KZ owners?

[LukeMacPU]

Got this one for free from the father-in-law. Just about have it in riding order... lots of work remaining to make it pretty! 17K miles on it.

When I got it...



Sorry, phone photo and the lighting sucked. I"ll post a better one. Should be riding it later this week if all goes well!

[me109g4]

Today on my kz1000 i decided to remove the old clear laquer from the front forks, it was original and had yellowed, with minor corrosion underneath. Had to remove the front wheel, brake calipers and the fender. The old laquer was pretty stubborn and took a few doses of stripper to get it off. Once off I polished both forks with fine steel wool till smooth and free of corrosin marks. So far it has one light coat of clear on it with another to follow tomorrow, should be back together by the weekend.

[England-Kev]

Originally Posted by LukeMacPU

Got this one for free from the father-in-law. Just about have it in riding order... lots of work remaining to make it pretty! 17K miles on it.

When I got it...



Sorry, phone photo and the lighting sucked. I"ll post a better one. Should be riding it later this week if all goes well!

Sweet Luke, but man we need to see some better pictures, that is no way to treat a Z1b

[McJamie]

Originally Posted by BronkoRob

maybe i can breath some life into this thread. just got a 79 KZ650. I have been eye balling this bike since the summer, and finally the planets aligned in my favor and things worked out for me. so far, great bike!

I'm kind of in the same boat. I've been hounding a guy with a 77 KZ650 for a while. I even told him I'd give him his asking price.My worry is someone else will find out where it is and get to it first.
I've always wanted a 650 from when I was a teenager. I do have a couple of others scoped out, but they are a lot more money and not much nicer. It's something my son & I are going to build together, and should be able to ride it by the time it's done.
I'm just itchin for it.

[LukeMacPU]

Originally Posted by England-Kev

Sweet Luke, but man we need to see some better pictures, that is no way to treat a Z1b

Easy now, give me some time!

If my steering stem spanner wrench shows up tomorrow, I'll be ready to take it for a test ride! If that goes well, I'll start in with the polishing/cleaning.

Need to find a local place to re-paint my body-work. I'd like to go with the original paint scheme. Anyone know where I can pick up some of the factory blue color paint? I've seen the decals on Z1E. Then it's just a matter of getting a body shop to do it up right!

I'm going to pull off my exhaust, sand, and repaint it too. It's black/rust at this point. Just surface rust, should clean up ok. I'd love to have the stock chrome 4-into-4, but I'm not digging it for $1600!

[LukeMacPU]

Took the bike out for the first time on Friday, as scheduled. UPS dropped off the wrench right on time and I was ready to roll... or so I thought. 10 miles into my maiden voyage (fortunately just a run to the gas station and back) the bike was bogging so bad I couldn't make it up the big hill on my driveway!

Turns out timing was to blame. Once I figured that out and re-adjusted my points, I was rolling again. Survived a roughly 20 mile loop this time and still got up the hill without issue.

Big difference between this and my XT225!

Feels like a rocket ship by comparison. A very heavy, poor handling rocket ship. I think I'm going to like it, but it'll take some getting used to.

Time to start prettying things up. I'll post some better photos once it's in less embarrassing condition.

[McJamie]

Originally Posted by McJamie

I'm kind of in the same boat. I've been hounding a guy with a 77 KZ650 for a while. I even told him I'd give him his asking price.My worry is someone else will find out where it is and get to it first.
I've always wanted a 650 from when I was a teenager. I do have a couple of others scoped out, but they are a lot more money and not much nicer. It's something my son & I are going to build together, and should be able to ride it by the time it's done.
I'm just itchin for it.

The guy never called me back after me calling him for a week. I finally got an e-mail from him saying "maybe I'll dig it out tomorrow". He's trying to sell it, but couldn't even get to it in order to show it?
Instead I responded to an ad for a 74 H1. I bought that one first thing the next morning.
I'd still love a KZ650, but that's 4 bikes in a single car garage with lots of other stuff, that's the limit at the moment.

[Ricklesss]

Originally Posted by me109g4

Today on my kz1000 i decided to remove the old clear laquer from the front forks, it was original and had yellowed, with minor corrosion underneath. Had to remove the front wheel, brake calipers and the fender. The old laquer was pretty stubborn and took a few doses of stripper to get it off. Once off I polished both forks with fine steel wool till smooth and free of corrosin marks. So far it has one light coat of clear on it with another to follow tomorrow, should be back together by the weekend.

I have to do the same thing on my KZ1000P that have corroded side crankcase's. I didn't rinse it after riding along the
coast for a week, and it really did a number.
What kind of clear are you using? Would you use a different stripper the next time around?
Thanks!

[me109g4]

I used the stripper i had laying around, i dont know if there are strippers made specifically for laquers, might not hurt to look. It worked but was slow going. As to the clear i put on, it was something i picked up at the local hardware store. When applying it i noticed it ran very easily, so i held the can back quite a ways and put on several light coats. Took a little longer but laquer dries pretty quick. All in all it came out very nicely, bike is all back together and ready to go. JT

[LukeMacPU]

Originally Posted by England-Kev

Sweet Luke, but man we need to see some better pictures, that is no way to treat a Z1b

Well, I've got an updated photo... The bike is actually running pretty well now. Took it for the first 30 mile ride without any problems. Got a new speedo cable (broke on first test ride), re-painted exhaust, and coils & wires installed today.

Still not looking great, will need to have the body pieces painted, but got most of the dirt/grime off. I'm digging the riding position and starting to get used to the heft of this beast after spending the last year on an XT225.




That Le Pera seat isn't exactly my style, but it is pretty comfy.

[Pigford]

Originally Posted by LukeMacPU

That Le Pera seat isn't exactly my style, but it is pretty comfy.

Real beauty of a bike But you gotta ditch that god-awful seat

[LukeMacPU]

Originally Posted by Pigford

Real beauty of a bike But you gotta ditch that god-awful seat

C'm'on, that's custom!

I did a little digging (called Le Pera with seat pan number) and it was actually custom made by Le Pera, in CA for some previous owner

I'm giving the PO the benefit of the doubt and assuming he was on some sort of drugs in the '70's when this all went down.

Apparently, Le Pera focuses on HD seats now, but they're supposed to make a nice product.

[me109g4]

Seeing the post above on speedometer cables breaking, and since i just broke the cable on my ZZr1200 I removed both the speedo and tach cables of my KZ 1000 and soaked them both in 90 weight oil and put them back in. Dont need them breaking. Fortunately only $17.00 for a new cable for the ZZR.

[mattfuzz]

1978 KZ650 B2.
I'm the third owner and this is my first bike.




With my friend's Yamaha XJ Seca 550.

[me109g4]

I like that blue,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,