one of the cheapest methods of manufacturing parts.

Of course, your 79 does not have the baffle. Your 1980 should have come from the factory with the baffle and the shallow sump. However, Kawasaki was not infallible and anything was possible at the factory. If I understand, your 80 has the deep sump, but no baffle. Did it leave the factory that way, or did someone add the deep sump later? It would be interesting to know if your engine has the long oil case (9 cm length). I've often wondered how many people changed over to the deep sump and did not know that it needed the long oil case.

I don't know how big a problem the oil frothing in the clutch case was. It was enough of a potential cause of engine damage/failure, that Kawasaki manufactured the baffles. The warning to not overfill the oil on almost all cars and trucks is to avoid an oil level that allows the crankshaft to strike the oil causing frothing and possible air bubbles in the oil pickup, which can cause engine failure. Virtually all military piston aircraft engines have anti-aeration baffles in the oil return.