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motomadlin32 wrote: Thank you, I had the frame, swing arm, and center stand powder coated and they also media blasted a box of parts for me. Totaled out to $460. Which I think is awesome considering the quality of the finish and how much prep work time it saved. Definitely recommend powder coating.

Anybody have any recommendations for fork oil or is it all pretty much the same. I am running progressive springs.

I have been using Bel Ray 15w fork oil in my KZ650 for 35 years, and it works great. Damping is just right and I have never had a fork seal leak. I change it about every 2 years, although there have been times went it went longer between changes. One other good thing about Bel Ray is that they make it in 2.5W; 5W; 7W; 10W; 15W; 20W; and 30W, and they can be mixed together to custom tune the suspension if you desire it a little stiffer or looser than any single weight fork oil provides. Most motorcycle shops sell it, or it can be bought online. Ed

Thank you for the response Ed, I had researched a little on the forum and saw that's what you recommended. I have 1liter of it on the way. From what I saw that's all I needed. (Correct me if I'm wrong). Things are definitely going to accelerate on this build just spent another $900 in parts yesterday lol I'm about to have a parade of parts within the next week. Let the good times roll!! hahaha
Hope everybody follows along, I'm gonna do my best to show all the new parts coming on, as well as, some of the final process's I have left to do. (Put the forks back together after painting fork bottoms, degrease engine and paint, rebuild carbs (again! Lol), sand and paint wheels, instal swing arm bearings/neck tune bearings/wheel bearings, instal a few gaskets from the Athena engine gasket kit, wiring!! , painting misc. parts, so much to do lol

Still undecided on what to do with the tank and tail. I've been on a bare metal tank look but I'm having second thoughts. The seat and tail piece will be stock till I can get custom work done (really like the look of the kz900 tail but want a metal tail piece) so the stock tail I was gonna do just gloss black. Idk I'll keep you posted. Definitely have some ideas stirring (constantly haha)

In Oklahoma, we do Title 42. Its a mechanic or storage lien. If you spend a lot of cash and put a lot of time in it and it comes back on the vin as stolen, you're out your money and the bike. The cost is usually $100 and it takes about 1-2 months. I'm having two bikes done right now.

motomadlin32 wrote: ..... I have 1liter of it on the way. From what I saw that's all I needed. (Correct me if I'm wrong). ....

1 liter will be plenty. Be sure to use the instructions in the manual regarding the fork oil level because the correct level is determined by measuring the fork oil level rather than the number of CC's of oil. You measure from the top of the fork tube down to the top of the oil level with the front wheel off the ground. If you mark off the correct distance on a thin wooden dowel leaving an inch or so below the bottom mark and 4 or 5 inches above the top mark it makes this easy to measure, something like an oil dipstick in a car motor. Depending on the instructions in the manual, you leave the springs in when measuring (like my KZ650) or take the springs out like some other models. After it's all together, and after you put some miles on it, measure again just there was some air trapped in the fork cylinder when you first measured the fork oil level. Ed

Started working on the exhaust! Love the look of the titanium exhaust wrap. Not complete yet but I think it's a good start.

Started working on the wheels and I am having a hell of a time trying to get the wheel bearings out. From my understanding they should just tap out with a little encouragement lol yes I did take the C clamp out on the one side. I guess I should refer to the manual but was hoping for a quick response from someone with experience. (Ed do you have anymore advice for me lol). Also I had fun trying to get the bearing races out of the frame (appeared to be all balls tapered bearings and they did not provide any tip to get ahold of. Anybody else have this issue with all balls stearing bearings? I have to surgically remove them with my handy dremel lol

if you removed the circlip they should tap out. sometimes they can be real difficult. i have a steel drift that i grind the tip just off of 90degrees, so it has a very hard edge, you then put the acute side on the edge of the bearing and hammer away, work in circles, keeping the acute side on the bearing, once you get one out and get the space out the other is a breeze. If you bike already has the all balls steering bearings i wouldn't replace them unless they are damaged. If you do, you can either dremel them out, or i have heard that you can run a bead with a welder on the race and when it cools it will fall out.

Started working on the motor. Just degreasing and scrubbing then I replaced all the exterior gaskets. Just needs one more good scrub down then it's paint time. Going with a gloss black for the motor. Then I have some detail work to do (polish polish polish!!)

QUESTION: I'm gonna be rebuilding my carbs soon (already got the rebuild kits) but I need to know what is recommended for jet sizes. I'll be running pods and 4-1 exhaust everything else is stock.

Also was hoping for some advice on paint scheme. I'm all Iover the place and maybe some influence from fellow KZ lovers will help me settle on something posted a couple ideas.

We just did a frame in the same shade powder coat.. Had to take it back I believe in NY in winter the frame was too cold and cracked all over..

Your build I think is one of the best here.

As for paint I wish I had the balls to go bare metal with a swirl texture ..

Your build is so sweet I don't think any paint scheme will ruin the look..

A big thing with builds is letting the build talk to you and showing you what's needed.. So far to me each thing you've done you've complimented it with the next step.. Do what you do .. You got this..

Man that's an awesome compliment!! Thank you!! Pressures on now lol

I just hope I don't start rushing because I'm being stationed across the US in 40days so time crunch is definitely in full swing haha I can't leave California with out riding this bike a few times!! Too many roads that I love that I've been dreaming about taking this bike on, Hwy 1 along the coast in particular.

Still looking for advice on jets for the carbs. It's gonna be raining for the next couple days so painting the motor is gonna have to wait. However carb rebuild sounds pretty fun

TODAY IS AN EXCITING DAY!!
Yesterday I got a bunch of painting done. Basically what was needed to put the rolling chassis together. Here are some pictures from yesterday.

We got a break in the weather and I was able to get some painting done yesterday. Really excited about today. On track for my bike to be a rolling chassis again by the end of today. Here are aome pictures of what I did yesterday.