1980 KZ750 LTD "Kurayami"

This is my 1980 Kawasaki KZ750 LTD H1.

I don't really have any kind of theme for her - she's not a restoration, a chopper, or a rat bike. That said, some of her parts are being restored, some are being replaced with better ideas or more modern concepts, and some of her areas taking on some hues of something darker, maybe even a little more utilitarian. She'll have a few areas where age is apparent and even more areas where one would say "wow, I can't believe he actually cleaned up in there".

The bike's name is "Kurayami", Japanese for Girl of Darkness. Although nothing on her will really be prominent, there will be a healthy homage to Kawasaki itself, as seen in the subtle silver trim of the Kawasaki names and badges as they appear on the bike.

So far I've removed the battery box and electronic brackets and sandblasted and painted them. I've cleaned the chain and the area where the front sprocket resides (probably a pound of sludge in there). I've painted the tank, air box, rear foot pegs, master cylinder, part of the chain guard, etc. My carbs are being done by professionals and I'm eagerly awaiting their return. I've installed a windshield and replaced the tach and speedo cables.


She's also getting custom upholstery (I'm sewing it up myself), a luggage rack that looks very much like a radio mount for a Humvee. I'm getting some new rear shocks and a new rear tire as well.


Thats all for now - I'll keep you posted. She'll have a website soon, too.

The carbs return

those carbs look dam good who did them?

WG Carbs.

That guy needs stickers and t-shirts. I think I'd even put a poster of his carbs up in my garage.

Looking good there, BeeSting.

Well she's on the road now. Took her out for a bit, then took my son for a spin on it.

After he got off, I putted around for a bit more. I pulled into a parking lot because it seemed like it wasnt running right - lo and behold I had the choke on. After switching it off it reved smoother and ran great. I just have to get those exhaust gaskets put on (ordered them locally today) and I'm good to go.

After a while of blasting around the engine started wanting to keep a very high idle - around 4k. In gear it behaved a little better, but I didnt even need throttle to maintain speed. Is my idle set too high? Or what else could it be?

Your idle is too high.
Can be because you were riding with the choke on.
Choke off, you want her to idle around 1200 rpm.
See if you have any adjustment in the Idle Screw to lower the RPM.

Your bike is coming along nicely.

Well I went riding for about 2 hours this evening. Logged about 70 miles or so. I noticed that after blasting down M-15 for a bit (at about 55, I think) I noticed the bike seemed to be idling smoother.

I went out on the freeway twice during my trip, a couple miles up I-75 and then a few miles on I-69. I didn't feel very confident on 69 - the vibration from the bike and the road was getting to me. But I had a good time nonetheless.

After I got back I adjusted the headlight so it actually worked. It was aimed way up in the air for some reason. The PO had the adjusted mounted in the wrong hole.

Please let me know what seat it is and where did you get it?
mcphersongeorge@bellsouth.net