New Member, First Kawasaki

Hello Everyone,

Nice to meet you all. My son and I took a road trip from CT to PA to pick up some motor bikes. We landed a 1974 KZ400 for $70 and an 82 cb750F for $120. Both bikes are complete. The plan for the KZ will be similar to the "Brown Bomber" by Moto-Fied. It will be a dual sport stunt bike scrambler. It will get stripped down to trail essentials only. Not sure if It will get front blinkers but an LED hoop will light out back. Custom seat and motor cross handle bars and some adjustable rear shocks. Pods and lithium battery. LED front light, new grips, cables, brakes and fresh engine clean up. Frame will get POR15 from the spray gun.

This bike will eventually be for my son so the plan is to get him to build most of it.

Welcome to KZRider Wez
I fixed your pictures.
Next time click the insert all tab
Nice father / son projects
Dave

Welcome aboard! Just in case you're not aware; the screws on the Kawasaki that look like Phillips are not Phillips. They are Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) and using a Phillips screwdriver on them will damage them. You can modify Phillips screwdriver tips so they work fine on JIS screws. If you need more info just ask. Ed



Home Made JIS Tip

Welcome. Great to hear your bringing younger bucks into to craft. Sounds like you have it all planned out. Hope the build goes smooth. And excellent job with posting pictures, the theme here is “pic’s or It didn’t happen”

Remember there are no dumb questions, we have all made mistakes. Ask away!

650ed wrote: Welcome aboard! Just in case you're not aware; the screws on the Kawasaki that look like Phillips are not Phillips. They are Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) and using a Phillips screwdriver on them will damage them. You can modify Phillips screwdriver tips so they work fine on JIS screws. If you need more info just ask. Ed

Home Made JIS Tip

Thanks 650ed! I have a kit I picked up from the parts store that includes maybe 5 different cross head bits. Some have a more blunt tip that the others. Not sure about the angle between crosses but I'll keep your information handy!

Welcome to KZR Wez!
Those look like some worthy projects. Please keep us up to date with pics.
Enjoy
Bill
KZQ

My son keeps asking me to let him ride my 550 SECA. He wants to use it to drive back and forth to school. He just turned 16 over the summer. I just don't feel comfortable to let him ride a road bike. Especially for commuting. I offered to buy him a trails bike, but he has his mind mind on a road bike. I just can't get myself to letting him. I would be too worried every time he is out riding. Happy you and your son get to share some father and son time. Seems like time goes by too fast. The teen years are an such an awesome time to share with our children. Good luck with the project. Have fun.

Welcome aboard. Looks like the two of you have some fun times ahead.

Wez wrote:
Thanks 650ed! I have a kit I picked up from the parts store that includes maybe 5 different cross head bits. Some have a more blunt tip that the others. Not sure about the angle between crosses but I'll keep your information handy!

I found that by simply filing off the end tip of the Phillips bit I could get the bit to properly fit the JIS screws. If you decide to do this just take your time and test the screwdriver bit often until it fits perfectly. I own some actual JIS bits I bought from Vessel Tools, but the ones I made actually fit the JIS screws a little better than the ones I bought. Ed