My new kz project (pics added)

Hello!! Well, as I posted in the new member section, I am the proud owner of a '77 kz650b. The bike is in rough shape and had been sitting for 2 years out in the open. I picked it up for $100 not knowing if it would even run or not. It had old gas in the tank and carbs that had been there for the 2 years plus, this past winter, the bike was completely buried by snow for a couple of months. I got the bike home, drained the old gas out of the tank and was surprised that there was very little rust in the tank. I pulled the carbs and went through them with 5 spray cans of carb cleaner, making sure that I got every little hole. Bought new spark plugs and changed the oil. I also had to get a new battery and fix a couple of bad wiring spots. Needless to say, I was very surprised that the bike started up after a little coaxing. It ran rough and I had gas coming out of 2 of the overflow vents in the carbs so I pulled the carbs again and hit them with some more cleaner and replaced all 4 needle valves and seats. Put it back together again and was extremely surprised when the bike started right up, firing on all four cylinders. I bought a new clutch cable and throttle cables (the old ones were broke) and rode the bike for the first time today!!
Now I believe that the work it still needs is all cosmetic more than anything. The engine is very dirty and there are stains running down the drive sprocket cover from where the old gas had leaked out. Not to mention that someone has rattle can painted the bike. A very poor paint job I might add. The seat is torn all up but the padding is in decent shape. The #1 exhaust seems to have had it's gasket blown out and the exhaust has a ton of rust. It's a 4-1 exhaust system but I'm thinking of replacing it with a 4-2 but not sure if it's possible or how expensive parts are (I'm a poor boy).
That's about as far as I've gotten with it so far and I'll post some pics in a few days so everyone can take a look and offer their opinion. All opinions are welcome as well!!!

Welcome to the forum the 650's are great bikes. An easy way to get rid of the gas stains on the sprocket cover is to spray it with carb cleaner and then scrub it with fine steel wool while it is still wet with the carb cleaner the stains will come right off.

Thanks for the welcome!! I used some carb cleaner to clean the worst of it but never thought of using steel wool. However, my problems are now starting it seems. I rode the bike for about 15 miles today and all of a sudden started slowly losing power and died. Warmed up, it would not restart unless I put the choke on all the way and then it would die as soon as I took it off. Even with the choke on, it took a while for it to start. It seemed like it would run and slowly run out of fuel in the carbs so I think I have a fuel delivery problem. It doesn't have a vacuum petcock so I may have rust in my tank that I didn't see before. So it's down until I can afford carb kits and the stuff needed to clean the tank out real well.

Well, I haven't posted in a while so it's time for an update. I got all the rust cleaned out of the tank and repainted it with rattle-can, duplicolor, indigo blue. Found side covers at a place called Allen's Cycles in Spokane WA. Reupholstered my seat with new black vinal. Cleaned and polished in the engine a bit with some aluminum cleaner and polish. Doesn't have the showroom shine back yet, but it looks a lot better. As for performance, the bike runs like a champ now that the tank is clean. Performed a tune-up with new points, plugs and clean oil with a new filter. Only 2 major problems remain. I'm having trouble locating another fuel petcock and my exhaust has a leak at the number 1 cylinder head. The leak remained after replacing the gaskets so I think the pipe has a bend in it or they may not be made for this bike. As you can see from the earlier pictures, the exhaust looks kind of funny to me. I've only seen these bikes with 4-2 exhaust, not 4-1 plus I hate the upswept muffler. Any ideas on a good 4-2 exhaust for this bike?

I think you got a much better deal than I did. Sweet deal.

the website www.pingelonline.com sells replacement fuel petcoks that might work. Just ask at the forum as there's a ton of information about the older Kawasaki's.

z1enterprises.com sells a Suzuki petcock that fits the 650 tanks perfectly.
It what I have on my bike.

Check out this thread for info - kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&...=23976&catid=3#23976

Hey where are you located? If your around the Spokane area I live in Post Falls. You should just have your exhaust blasted and paint it. That will save you at $300 and the 4-1 looks cool. I also know some people for paint and all that.

I'll second the 4 into 1 looking cool. Plus, yours looks like a Kerker, and them ain't cheap.

Thanks for the feedback. I think I will stick with the 4-1 exhaust and just blast it and paint it...or have it chromed. I'm not sure what brand it is as there's no identifying mark on it anywhere so I thought it was just the stock exhaust.

As for the petcock problem...I'd like to go with the Suzuki valves and read through the topic you linked. My problem with the is that my valve isn't a vacume valve and there's no vacume port on my carbs for it. I'll still check Z-1 and see if there's a non-vacume valve that will work.

A quick semi inexpensive fix for the rusty headers, and any possible pinhole leaks in it is header tape. Then you can probably just hand sand the megaphone and re-paint with header paint.

Cougaro wrote:

My problem with the is that my valve isn't a vacume valve and there's no vacume port on my carbs for it.

The vacuum ports are on your intake manifolds - just connect the petcock vacuum line to the nipple on # 2 manifold (actually any of the nipples will work but that's how it was originally setup).