First Kawasaki Street Bike: KZ440

So a guy at work has been talking about this bike in his garage that he wants gone. Apparently they bought it for his wife a few years ago, replaced the tires and a couple things, and found a great deal on another bike that they couldn't pass up. So, this one has been sitting in his garage for the past 3 years. I had a little mad-money saved up, and it's been several years since I had a motorcycle. We don't have any super fuel efficient vehicles at the moment, so I thought I could justify this to the wife. He said he'd let it go for $300. I figured I could get more than that parting it out if I found some terminal problem, so I sent the picture to the wife and expected a quick reply of "not on your life!" Instead, a little while later, she said she'd been thinking about motorcycle rides lately and asked if it needed much work. I quickly interpreted this as "buy the bike" and told my friend we'd take it. I knew the carbs would need to be cleaned and the battery replaced. Found the front brake to be very soft, too. After installing a new battery, cleaning the carbs, and flushing the front brake fluid, I have a running 1980 KZ440. It's not running great yet, but it only has 15,750 miles and everything works on it. I've had a 1981 Maxim 650 and a 1983 Magna 750. This is my first Kawasaki street bike. I had a KX80 when I was a kid. We're looking forward to many years of fun and gas savings with this one. Couldn't pass up this deal, and it's a nice bike. I haven't taken any pics yet. This is the one I saw when I bought it sight unseen.

Also, my thanks to the organizers and participants of this site. In the past few days I've made many visits and found invaluable information here. I actually found this site before I picked up the bike and felt comfortable that there's good info on parts, materials, supplies, and procedures, and that with your help I could get that thing back on the road.

Looks like a really great deal! Take a look at the links below for info that will help you with the "new" KZ. Ed

www.kzrider.com/forum/10-new-members/605...l-my-1st-bike#756374

www.kzrider.com/forum/10-new-members/605...l-my-1st-bike#756375

Rear brake. Howdy. If the guy didn't install new brake shoes, you should replace them. If old, the adhesive that binds the linings to the shoes can fail over time, so a lining can separate & get jammed between the shoe & drum, locking the rear wheel.

I installed Vesrah brake shoes from Z1Enterprises.com, but that was a while ago. oem may be available.

Welcome Bobrpm...welcome to KZR.

Nice pick up for an even nicer price.

Thanks guys. Great information. I've been around for a while, but I never knew that the Japanese bikes weren't equipped with Phillips screws, even though I've had a couple Japanese bikes in my day. That explains why you find so many chewed or stripped screw heads on these.

I'll take a look at the brake shoes. Definitely don't want them coming apart while riding. The brakes both work great now, but that doesn't mean the linings won't come loose.

I was able to get the factory service manual download on my phone. Got some Castrol 4t synthetic oil and a filter on the way, along with a left side cover gasket as I have the famous oil leak over there. Hoping that I can clean the stator wire grommet and rtv it.

Thanks again to all.

-Bob

JIS screws very often have a dimple next to the cross-head (see first image below), but you may find some that are missing it. There are also JIS bolts. These have the same metric threads as metric bolts, but the hex head is a different size than their metric counterpart. To confuse things even more some JIS bolts sizes are the same as standard metric sizes. The second image below shows them. Ed