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New member and new project 15 Oct 2014 16:53 #650748

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Hey guys, this is my first post on here.
My name is Tim, I'm new to kz's but not bikes.

I guess this will be my build thread. I wasn't planning on starting one until I got farther along but what the hell!

I picked this 78 kz650d off of my room mate about 2 weeks ago. He was trying to do a bobber style build with it and honestly he really didn't know what he was doing so I have my work cut out for me! I personally don't like the bobber style and I have always wanted to do a cafe ish style build. So I have pretty much undid everything that he has done and started to build it in my own style.

This is the bike when I got it off of him


Starting out I already had a suzuki bandit 600 swingarm, wheel and rear brakes from a previous project that has been put on the back burner for a while. So I decided to use that, it was a little less than half an inch shorter in the pivot area than the frame was so I made two spacers at .225 thick and now it fits snug. I decided I wanted to use the kz650 swingarm bolt so I made 2 bearing races with the id the size of the bolt and the od at .990 which fits in just perfect. I don't have any pics of these but I'm sure you get the idea.

I got a set of zrx1200 shocks off of a buddy here locally that I am going to use. I had to make new shock mounts for the swingarm since it use to be a mono shock setup. I spent a little bit of time on the manual mill and got the mounts made up then welded on. I still need make the gussets on the bottom of the mounts since they stick over the swingarm quite a bit







Ignore the seat on there. I was just getting ideas.


I still need to figure out what I'm going to do about chain alignment. I think I'm going to find a 5/8" offset front sprocket and mill down the back of the Cush drive till it's exact


For the front end I'm going with a 02 gsxr 750 setup. I picked up the triple tree, forks and clip ons last week, I still need to find a wheel, calipers and axle.
I didn't really know what to do with the stem swap because the od of the kz stem was smaller than the od of the gsxr stem where it presses in. So the only idea I could think of was to turn down the od of the kz stem and make a collar the same dimensions of the gsxr's, press it on, then weld it and finally turn it down to the right dimensions to be pressed into the lower triple. I'm waiting on my kz650 steering stem bearings to come in so I can mount it all up.

Pics of the stem that I modified
Kz stem is on the left, this is after I made the spacer and pressed it on




Welded together


Turned down to the correct dimensions


And finally pressed in


I still need to drill out the top triple because the kz stem is to big to fit thru the hole of the gsxr's upper triple. I will do this tomorrow I think.

But that's about as far as I am for now. If you have any questions or concerns I'd be more than happy to hear them.

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New member and new project 15 Oct 2014 17:29 #650749

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Welcome to KZR! looks like you have got the skills to finish that bike. Here is a little inspiration for you. the KZ550 tail matches the lines of the SR tank really well.
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New member and new project 15 Oct 2014 17:52 #650751

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Thank you for the kind words I appreciate it!
I do like that bike, I have seen it all over the place. I'm not really sure what I want to do with the tail section just yet. I'm having a really hard time deciding but I think I am probably going to end up building a subframe, making a seat pan out of some sheet metal that I have laying around and doing a brat style seat.

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New member and new project 16 Oct 2014 06:45 #650797

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the overhang on the shock bracket is not enough to have to gusset the outside bottom.
i have overhung aluminum brackets on a couple arms and they haven't ever moved.
those steel ones of yours are plenty strong.
good job on the stem swap.
that's how you do it :evil:
your top hat bushings,are your needle bearings riding directly on the bushing you machined?

i'll be watching to see how you finish it out.
you are off to a great start.

leon
skiatook,oklahoma 1980 z1r,1978 kz 1000 z1r x 3,
1976 kz 900 x 3
i make what i can,and save the rest!

billybiltit.blogspot.com/

www.kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/325862-triple-tree-custom-work

kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/294594-frame-bracing?limitstart=0

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New member and new project 16 Oct 2014 10:38 #650806

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Thanks man! I think it will turn out pretty cool once it's all said and done.

That's good to know on the shock mounts overhanging. I really don't like the way they are just hanging out there. I'm sure that it will hold well enough but it just looks un finished to me. I think I'm going to do my gussets and then a plate to close off the gussets just to give it a more finished look. I will be working on this probably this weekend. I'll post pics of it when done





You are correct on the bushings ( I guess I would call them bearing races). I went ahead and took it apart to get some pics for you.
Here's a pic of the spacers for the pivot width. I still need to cut off the old mono shock mount


And this is the bearing races. First one is just showing the needle bearings


The "race"


And the race pushed all the way in. There is one on each side and they butt up to the crush tube in the center


Tim

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New member and new project 16 Oct 2014 10:47 #650807

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the pivot work looks top notch sir :evil: !

i understand about not liking the look of the overhang,
boxing the gusset in should clean it up nicely.

leon
skiatook,oklahoma 1980 z1r,1978 kz 1000 z1r x 3,
1976 kz 900 x 3
i make what i can,and save the rest!

billybiltit.blogspot.com/

www.kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/325862-triple-tree-custom-work

kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/294594-frame-bracing?limitstart=0

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New member and new project 16 Oct 2014 11:01 #650809

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Thanks I apreciate it!

Wait, your from skiatook? Small world I live over In broken arrow. I go riding out in skiatook all the time!

Are you on any of the local forums or pages?

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New member and new project 16 Oct 2014 12:10 #650812

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small world !
broken arrow eh?
I was just over at factor 1 racing buying some chromoly
no on the local forums and pages sir.
not many locals on here.

leon
skiatook,oklahoma 1980 z1r,1978 kz 1000 z1r x 3,
1976 kz 900 x 3
i make what i can,and save the rest!

billybiltit.blogspot.com/

www.kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/325862-triple-tree-custom-work

kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/294594-frame-bracing?limitstart=0

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New member and new project 16 Oct 2014 16:08 #650842

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So I am sure this is going to sound stupid but I have never really done anything with seats before.
I'm trying to figure out how this seat pan works. I don't have an original one to go off of so I'm just trying to figure it out.

I cut out a piece of sheet metal the shape that I need. Now can I weld that onto the frame and then when I find a seat I want to use just mount the seat to that piece of sheet metal or will the seat pan actually be part of the seat?

Sorry if I sound stupid here just haven't messed with it much

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New member and new project 16 Oct 2014 16:20 #650844

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The pan and seat should be together as a single unit when done. I wouldn't weld the pan to the frame in any case as it will make access to stuff more difficult.

On the swingarm - I can't tell by the picture, but did you leave the bushing/bearing a bit proud so it contacts the frame rather than the swingarm contacting the frame? Ed

Attachment 00003c_2014-10-16.jpg not found

1977 KZ650-C1 Original Owner - Stock (with additional invisible FIAMM horn)
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New member and new project 16 Oct 2014 20:41 #650897

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Perfect! That's what I needed to know, thank you sir.

On the swingarm I made the bushing to sit just inside the outside edge of the oem needle bearing on the bandit so however it is from the factory is how it still is except now instead of meeting up to the frame it meets up to the spacers I made to fill in the gap from the narrower swingarm pivot. I hope that makes sence.

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New member and new project 20 Oct 2014 12:57 #651249

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So... I got some work done on the seat today. I had a picture that I was going off of that I wanted it to look like and it ended up totally different lol.

This was my inspiration


I got it all glued together and started cutting




I got it shaped out and I just didn't like the way the rear hump was rounding out. I couldn't get it to look right whatsoever. So I decided to cut the top piece off and I think it looks much better.

Here's the end result. I'm gonna try and get it to my buddy who owns an upholstery shop this week.
Please give me opinions on what you think about it.






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