Resurrecting my '79 KZ1300 from a 28-year nap

That’s such a good write up about your latest adventure. Great photos too.
I think , at this rate, you will have enough material to write a book in a few years!
That Ford model T is beautiful.

When you are cruising on the 1300, does the engine sound ‘busy’ ? Some folk are of the opinion that the bike is a bit under geared.

Before you had the Kawasaki, did you ever undertake long trips on a bike?
Thanks again for taking the time and trouble to share your experiences.

Great write-up. Thanks for doing it. The old saying "ride 'em, don't hide 'em."

biltonjim wrote: That’s such a good write up about your latest adventure. Great photos too.
I think , at this rate, you will have enough material to write a book in a few years!
That Ford model T is beautiful.

When you are cruising on the 1300, does the engine sound ‘busy’ ? Some folk are of the opinion that the bike is a bit under geared.

Before you had the Kawasaki, did you ever undertake long trips on a bike?
Thanks again for taking the time and trouble to share your experiences.

Yes, I do feel that the bike is geared short. It's much more suited to the type of riding we did on old 2-lane roads than it would be burning up the interstate at 80. Not to say that it won't, but yeah, it would definitely benefit from a sixth gear or taller final drive ratio. It'll cruise at 70+ just fine, but I personally just don't really like hanging a bike at 5k RPM for hours on end.

I've taken long trips on other bikes before...took the Goldwing down to Alabama, K100 also to Alabama, Goldwing on a couple day trip to northwestern VA, and a few other places. The KZ is definitely more enjoyable to spend time on.

I think I'd like to source another seat pan and take it to our local upholstery guru and have him build something that looks like the original, but with modern foam and support. The seat on this bike looks great, but the foam has lost a lot of it's support over the years. It can wear on you after a couple hours.

Thanks for your reply.

I might be wrong , but I think I read that the ZN 1300 Voyager has a taller ratio top gear - or is it the final drive / bevel gear that is a different ratio? I believe a member of this forum looked into this issue a while ago.

biltonjim wrote: Thanks for your reply.

I might be wrong , but I think I read that the ZN 1300 Voyager has a taller ratio top gear - or is it the final drive / bevel gear that is a different ratio? I believe a member of this forum looked into this issue a while ago.

Can confirm 5th gear on a ZN1300 is overdrive (there's an OD indicator on the dash) but not sure how that compares to a KZ1300 or which parts may or may not be different.

Not much more to report other than it's still clicking away miles. About to put the third rear tire of the season on it for a Labor Day trip along the Parkway.

I did have an unfortunate mishap a few weeks ago where the starter solenoid stuck on! The bike just kept cranking and cranking,and since the starter is wired directly to the battery via the solenoid, no amount of fuse pulling or main switch killing would shut if off. After a couple minutes of stress, I got the battery cable disconnected.

I happened to have some Honda Shadow parts laying around, and wouldn't you know that the Honda starter solenoid is an exact match for the KZ1300 solenoid, even down to the rubber mount! The only difference is the connector. The Kaw uses bullet connectors, the Honda a two-pin plug. Quick snip and crimp and we were back in business. Lucky that happened in town and not out on the road though.Roll starting this old pig would have gotten old quick.