Cam options

sorry one more thing. after building many a race engine [mostly older chevy and old fords] the one thing i learned is crane cams are junk! now if they have changed in the last 5-7 years good for them but if not they are good for nothing more than your average mild street rod. they were consistant for breaking and rounding off lobes under stress. remember the old motto you get what you paid for!? that is why crane is at the bottom of the price list/ cheaper than most. im sorry if i offended anyone.
 
fastfatcow said:
sorry one more thing. after building many a race engine [mostly older chevy and old fords] the one thing i learned is crane cams are junk! now if they have changed in the last 5-7 years good for them but if not they are good for nothing more than your average mild street rod. they were consistant for breaking and rounding off lobes under stress. remember the old motto you get what you paid for!? that is why crane is at the bottom of the price list/ cheaper than most. im sorry if i offended anyone.
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Sounds like you have had some bad luck with them too?

Years ago when I used to race I ran the ninja cams in my 900 and was very happy with them. A little port work a header and a set of 900 ninja carbs with a stage 3 jet kit and you have a real gain in overal performance with very little lost down low. If you bump the compression up slightly you can even get the bottom end to feel the same.
 
paulfun said:
If you want exactly the same operating peramiters, have the cam reground with a bit more lift. This will increase power accoss the board with almost no effects on rpm/power curves.
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Now theres the most integilgent statement so far. I've been changing cams in Ford and chevy's for over 30 yrs and if theres one thing I can tell you is that the lift gives you the tq and power while duration and overlap puts it on the rpm range where you want it. Its almost that simple.
 
Are the cams in the zl900 and the zl1000 the same ???
has anyone checked the part numbers????

Is is safe to say that it is generally agreed that the best factory cams for the zl's are the
zx1000r cams???
 
Prostreet said:
Now theres the most integilgent statement so far. I've been changing cams in Ford and chevy's for over 30 yrs and if theres one thing I can tell you is that the lift gives you the tq and power while duration and overlap puts it on the rpm range where you want it. Its almost that simple.
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My only problem is finding someone who can do this for me.

Also asking the same thing as Bacchus. zx1000r cams the best overall? or as fastfatcow mentioned I should be going with the zx900 cams as I am running a 900?
 
Hey Bacchus:

I have just verified (via the buykawasaki.com website) that the camshafts for the 900 and the 1000 are indeed exactly the same.

These camshafts, by the way, are also used on many other Kawasakis as well.

Elimax
 
tmdoth said:
I am looking at a set of gpz900 cams. would these work? what about 85-86 concours cams?
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I think the early ZX900 was aka gpz.

Concours was not a "high performance" bike, so those are prolly out.
 
1986 Concours was the same as the Eli 900 and Eli 1000

1985 ZX900-A2 (which is he same as the GPz900) has:

Intake camshaft: 12044-1112
Exhaust camshaft: 12044-1113


Elimax
 
ok, just got a call back from The cam rebuilder. they have the master plans for the zx900 (84-86) and can regrind them to those specs for 100-110 bucks each cam. I have four that I will be sending to them so he said they would drop the price down to 80 bucks each (nice of them). We got to talking and the fellow was really interested in our bikes and would love to make a master disk of the ZL900 cams to add to their already impressive collection. All he needs is a perfect cam lobe that his machine can take the right specs from. Since only a few of the lobes are f!@#$ed (yet at least one on each cam is.. murphy's law at its finest) I can send him the cams I have and he can make the master for a reasonable cost of about $100-150 bucks as a one time cost. So if any of you guys are interested these guys can regrind for a lot cheaper then buying new, providing the cams aren't so worn that they have to re-weld since that would add to the cost. So the biggest question I need to figure out is how much difference is there in the lift and duration of the zx900 (gpz900) vs the zl900, or is there any? I am sure that I could find that answer on the forum somewhere but I am so burnt from school these days that the last thing I want to do is even more research. thanks all
Richard.
 
Ok, just confirmed what Elimax posted up, the cams are the same for the zg1000 as the zl900
intake 12044-1151
exhaust 12044-1152

zx900 (gpz900)
intake 12044-1112
exhaust 12044-1113

so it looks like I will be shipping those cams off and getting them ground to the zl900 specs
thinking about having one set ground to zx900 specs though, they aren't that much different though I don't think, and hopefully they have enough to work with and it will be a quick regrind and not a reweld THEN a regrind.
So my next question is... what are the differences in the connie and the eliminator as far as the engines/transmissions go? just the gearing ratio? or is it more than that?
 
zlMark said:
the zg has different trans ratio, front bevel gear ratio, and a balance shaft
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ok, I remember you mentioning those before in another post. Bottom line though is that they are a direct swap with the zl900 as far as cams go? I could theoretically just plug them into my top end and they will run just as if they were from a zl900/1000 motor?
I mean if the part numbers line up then I should be correct, but I really seem to enjoy second guessing myself.
 
ok i found some info.84-93 zx900 cams. lobe height 35.82-35.94mm. that was the same for both 900 and 1000. now the difference in those is timing/duration. as follows 900, in. opens at 45 btdc, closes at 65 abdc. ex. opens at 65 bbdc, closes at 45 atdc. the 1000, in opens at 40 btdc,closes at 70 abdc. ex. opens at 65 bbdc, closes at 45 atdc. i found the zl9 and 1k both share the same cams. lobe height 35.24-35.38mm. timing/duration as follows. in opens at 37.5 btdc, closes at 57.5 abdc. ex. opens at 57.5 bbdc, closes at 37.5 atdc. so yes you could use the zx1000 cams in the zl9. how it will perform? try it and see. i know there are some things to consider as far as what actual valve timing would be optimum considering engine size,compression,exhaust,ignition timing, etc., etc.[dont forget carbs]. that would probably be a good question for dale w. i have put adj. sprockets on mine but have yet to degree the cams in to their opt. place pending some investigating myself.
 
Ok, for all us idiots out here, who's going to chime in and explain all this? Hahahaha.

If the duration is the same for the zx9 and the ZL9 and the valve timing is the only thing changing between the two (if I'm looking at fastfatcow's #'s right) - what gain is there and how is it acheived by just changing the valve timing? Or would there only be a gain by using the 1000 cams since the intake duration is longer? Thanks. Later.
 
tmdoth said:
Ok, just confirmed what Elimax posted up, the cams are the same for the zg1000 as the zl900
intake 12044-1151
exhaust 12044-1152

zx900 (gpz900)
intake 12044-1112
exhaust 12044-1113

so it looks like I will be shipping those cams off and getting them ground to the zl900 specs
thinking about having one set ground to zx900 specs though, they aren't that much different though I don't think, and hopefully they have enough to work with and it will be a quick regrind and not a reweld THEN a regrind.
So my next question is... what are the differences in the connie and the eliminator as far as the engines/transmissions go? just the gearing ratio? or is it more than that?
Click to expand...
So how do they regrind a zl cam for a zx when the zx has a higher lobe?
 
zlMark said:
So how do they regrind a zl cam for a zx when the zx has a higher lobe?
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I would imagine they would be welding additional metal onto the cam and then grinding it to the zl specs, or if there is enough material, then they will grind them as Paulfun mentioned, by taking extra off the bottom side to compensate for needed extra lift. I hadn't actually measured the difference to see which one was higher.. so it would seem you have just saved some time , money, and embarrassment. I have a set of zx9 cams coming to me in the next few weeks actually, so I will be seeing if they are good to go or whether I will be sending them out along with the zl cams. As for the zl cams.. now that you have mentioned that they are taller, I will be getting them reground to the zl specs and have done with. Plus now i will have a source to send zl cams to as they will soon have a master disc to work with.
 
Thats exactly right. They weld onto the existing lobes and then grind in the lift & duration. Overlap is the same so it doesn't require a lobe "re-shape", but that could also be changed.
 
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58.00 Rocker arms, weld and grind, on customer core, cost each

This sounds nice. But am correct in thinking that I have to send in my rockers and they mod them slightly? or is this the price for brand new rockers... cuz if so then they are a better price than buying OEM and higher quality too.
 
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