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Ok, so its been awhile since I posted anything on here because my hours got cut back at work and money has been short haha. Anyway heres a couple updated pictures. I got my tank into a local motorcycle shop and they did some fabrication work for me. I got the flush mount gas cap from a 2006 Kawasaki 636 welded into my 1980 KZ1000 tank and I started hammering in knee dents and rolling over the pinch weld carefully. I would like to add that when I bought the tank it looked to be in great shape. Unfortunately when I started stripping the paint to prep it for the welding I found THICK bondo over a lot of the tank covering brazed spots. I think they must have used a stud welder to pull out dents and accidentally blew through the tank and then just used braze to patch the holes. Anyway, that is why the knee dent looks pretty bad on the side in the picture haha. The braze spots made it hard to do a smooth curve. The other side looks much better.



Also my frame is in the shop having some modifications made to it. I cut off the back part of the frame and I had him weld in a loop to support the rear part of my custom seat pan. I also had him cut out an arched cross brace and weld in a straight one so that my seat pan could sit flat against the frame. In the picture you can see some cardboard on the frame, he is making a template for the splash guard he is going to make and weld in for me so that I wont need a rear fender. I like the aggressive look of a bike with no fenders.



SOOOO thats where the project stands right now. Next up I will be getting my custom upper triple tree clamp made then the motor mount brackets to fit the 82 motor in the 80 frame. Im really not looking forward to trying to remove the motor from the old bike and put it in the new one but at least its starting to warm up a little now where I live haha. Any tips on removing and installing a motor? I read that the motor alone weights around 300lbs

if the bike is stripped you can do the old "lay it over on it's side and remove the frame from the engine" trick .
the engine install really should be a two man job so no one gets hurt and the frame/engine don't get banged up .

hth,
leon

531blackbanshee wrote: if the bike is stripped you can do the old "lay it over on it's side and remove the frame from the engine" trick .
the engine install really should be a two man job so no one gets hurt and the frame/engine don't get banged up .

hth,
leon

Ok sounds good! Thats what I was going to try to get the motor out, just wasnt sure if there was an "easy" way to put the motor in lol

Thanks Leon

Ok so Im jumping a little ahead here since I still have a lot of work to do before paint but I think I decided on a paint scheme! I decided to go with a WWII bomber style paint job with metal panels and rivets painted on the tank, seat pan, and "cafe hump". I also decided that even though I wanted a traditional WWII style pinup on the side I would go with one with a Japanese theme since its a Japanese bike. Here is a picture of he paint scheme I found done on a Kawasaki 636 and on the right is the decal that I just ordered.

kawiman636 wrote:

531blackbanshee wrote: if the bike is stripped you can do the old "lay it over on it's side and remove the frame from the engine" trick .
the engine install really should be a two man job so no one gets hurt and the frame/engine don't get banged up .

hth,
leon

Ok sounds good! Thats what I was going to try to get the motor out, just wasnt sure if there was an "easy" way to put the motor in lol

Thanks Leon

Same way.

Nice decal!

Good Fortune!

Patton wrote:

kawiman636 wrote:

531blackbanshee wrote: if the bike is stripped you can do the old "lay it over on it's side and remove the frame from the engine" trick .
the engine install really should be a two man job so no one gets hurt and the frame/engine don't get banged up .

hth,
leon

Ok sounds good! Thats what I was going to try to get the motor out, just wasnt sure if there was an "easy" way to put the motor in lol

Thanks Leon

Same way.

Nice decal!

Good Fortune!

Thanks! Just got the frame back today and the modifications look great!

NICE!

keep us posted,
leon

531blackbanshee wrote: NICE!

keep us posted,
leon

Thanks! Right now im working with some body filler (All-metal) to fill the dents in the tank and smooth it all back out. Its quite a time consuming process lol

This is a quick walkaround of the bike.
KZ1000 Cafe Project Walkaround

yeah i can't imagine getting them knee dents all smoothed back out .
i've always thought if i wanted knee dents i would cut them out of both sides and swap them then add some strips if needed and weld em back in.
seems like a lot less bodywork.
leon

531blackbanshee wrote: yeah i can't imagine getting them knee dents all smoothed back out .
i've always thought if i wanted knee dents i would cut them out of both sides and swap them then add some strips if needed and weld em back in.
seems like a lot less bodywork.
leon

Its proving to be a pain in the butt so far but it will be worth it when its done. If I had access to a welder and knew how to weld I probably would have done the cut and swap like you mentioned but this was my best "do it at home" option lol. Ill get it smoothed out, it just might take awhile.

you'll get there!!!!

sand on,sand off


leon

Painting the indents with a textured paint such as bedliner may look good and also hide minor imperfections.
Wayne