76 kz900 + 89 zx10 = a decent streetfighter (I hope)

Hello all- I've been on here for awhile but haven't posted much. I feel kindof bad looking at everyone else's projects for inspiration without posting anything of my own newly started project so---

Here is the '76 kz900 I found in a barn a year ago and just finally got on the road a month ago


And this is the 89 zx10 I found last week for $200-and it runs- woohoo!


So I thought about just riding the zx10 till it pukes, when I decided (thanks to some of the guy's spectacular projects on here) that I ought to put the zx10 suspension on the kz- took some measurements and the forks are 1/4" longer than the kz's, and the swingarm is 1" longer from front pivot bolt to axle than the kz's. So after a night in the garage now I have-


and


and one heck of a mess to clean up- anybody need a running zx10 motor with wiring?

So hopefully I can get moving on this sooner than later and keep motivated-thats partly why I am posting my progress-now I have some accountability with you guys:)

Any input is always welcome!

Ben

Nice Ben. Can't wait to see the update pics!

$200:woohoo:
Nice score.

Nice collaboration on the two! I would be interested in the motor and frame to make a drag bike out of it.

this will be a nice project to watch.Keep us posted and we'll keep u motivated. good luck.

Thanks for all the kind words everybody.

I worked on it a bit tonight-discovered that the kz and zx10 steering stem?(the part that the steering head bearings press on to) is the same diameter at the bottom at 1.10" o.d.. That ought to save me some time since I can just press the kz stem into the zx10 lower triple tree. I'm sure the swingarm is going to take a bit more work than the front end looks like it's going to (though I don't have the front end on yet:) ) I'll get some pics up soon.

Ben

well i for 1 definately like the z color are you keeping the color or changing it?

As far as the color-I'm kind of leaning toward 08 corvette Z06 atomic orange. We painted a truck that color at work and it is gorgeous.

As far as progress goes, I spent some time the last couple of nights in the garage- got the forks off of the kz-



I had to grind the weld off of the bottom of the triple tree to get the kz stem out-



Than it was just a matter of throwing everything in the press and presto!- (upgraded to tapered bearings while I was in there)



The only machine work I had to do was enlarge the hole in the upper tree to 1.10" to fit over the kz stem-



And than I just had to bolt it all on for a test fit-



Next on the agenda-- I'm waiting on some kz750 handlebar mounts to come in and I've got to fab up a mount for the gauges and headlight- next week hopefully I'll tear back into it:)

Ben

nice project can't wait to watch it come along.please allow me to play devils advocate for a moment.since the kz stem was pressed in and welded in the forged lower tree,what is keeping the stem in the aluminum tree off of the zx 10?did i miss something?just curious.oh yeah it's been like a day and a half,have you made any more progress:laugh: ?keep us posted.
leon

531blackbanshee wrote:

.please allow me to play devils advocate for a moment.since the kz stem was pressed in and welded in the forged lower tree,what is keeping the stem in the aluminum tree off of the zx 10?did i miss something?just curious.
leon

I wondered the same thing myself, so I asked people with more knowledge than myself their opinion and here is what we kind of collectively came to-

The zx10 stem was pressed into the zx10 lower tree, and the only thing holding it in was a snap ring from the bottom. This kept it from coming out but not rotating inside the tree; that apparently is completely the job of the press fit itself.

That being said the only thing I felt I had to worry about was the stem coming up out of the tree itself. Once I had everything on and mocked up I got to looking at it, trying to figure out how to keep the stem from coming out, when it hit me that once it's all assembled, it can't physically go anywhere. The upper tree slips over and is bolted to the stem and clamps on to the fork tubes, and the lower tree is pressed (rather tightly) up onto the stem and clamps to the fork tubes. The fork tubes themselves end up kind of making a bridge of sorts to hold it all together, not to mention the weight of the bike itself is carried up throught the tubes and is always pushing the lower tree up onto the stem. I guess I feel like if things come apart enough for the lower tree to come off of the stem, I'm going to notice something is horribly awry before that happens. (I hope:) )

I do appreciate you playing devil's adv. though, it tends to keep us on our toes. And as always, if anyone see's any flaw in my logic, please let me know- I always welcome constructive criticism.

Other than that I'm waiting on my handlebar clamps still, which is nice because it gives me some time to catch up on some other stuff around the house.

Ben

your off to a great start Ben. i had the same dillema with my zx9 tree convertion. i desided it was easy to just drill right through and put a bolt through the lower tree and stem. i'm sure yu are right though . it would be hard for it to come apart.
as for the gauges,i just had the gauge mounts cut off my kz tree and welded onto the zx9 tree. it worked very nicely .good luck .

Thanks for your input mark1122-

I've got to admit, your project, along with a couple others on here, are the ones that got me into this whole mess:) and the ones I keep going back to for reference. That was the reason I decided to post this project with pics, it's kindof a pain to do, but I'm hoping it will help someone else the way you guys' posts have helped me.