'79 KZ650-My First bike in.....all in pieces

So, I'm brand new to motorcycles. I don't even have a license, driven one maybe twice in my life :dry:. I know my way around under the hood of a car, done a few rebuilds, etc etc. Main thing is, I love working on engines, especially bringing dead ones back to life. So when an old high-school buddy of mine offers me his bike, which, btw, hasn't run in years, what do I say, but "Sure, why not!" Figured a new challenge would be fun. We hop in his truck, run out to his house, and he pulls open the garage door. What do I see? A frame that looks like it might be for a motorcycle, a rather dingy-looking engine, and about a dozen boxes of stuff piled in a corner :woohoo: At this point, he says "Beer?" "Yeah"
Six hours and quite a few beers later, I'm at my house sorting through parts, jars of nuts and bolts, trying to figure what I've gotten myself into. Frame and related parts are dirty, few plastic connectors broken, but otherwise in good shape. Engine is dirty, but on the surface, appears in pretty nice condition. Few days go by, a manual is bought, little cataloging is done, seems like everything is there. Few more days, and I discover this great site, and that's when I finally realised what I had in the garage
Anyway, long story short, I'm going to attempt to put this bike back together and take my buddy for a ride or two. Budget is limited, work full-time and have an 18-month hooligan, so will prbly be fairly long term, but, what the hell, right? Forgive me in advance for the questions I'll have, and thanks for the help that this community has already provided!


Regards,
Matt

P.S.
Pictures on the way!!

Ooo, Picture Spam!!

Frame and Body stuff








Not everything was in boxes; Ended up carrying a lot the way it was to avoid mix-ups



Electrical is always fun. Thinking I'm going to re-do the wiring, lots of connectors messed, PO did some work in that area.....


This bike, I think, is in pretty good shape for these miles!


Parts, Parts, more parts....






Apparently the start of my buddy's repair project involved white smoke from one of the exhaust plumes....and kind of balloned on him. This might be part of the problem.




Head and valve train look pretty decent, no visible problems with cam journals or lobes, lifters are in good shape, too.






#2 and #4 intake valves are under a decent coat of carbon. Think a weak spark from that cracked coil might have something to do with that? #2 intake might not be seated all the way, need to get some carb cleaner in there and check for a leak.



Here's the cylinders. Was rather surprised to see they separate from the rest of the engine like this! (Yes, new to motorcycles :dry: )


Again, seem to be in pretty good shape.




Pistons


Block. Seems he had planned on cracking the case open (Another surprise for me!) From what I've seen so far, don't think needed that, but now it's had time to sit and let crap fall in it, so apart it will come!








These were a dirty mess, like they had been coated in oil and then buried in mud and clay. Woke up in the middle of the night one night, stumbled down the steps to my garage for a smoke. 'Bout 4 hours later, wife comes down, leaving for work.
"What are you doing?"
"Working on my bike."
"Well, put some pants on, will you?" :woohoo:




And, this is the requisite first-time dad bragging. Don't you think those would be great for riding? :woohoo:

Anyway, I have a decent project ahead, methinks. Am gonna try for maybe 3 months or so, but, budget and time will tell. Would hate to have it sit half-finished in the garage over the winter.......
Thinking I need to find a good machinist that works on motorcycles for the head, and prbly to get the specs on the crank, rods, etc. Wish I had all the tools to measure properly, but maybe those will hitch with the other inevitable tools I will end up buying.

Right now, I'm trying to decide where to go next. Lots of cleaning, for sure. Frankly, I've never cleaned chrome finish, so will have to look around for ideas there. Think the front forks are mostly just polished aluminum, not chrome; will have to nose around the body forums. Of course, I could start with the case disassembly, though that would ADD parts to my piles. Who knows!

Wish me luck, and I will try to update as I can!

regards,
Matt

welcome to z-jungle!welcome to the wonderfull world of parts,first thing you need is a proper work area!:laugh:

Welcome to the world of KZ....... Your life will never be the same for this is addicting like crack cocaine...

Hey, that rhymed... ROFL!

Good decision on cracking the case... We here, all realize what a pain in the ass it is but as I found out myself, I didn't know the history of the bike and as it turned out had transmission issues. Check all your timing components while your in there...

It was inevitable, destiny had stepped in and said "Crack the friggin cases you old lazy bastard"...

The KZ Gods now own you... Welcome!

Old Man Rock

Welcome.
Looks like you've got a puzzle to put together.
Ask away if you need help placing a part.

So, managed to put a couple of days of work in over the past few weeks, and have made pretty good progress, methinks.
Replaced all the wheel bearings, seals, etc. Rotors and rear sprocket are all in spec, no expensive surprises
Spent a day or so cracking the case. First thing, of course, was off with the clutch. No big deal, right? Apparently someone had tried to do the ole prybar method at one point, and I missed it on my initial inspection



nice, huh? :blink:

Other than some punched screws that I had to "coerce" the rest of the disassembly went fine. No sludge, no evidence of overheating. Nice looking engine, really.
It's pretty obvious it sat open far too long. The outer secondary shaft bearing is shot, and the ball bearing on the mainshaft is marginal, so all the ball-bearings and the needle bearings are getting replaced. Been going back and forth on buying all those pesky circlips...

Got the rods and crank all cleaned up. All the journals are in great shape, rod clearances are good, need to do the main bearing clearances, next. The bearing inserts are giving me some pause, especially a couple of the rods. I think the engine was turned over a couple of times while it sat, and I'm sure it rotated a bit during disassembly. Anyway, some of the inserts are nicked up a bit, and I'm kind of unsure of how much "nicking" is still acceptable. Any thoughts would be great!

Plan now is to get the case completely cleaned up and then check the main bearing clearances, hopefully no surprises there. If everything checks out, it's off to the shop with the crank and the valve train.

regards,
Matt

PS, OMR, you're right it's addicting

Zeds are addictive, aren´t theyB) Out here in Euroiland no KZ just Z:P

While you´re at it sandplast frame and rear swing and have them powder coated. Will make life and resto so much easier afterwards. You can always paint bodywork when ever ya want but re-painting frame means totally takin the bike apart. And a clean frame just gives the old lady some glamour.

Also if there´s even the smallest reason go with 810cc Wiseco kit now when the engine is opened anyway. It´ll cost an extra $500 or so but doing it afterwards means the same cost plus $200 for gaskets and a whole lot of work. Means also bigger buck if you´re donna sell it after resto.

IMHO take your time doing it as good and thorough as you can. I now very well your situation, my daughter was 4 and we had our son on the way when I took my ELR to pieces.

Good luck and say hi to your kid.