Posted May 7, 20178 yr . So I plan on getting this thing going ..... don't hold your breath on me getting it done any time soon lol 2015 FZ-07 2003 2014 GSXR 1000
May 7, 20178 yr Global Moderator Oh I love Kawa's. I owned a couple. They have a 'Mad Max' feel to them. Please don't turned it into a bobber, café racer or whatever hipster contraption people think of next. Restore it make to stock en enjoy the time capsule.
May 7, 20178 yr Another great forum for these old Kaws is https://www.kzrider.com/ I was a member there for a while. They have lots of great info and lots of great and helpful members too. Give Respect To Get Respect https://jeff-galbraith.pixels.com/
May 7, 20178 yr Global Moderator Keep us updated on the project. My KZ650 was green. I wish I still had it as it would be fun to restore.
May 7, 20178 yr Not to nitpick, Guru (well, actually I probably am... ), your picture is of the B1, Jake's bike is a B2. Or possibly B2A. Not a lot of difference, but the most obvious one is the brake caliper position. mjh, my son's also used to be green. Personally, I prefer the blue, only available as B2 among the B's. upload photo temporary
May 8, 20178 yr Author Wow! That didn't take long !Yeah about 3 hours not too much to it and I was geeked about getting it tore down. It sat for 40 years my dad tried to give it away but no one wanted it haha. The bike stopped charging and he never tried to fix it ended up buying a new bike instead. There not worth much as far as I can tell but its still cool IMO. I'm going to reuse everything I can and plan on blasting/cleaning the frame and all the pieces first off. I want to lower the head light so its more inline with the tank going to tidy the tail, pod style air filters and get lower bars. I might go with different turn signals also not sure yet. I need a new seat, rear shocks and a few other things I cant think off hand. Everything came apart easy surprisingly and it only has 12,000 miles on it. Starter works and looks like new and engine rolls over by hand even thought it sat for 20 years with the headers off. One of the TB was sticking and I plan on going threw it. Not sure what I should do with the motor? I was planning on tearing it down or have a shop do it but I might just put oil in it and see if she runs. 2015 FZ-07 2003 2014 GSXR 1000
May 8, 20178 yr I wouldn't tear the engine down now, but fitting new rubber cushions for the cam chain tensioner sprocket could be sensible. Check the valve clearances while you are in there. Also, the automatic cam chain tensioner is a bit weak - you can convert the stock one to manual by inserting a longer locking bolt. Or perhaps you are lucky enough that yours is still of the early manual tensioners. The charging issue is most likely due to a damaged R/R. The B2 had a lower-output 2-phase alternator which is marginal if you plan on converting to electronic ignition - unless you go OEM, which doesn't draw a lot of current.
May 8, 20178 yr My late brother had a 1978 Suzuki GS1000E that he stopped riding in the early `90's and parked it in his garage which flooded up to the bottom of the rims in any heavy rain. When he passed five years ago, I took on the partial restoration job in order to make it saleable for the estate. It was heavily corroded and rusted but putting a new battery in it along with draining the gas tank and floatbowls,refilling it with fresh gas,oil/filter change and new plugs produced a virtual one push startup and solid idle. My jaw hit the floor! I sold it to a guy for $400 and he refinished it to like new appearance and marketed it for $2000. My hats off to you guys with this kind of talent.
May 8, 20178 yr Author Yep I'm going to wait on the rebuild. I ordered a seat today http://www.motorcycleseatsdirect.com/1978-1979-kawasaki-kz650-kz-cafe-racer-complete-motorcycle-seat-4219/ frame is going in next week for blasting and paint 2015 FZ-07 2003 2014 GSXR 1000
May 9, 20178 yr Global Moderator Yep I'm going to wait on the rebuild. I ordered a seat today http://www.motorcycleseatsdirect.com/1978-1979-kawasaki-kz650-kz-cafe-racer-complete-motorcycle-seat-4219/ frame is going in next week for blasting and paint $210 for the seat. Wow. Did you see if a local upholsterer could make one with the stock seat pan for less?
May 9, 20178 yr Author Yep I'm going to wait on the rebuild. I ordered a seat today http://www.motorcycleseatsdirect.com/1978-1979-kawasaki-kz650-kz-cafe-racer-complete-motorcycle-seat-4219/ frame is going in next week for blasting and paint $210 for the seat. Wow. Did you see if a local upholsterer could make one with the stock seat pan for less?Corbin seat for the FZ is 400 lol My stock seat is toast 2015 FZ-07 2003 2014 GSXR 1000
May 11, 20178 yr Author . Polishing is turning out good but it's a lot of work 2015 FZ-07 2003 2014 GSXR 1000
May 11, 20178 yr While you have it that far apart - there is only one weak spot on these engines, and that's the starter clutch. So here's your options: 1) Go in and replace it now, only to learn it was fine and you didn't have to. 2) Hope it is fine, only to learn when the engine is back in the frame that it is gone. Because life's a biatch. And then we die Some have managed to replace it with engine in frame, but it is not simple, and most seems to have given up and removed the engine anyway.
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