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Holy crap holy crap Holy Crap!!! ;D

So, a long time ago in a land far away, I fell in love with this fuel tank and matching duck bill on ebay, had had had to have it! Since then the set have been lovingly stored out of harm's way, in hopes that one day, I'd be lucky enough to come across the bike they went to in my travels, kind of a wrench-monkey Cindarella type thing. Today wasn't that day, but it was close enough for "what-if?"
Now I'm not going to shoe-horn the duck bill onto an Ltd, but the tank is a damn decent fit, definitely close enough to make work. This tank may not be everyone's cup of tea, but ever since the idea hit, I've been over the moon happy about it. I even have some green GT style metal flake waffle grips that will be perfect. Just not sure if I'm still going to rock the Renthals, or find a set of Drag or even Superbike bars.

So feast your eyes gentlemen ;D

Yep. She ain't pretty. Might not get there, either. Gonna make her my rough rider, quick, dirty and fun.

Been going back and forth with one of the members here. Super nice guy. Got my airbox boots lined up.

Had a kind donation of cans. Got the boots and handlebars lined up, new grips in hand. New fuel line and clamps on the way, as well as exhaust gaskets and an inline fuel filter. Throttle cable on the way, too. New headlight in the shop. I have a spare new Vee rubber tire that I can put on the back for now, not a thrilling prospect but it'll do, Donkey.
Picked up some more Pine Sol, Evaporust, Seafoam fogger, Seafoam Deep Creep and WD40. So let the 2014 disassembly and cleaning games commence!

Which, I guess, means it's time for the revised shopping list:
Battery
Chain & Sprocket
Tires?
Overflow and re-breather lines and clamps
Brake pads, (Kawasaki.com doesn't list the '81 750 Ltd, gotta figure out if this thing uses the same pads F&R)
Filters
Reupholster the seat

There seems to be something screwy with the airbox and I'm still worried about that front end, but I'll know better once I get it torn down. Just not a lot of time during tax season.

I love the gas tank. Very cool
Also. Sad story about the lady tax client. there are so many people around these days who through no fault of their own are in similar scary and sad circumstances. Glad you could help her and perhaps point her in the right direction.

Looks like the front and rear brake pads are technically different parts:
Front: www.motogrid.com/pages/OemParts?aribrand.../s/KUS//43082-1007/1
Rear: www.motogrid.com/pages/OemParts?aribrand.../s/KUS//43082-1025/1
But I imagine they're pretty similar since some aftermarket ones work in both places:
www.z1enterprises.com/ItemDetails.aspx?i...50%2f750&item=LAFA68

Also seconded about the story - nice to know people out there still care!

Thanks Shimmy, good to know, just ordered some.
Looks like the tank might be a no-go, the forks are going to beat the hell out of the tank, unless I can move it back a bit. Not sure how that's going to affect comfort reaching the handlebars. I'd have to do some modifications, seat-wise as well, which isn't necessarily the worst thing in the word. I'll mess around with it when I get some time.

Anyone know offhand if a 750 B model 4 into 1 exhaust will work with the Ltd frame, as in, will it fit, would I have to remove the centre stand? I've got a line on a replacement exhaust, but Kawasaki.com doesn't list it as compatible with my bike. However the info on there isn't always "complete", just because a certain style wasn't used on some models doesn't mean they won't fit, (Spectre mufflers, etc.) if anyone's got the skinny on this, please let me know.

Demmit, finally got some sun up here, all I want to do is work on the bikes, but I'm going to have to head into the office soon. Doesn't help that the demon-child downstairs hasn't let me get a full night's sleep in 8 months, kinda hoping that once I get a chance to fire up the tools on a regular basis, the neighbours will find more suitable accommodations for their little bi-hourly foghorn, (grumble grumble).

i believe the 750 B is a twin not a four

Whoops, you're absolutely right Doc, I guess it would be the E Model, not the B, that's the 4 cylinder. Thanks for the correction.

id be surprised if the exhaust interfered with the center stand but the rear mount point might not line up. hell even when its supposed to it often doesnt

Just spitballing here, but I've got these ideas rolling around, and I want to get them down somewhere useful.

My side covers are for shit. More of that freakin' black paint that they brushed on everywhere, with a random spray of orange on one, thrown in for contrast I guess.
So, I'm thinking the Hell with it, just get rid of them and do something funky. Got a few what-if's. Wondering whether I could find some brass, or copper mesh, edge it with some windscreen trim and use some kind of cool fasteners to anchor it to the original mounting points. If I can't find any coloured stuff, I could always paint it. I'd want something fine enough to keep rain from just pouring across the electrical, not sure how feasible that would be.
Or, maybe I could scrounge up some pieces of brass, or copper somewhere, (random items from garage sales, scrap heaps at a construction site, or maybe a dumpster behind a certain kind of business) cut them to fit, and etch them with some sort of design, then try to clear coat them without ruining the finish. Or if I do a good enough job, get them powder-coated. Maybe it would be cheaper to just have a piece of sheet metal brass or copper plated and work from there. I ordered a book on sheet metal fabrication recently, and I'm hoping it will give some direction on how to work with the metals, to shape them properly. Not sure where the best place to scrounge materials would be, I just think it could be a cool mini-project that I could keep on the cheap.
*Edit: The gf just finished telling me how she copper-plated nails for a school project once. Maybe I could buy, or set up, some kind of cheap plating rig. Hell, then I could theoretically zinc plate fasteners and stuff. Worth checking out.

So... yeah... the fuel tank. Looks like it might have rusted through behind the badge mounts and then had some kind of repair. The badge bolts all snapped off, (as per usual) so if I want to mount badges again, I'll have to re-tap the holes.
Not sure how much work I want to put into this tank. Lotta dents. Think I might just throw some vinegar in there, and see if there are any leaks. Go from there. If it holds liquid, grind that bacon smooth, and carry on with the original plan.

Tank holds vinegar, (barring the leaky petcock, pretty sure I've got a couple of spares, or I'll just buy a rebuild kit or new one) so I'll let it sit and stew for a bit. Then I'll hit it with the angle grinder to smooth out the bubbly stuff. Thinking if I'm going to re-tap the badge mount bolt holes I might make up some kind of metal plates of my own. Should be fun.

Had some great results using vinegar as an etching acid too. Lots to ponder.

I like the idea of the mesh side covers - sounds a bit like some Classified Moto builds. If you go that route, post lots of pics and details, it'd be interesting to see how it turns out!