Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Hi all,
I went to my local performance bike shop today to see what options they had to offer for increasing the HP of my 04 Z1000.
As I've already got a Muzzy 4 into 1, K&N & PC3USB (internet mapped), he advised that some slight head work would see significant gains (he quoted around 10hp).
He quoted me around $1000 (Australian) to perform a 'multi angle valve cut' and a 'slight match porting'... Anyone care to explin in more detail WTF this is?!
I'm wanting to know if any other Zed thou's have had any of this type of work done & whether it was a worthwhile bang for buck modification.
I went in with the idea of turboing my bike but am a little hesitant due to cost, reliability & track rideability.
Nitrous could work but that bottle is damn ugly...
Would love to hear peoples thoughts on any other options.

Cheers.
Daz.

Head work is only viable if it is done in conjunction with a flow bench. Anyone can modify a head but whether they actually achieve a positive result can only be determined by the use of a flow bench.

why not just put a zx9 engine in it??

or maybe try the zx9 flywheel etc.

Hey Wattie,
I'm lead to believe that the ZX9 flywheel will not give me any more power & will effect my bottom end rideability...
Do the ZX9's have a different head?

deafwish wrote:Hey Wattie,
I'm lead to believe that the ZX9 flywheel will not give me any more power & will effect my bottom end rideability...
Do the ZX9's have a different head?

cams are different.

the Z1000 head has engine mounts on it, which the zx9 one doesnt.

but you can swap the bottom end and sleaves. i do believe its an earlier model 9 engine but.

not the last one.

check rider forums

deafwish wrote:Hi all,
He quoted me around $1000 (Australian) to perform a 'multi angle valve cut' and a 'slight match porting'... Anyone care to explin in more detail WTF this is?!
Daz.

a multi angle valve cut is when the valve sealing edge is machined at (normally) three slightly different angles and is supposed to promote better valve sealing.

Port matching is where you "match" openings between intake and head so both openings are the same and there is no obstruction (or overlap) between the two openings.

I've done both (on car motors) before and the difference in power is barely enough to notice much difference (note - never dynoed)

Head flowing on the other hand can make a lot of difference. It involves modifying ("porting") the combustion chamber area shape to change the way the air/fuel mixture and exhaust gasses flow.
As slow and wobbly said - this must be done on a flow bench by a good operator who knows what he's doing. As mentioned, it's easy to stuff this up and can actually make it worst.

Also remember that no matter what you end up doing when chasing horsepower, the whole engine, drive train ratios etc should be looked at as a whole so that everything complements everything else.
When building high performance car engines, I've always been taught to choose the cam that will best suit what you want, then build the whole motor, drive train etc around that cam.

Note - that's just my understanding of things. I'm only a back yard tinkerer so do lots of homework before spending the bucks

The problem with "blue printing" or modifying a current model motorcycle engine these days are that you are going to spend major dollars to chase small amounts of HP. It used to be that due to production tolerances engines assembled on the production line could have a major variation and so it was benificial to strip the whole engine and take all the components and modify them so as they were at their best tolerance. These days they are created with finer tolerances and are as close to spec as production will allow.
If you are going to benefit from any head work then you really need to look at it as a whole package. Add cams with a different timing and duration, lighter and stronger valves, lighter and stronger pistons and rods, correct squish, improved combustion shape, etc etc.
I was going to suggest a big bore kit but I am unsure if that can be done on the 1000 engine. I know it was possible to take the ZX9 out to about 966cc (?) but you are already running about 953cc (?) and I am unsure if there is any meat left to remove from those cylinder walls.
What is it you are trying to achieve by gaining more HP? I know in the past you have been drag racing but if you are now chasing a faster streetbike then perhaps it would be better to look at weight saving of unsprung weight, suspension improvements and overall weight saving.

Thank you for the detailed reply, Slow & Wobbly.
I want more horsepower because... well... It can be done...
What annoys me is when my mates on CBR954's & R1's pull away from me in the straights & eat me alive on the drag strip on near stock machines.
Sure my bike looks light years better & has the old school mixed with new school muscle bike look but I want it to go as well as it looks.

Are there significant gains to be had by getting a custom PC3 map?
Worth the $250 - $300?
I have the Muzzy Full exhaust map at the moment, downloaded from PC USA's website.
Bike runs flawlessly...

Sell your bike and buy a faster one zx10 maybe

Don't know who you have spoken to but it would probably be worth discussing what you want to do, why you want to do it and how much money your prepared to throw at it with Phil Tainton.
http://www.ptr.com.au