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South African KZ750E Brat build 11 Dec 2014 06:11 #655823

  • Kwashi
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Hi Guys

My Name is Mike,
I am an Honours Engineering student in South Africa
I am new to the Cafe scene but I have been on MX bikes for the past few years...

This weekend I bough my first road bike, a 1980 KZ750E





I paid R10 000 for it (US$950) and it runs decently
The front brakes are shot and the speedo/tacho dont work
The bike is fitted with a porformance Cowley 4-1 exhaust which may prove too loud for me...

I think this bike is a great lil starter project for me to learn the ropes... Im well accomplished with the normal shed builder tasks so I am not too worried about the overhall

The carb balance and any Gearbox issues will go to a specialist tho...

By plan is to build a Brat style bike with low riser bars (purely because I am 6 foot 7 so I dont like being couped up...)
I will stick to black and white as my main colours, bringing in some Kawa Green here and there...


I am going to follow the following process order:
1- get the wiring all sorted out and looking clean (Including relocating the electrical components and battery)
2- get the engine running decently (mostly starting first time etc)
3- Fix the brakes
4- Complete strip down
5- Remove all the add ons and unneeded frame tabs
6- Mould a seat pan and fit a rear curved pipe for the tail section
7- Work on the front and rear mudguards
8- Paint EVERYTHING!!! hahaha
9- Buy add ons and lil trick bits
10- Rebuild the engine
11- Refit everything
12- Final tuning

Let me know if you have any ideas or advice about my work plan.

Regards
Mike

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South African KZ750E Brat build 11 Dec 2014 06:13 #655824

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I started a little bit of tear down today and found the following problems

-Broken petcock (always open hahaha) Will strip it one day and see whats going on inside...

-I tried to bleed the brakes, the one caliper went well, the other would leak fluid from around the nipple rather than flow out of the nip (do you think the nipple could be blocked and if so, how would I try fix that? complete strip?
also noticed the reservoir lid screws are stripped so I will have to get out the dremel to try make a groove to make a Flat head fit... Just as a temp fix then its onto a new master cylinder (want front and rear from a MX bike)

Other than that, all is going well...
Here is how she currently looks:

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South African KZ750E Brat build 11 Dec 2014 06:14 #655825

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Making slow progress this week as I spent time registering my bike and my dad's new car and doing some work for him...

Sorted out the crap shift lever and managed to make up a almost stock linkage.
replaced some stripped screws and bought a new Starter relay

I have finally removed the wiring harness so now its just a matter of simplifying and sorting out some switches and new positions in the new seat box / battery bay..









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South African KZ750E Brat build 11 Dec 2014 06:17 #655828

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Making slow progress this week as I spent time registering my bike and my dad's new car and doing some work for him...

Sorted out the crap shift lever and managed to make up a almost stock linkage.
replaced some stripped screws and bought a new Starter relay

I have finally removed the wiring harness so now its just a matter of simplifying and sorting out some switches and new positions in the new seat box / battery bay..









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South African KZ750E Brat build 11 Dec 2014 06:40 #655830

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Damn, why not just make it run, add some bars, rear sets etc. and ride the piss out of it? You'll notice some wires are too long, they're not. They are made that way so the resistance is about the same. I wouldn't cut it up.
Steve

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South African KZ750E Brat build 11 Dec 2014 07:38 #655837

  • JR
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Welcome to the site Kwashi. You got a great deal on the bike and it looks to be in reasonably good shape. I bought mine 11 years ago and have had no major issues with it. It did take me a few months initially to sort the carbs out as they have some tiny passages which even the so called "specialists" didn't realise existed and which were blocked. If the bike has been sitting for some time then you will more than likely have to clean carbs.

You have a good plan in getting the motor running first. Many people spend a lot of time doing all the mods and cosmetics first and then cant get the thing running.

Replacing the brake bleeder nipples is cheap and easy. Your exhaust system looks solid. It might just need a baffle or packing to quieten it down a bit. keep all the bits you remove and even if you decide to put pods on it still hang onto the airbox.

Good luck
1980 kz750E1, Delkevic exhaust

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South African KZ750E Brat build 11 Dec 2014 13:37 #655857

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@Swest, thanks for your advice but the current harness was hacked to bits with splices everywhere, the previous owner manadged to wire the Alternator in without a regulator-rectifier... I think with some sort of Wheatstone bridge...
The original plan was to just fix up the indicators and speedo lines but once I saw the nest I knew It would be better to redo the entire harness

@JR
Thanks for the welcome, the bike did run when I bought it but this project is as much of a time investment as a teaching tool. I love spending free time working with my hands...
I have new front master cylinder and braided hoses coming so will sort the brakes all out in one go.


I am waiting for the regulator so once I get it I will start her up and check compression and spark.

Thereafter it's strip time to concentrate on cosmetics before a final partial engine rebuild/tuning...

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South African KZ750E Brat build 11 Jan 2015 22:20 #658454

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So I have finally finished my harness!!!

Here are some pictures of it and how I plan to layout the electrics tray.




Also I have made my own wiring diagram for the way I have constructed the harness. Maybe it can help someone else wanting to create their own...



I have actually been enjoying getting stuck into the wiring and I feel more secure in the fact that I have done ALL the wires and that they follow a logical layout that I understand. Hopefully that wont turn around and bite me in the backside later!



Since the bike came with no regulator-rectifier, I have had to order one through Ebay.
Hopefully it arrives in RSA before I get back from Holiday so that I can fit it and carry on with the restoration.

I have also ordered the following add-ons/accessories:
- New brake a clutch levers
- Stainless flush mount switches for on/off switch, Starter and lights to fit into the elecs tray
- Minimalist indicator switch
- LED headight
- Intergrated tail light
- Footpegs

I have decided to go with a single small Speedometer with intergrated indicator/neutral lights, I am undecided about if I want to add the Tacho. I prefer the single gauge but the tacho will be useful?

What are your opinions?



I love going around looking at all the guys ideas and amazing work! Really Inspirational stuff!

This is my vision in terms of the electronic tray and seat look (yes I know its long).
Note that I am very tall and I still ride like I do my MX bike, so I like a longer seat. This will also help when I want to take my GF along.
The cross hatched area will be the tray I have in mind... busy making some cardboard mock ups at the moment.

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South African KZ750E Brat build 23 Jan 2015 22:14 #659541

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My First running video..... I got the new harness all strapped up and decidedto just check everything works again....

fbcdn-video-e-a.akamaihd.net/hvideo-ak-x...764062daa07c32281da3

Finally have her all stripped...
Now its time to fix the sub frame and prepare for paint!!








This is a warning, dont trust cheap tools... one bolt was seized and the cheap older socket lost out to my decent quality one....

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South African KZ750E Brat build 23 Jan 2015 22:15 #659543

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Got my rear loop bent and the battery tray today! I have also decided to keep the stock inner mudguard and thus keeping the stock amount of wheel clearance so I am glad about that!

So happy with how its looking and how quickly the progress is coming!









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