1st bike - newly finished project - '82 z440

Hey guys,

I probably should've joined this site a while ago!! Anyway, I live in NZ, moved over from the UK nearly 7 years ago. This is my first bike and first proper project. I've just finished it, with the build taking just under a year. 1300kms clocked in the last month

Here's some photos from when I got it...

And here's how she sits now...

Somewhere there's a 1938 Buick missing two tires. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

That's a beauty. Lots of really nice touches there. Very well done.

Thanks for posting the pics.

Barry

There are a lot of 440 Ltds, but the Standard models seem kinda rare & that one appeared to be in pretty good stock condition, so a vintage restoration would have made for a good project.

Rear brake. Did you replace the rear brake shoes?

It was a good looking bike when you got it. It looks great now.

Tell me about the exhaust. I'm looking at doing something like that or similar now ( with similar header bends as the CL350/450 ). I love how the left header pipe hugs high and tight to the frame, I'll have to do something similar. Was the exhaust scratch built? Did you buy mandrel bent pieces from somewhere? What size pipe - 1-1/2"? What type of material? Do you remember the radius of the bends for the u-bends? What is the 2-1 collector - something off the shelf or fabricated? What did you do for the header flanges - use that part from the stock pipes, use something off the shelf, or were those made custom?

Sorry for all the questions, just getting ready to do something similar and trying to gather as much information as I can. Trying to decide if I just want to farm out all the work to a local guy ( who is really good BTW ) or buy a kit of various pieces (from TC Bros or similar) and cut and tack everything together myself and then have someone weld it up. I'm sure it would turn out better if I have someone else do all the work, but I want a specific look and it would be cool if I had a hand in building it.

Great looking bike, nicely job!

One other question ( for now ): Is there a reason you chose to take the exhaust to the right side of the bike vs the left? I was considering going to the left but only because that is how they were on the CL350/450.

Nicely done. Do you have any pictures of the build process?

Hello and welcome to the KzRider community badgekz440
Wow, i am impressed for a first build bike.
What a beautiful clean build and photo session location.
Pictures of the build process are welcome too.

Michael

Nice job!

martin_csr wrote: There are a lot of 440 Ltds, but the Standard models seem kinda rare & that one appeared to be in pretty good stock condition, so a vintage restoration would have made for a good project.

Rear brake. Did you replace the rear brake shoes?

Yeah, like I said, this is my first bike and I didn't really know if this model was rare or not. A vintage restoration would have worked, I had all the bits and pieces to do it but I really wanted to push my skills as a fabricator/builder so decided to go down this avenue.

Rear shoes were in good condition so I didn't replace them,

diggerdanh wrote: It was a good looking bike when you got it. It looks great now.

Tell me about the exhaust. I'm looking at doing something like that or similar now ( with similar header bends as the CL350/450 ). I love how the left header pipe hugs high and tight to the frame, I'll have to do something similar. Was the exhaust scratch built? Did you buy mandrel bent pieces from somewhere? What size pipe - 1-1/2"? What type of material? Do you remember the radius of the bends for the u-bends? What is the 2-1 collector - something off the shelf or fabricated? What did you do for the header flanges - use that part from the stock pipes, use something off the shelf, or were those made custom?

Sorry for all the questions, just getting ready to do something similar and trying to gather as much information as I can. Trying to decide if I just want to farm out all the work to a local guy ( who is really good BTW ) or buy a kit of various pieces (from TC Bros or similar) and cut and tack everything together myself and then have someone weld it up. I'm sure it would turn out better if I have someone else do all the work, but I want a specific look and it would be cool if I had a hand in building it.

Great looking bike, nicely job!

I had the exhaust come out to the left because the stripes on the tank were on that side, tried to keep that side as the interesting side of the bike if that makes sense.

The exhaust was scratch built, including the silencer. The pipes were matched to stock with IIRC was 2". I bought the mandel bends and again, IIRC, I used x4 90 bends and a couple of 60 bends. 2-1 collector was bought from the guys who supplied the bends, as was the 2" to 4" inlet/outlet on the silencer. Instead of using baffles, I got an auger from summit racing in the US and it's don't a good job of keeping the volume down. Header flanges were made by my step-dad as he has a tig machine and a lathe to fabricate them. I welded the flanges onthe the rest of the system.

The finished exhaust was then sent to HPC coatings in Auckland to help stop me burning my leg (silencer hasn't actually been chromed).

Was a bit of a time consuming job getting the exhaust tacked up how I wanted it, Just a matter of playing around with it until it fits how you want. The only bit of advice is to sit it on the centre stand while you're doing it so the pipes are vertically parallel where they meet up (over the engine cover).


Plenty of build photos, will stick some up when I get a chance.