TOPIC:

ummm...my 650 is kinda lonely;)

Hey look...a KZ650...


Good buy!

-KR

Success!! Yesterday the weather decided to cooperate so I was able to get a few things done. On Tuesday I was able to get 3 of the 4 carb slides unstuck but the weather was terrible, real cold and real windy so I gave up on the #3 carb for fear that I was getting mad and was going to break something.

Yesterday the weather started out a little cold so I figured I’d try polishing up the dyno cover since I could do that in the basement. I was able to get the old pooched stator unbolted without stripping or breaking anything (much to my surprise) and after a few minutes work on the buffer I now have a cover that looks even better than the NOS one I was going to use. Since that cover turned out so good I decided to get ambitious and polish the sprocket cover as well with the same result. I’ll still need to do the clutch cover but since that requires busting a gasket I think I’ll wait till later. It sure is nice looking at all that engine “bling” though. I’ve never had a set of covers that was this easy to do but then and again I’ve never worked on a neglected bike with this low mileage before.

It got sunny in the afternoon so I decided to give the remaining stuck slide a go. I wasn’t having anymore luck so I got out the propane torch. A little bit of heat and voila no more stuck slide.

Now I’m really inspired so I decided to install the Vulcan shocks. They went on without a hitch so in order to preserve what had been so far a pretty successful day, I decided not to risk ruining it by getting into anything else too major that might piss me off.

The plan for today is to roll it off the truck and get the oil and filter changed also I’ll possibly do a little more cleaning. I need to go to the auto parts store for some more carb cleaner, the inside of that #3 carb still has some varnish in the slide bore. I may pickup some seafoam as well and fill the carbs with some more fresh gas/seafoam mix to try and remove any varnish in the bowls. I drained out the gas I had filled the bowls with the other day and it looked pretty scuzzy. I’m really hoping I can get this going without having to totally go through these carbs. I may also power it up and check the coil voltage to see if I’m going to have to do the coil mod.

Tonight I’m going to try and talk my mother out of her digital camera so pics should be coming soon.

Edit: This is a pic of the "Bling" just set into place

Hi Andy, Congratulations on the new bike, sounds like a pretty long drive to go & get it. Looks pretty good, look forward to seeing some more photos. You still have more bikes than me but I reckon I am going to let you win that one- haven't got a 650 yet though, so you never know. I know what you mean about getting bored before finishing one bike. I keep moving from one to another and back again, hoping for some decent weather soon too! I have decided not to get any more non-runners as there is a fair chance they will remain non-runners- i can't seem to buy a parts bike without wanting to make it good again.
Best of luck with the 650.
I am still pretty excited by the Classic- great bike.
Tommo

Yesterday I didn't get much done other than to change the oil and filter, do a little more cleanup and power it up to check the coil voltage. The battery was reading 12.6 volts but I've only got 9.6 at the coils so the WG coil mod is on the to do list now. I was able to get my mothers camera so today's project has been to get some pics. It's still too freaking cold here to get serious with the power washer so these pics are after only minimal clean up. Since I'm too stupid to figure out how to put multiple pics in one post I just went back and edited previous posts I made and added one pic to each post. Just start at the top of the thread and you will be able to see them. When I removed the headlight I found this. You reckon this bike sat for a while?

Wow Andy, you got her looking pretty great already !!! Love the side covers. I gotta get me one of them thar polishing wheels !!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Dale, I'm pretty pleased with the way it's coming along so far. If we can ever get some warm weather here I'll really be able to get some things done. I had thought about using some mag wheels I have here for this bike but since the spoke wheels that are on it are in such good shape I may re-think that and just leave the spokes as is. You can see from this pic that the chain is hardly stretched out at all and the rear sprocket looks like new one of the many things on this bike that makes me believe the mileage is actual.

And yes a buffing wheel on a bench grinder is the way to go along with a stick of white buffing compound. Makes short work of cleaning engine covers.

Warm weather ... now there's a novel idea

I really does look to be a low mile bike. The interior of your headlight bucket says that too .... bees nest and all ... but it didn't look like any rust in there.

I would definately keep the spokes. They look super !

It’s alive!! The newest arrival has been elevated to the status of “porch dweller”. On Sunday I gave it a quick bath with the power washer mainly to get all the mud off the tires. On Monday I had the two teenagers who live next door help me push it up the ramp onto the front porch. Now if the weather is lousy all I have to do is open the front door and push it through the living room and into the dining room so I can work on it.

It looks like this was a good decision because a weather front blew in on Tuesday and things got windy and cold. I rolled it into the DR and decided to put the slide back into the #3 carb after cleaning out all the varnish with carb cleaner. Now the throttle opens and closes as it should and I still haven’t had to remove the carbs….yet. I decided to power it up and check if I had spark and nada. Cleaned the points with some sandpaper and that fixed that, got spark now even with the old plugs. Until I get around to doing the coil mod I don’t want to chance fouling a new set of plugs. I cleaned up the chrome on front turn signals and the headlight rim and put all that back together. After messing with the horn a little bit all the electrics function like they should.

I thought I’d try to start it but my jump battery was getting weak, so I put it on the charger and decided to call it quits for the day.

Late this morning with a newly charged jump battery hooked up I backed it out onto the front porch and connected the test tank to the carbs to see if it would fire up. It didn’t take long before it started showing signs of life with a few pops and then voila, it was running. It blew a ton of loose rust from inside the pipes all over the door on the porch and it was louder than heck but over all it sounded pretty good. After it warmed up enough I was able to shut the choke off and it idled with no problem. The #4 carb was puking gas but a couple of good raps with a dead blow hammer fixed that. I didn’t want to get it too hot so after running about another half a test tank of fuel through it I shut it down.

I was forced into doing some slave labor at my Mother’s house for a couple of hours but when I came back I decided to try firing it up again. This time it started right up, sounded good, nice throttle response and no sign of gas leaks. I’m gonna love this if I don’t have to go through these carbs.

If it runs this good with old plugs and without doing the coil repowering mod it can only get better. The next step I suppose is to install the charging system parts from the 750 LTD. That looks as if it is going to be a breeze, I just need to get my hands on a rotor puller.

This is a pic of the mess the pipes made to my front door.

The Gringo, that is a very, very, very nice bike.

It's a dream for someone who is looking to get something to go in the stock direction. Great catch. I realy want to see where you go with this one.

Best of success

Thanks Bill, this is turning out to be a really nice bike and after not much effort on my part. I'm at this point just planning on finishing the charging system swap, maybe do some more cleanup, replace the rusty handlebar clamp bolts with some stainless ones and repaint the master cylinder. I'm sure I'll need to replace the tires before I ride it too much, it currently has Goodyear Eagle AT's on it and they haven't even been made in ages.

I'm still undecided about what to do about the exhaust. The bike is nice enough that it warrants a nice shiny exhaust, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself to pay more for a system than I did for the bike. If money were no object I'd really like to put a stainless steel Marving system on it but they run 7 or 8 hundred bucks.

I'm at this point thinking I may bring this one to Vintage days this year but I'll wait till July to decide for sure.

Just to give you an idea of how clean this bike was here is a pic of the underside of the tank with the petcock removed. This is what it came off the bike looking like with no cleaning done.

Honestly Andy ... your 650 is definately worth a new exhaust !!! ... and hey ... it's only money;)