Brake Caliper Identification
There are several different
front and rear brake calipers that were used on the 1973 thru 1980 Kaw
900's and 1000's.........For easy identification, we have an illustrated table
below on this page.
In many instances, parts have
been switched and the brakes that are on a bike now are often
not the original equipment for
a given VIN #.......
This type of single-piston front caliper was used on
the 1973 thru 1975 Z-1 900 models only.
Due to the spacing of the mount holes, they will only mount to the lower legs
of a Z-1 front fork. We simply refer to these as "Z-1 front calipers". |
The 1977 KZ1000B LTD models,
and all 1978 and later 1000 models used these single-piston front
calipers, whether the bike had single or double disc front brakes. The main
difference between these and the ones above was the switch to the rubber
line extending to the caliper with a banjo fitting at the end. We refer to
these as "Late KZ front calipers".
However - There are different variations of these "Late KZ" calipers...... Not all have the same diameter / length piston - And the later 1979 and 1980 versions use different brake pads than the earlier type....... If you're not sure if the original calipers are on your bike, you can measure the daimeter - and overall length of the piston to determine what parts it uses... We have whatever it takes. |
This type of twin-piston rear caliper was used on the
1977 & 78 KZ1000A models, and the 1978
& 80 KZ1000D (Z1-R) models. We refer to these as "Early 1000A rear calipers". |
This type of single-piston rear caliper was used
on the 1976 KZ900B LTD / 1977 & 1978 KZ1000B LTD models. Very similar to the KZ front calipers shown above, but they differ considerably internally. We refer to these as "Early 900B / 1000B rear calipers". |
Except for the Z1-R's, these twin-piston calipers were
used on all 79 & 80 KZ1000's....With
minor variatons...... We refer to these as "Late 1000 Rear calipers". |