1974 KZ400 Cafe Racer Build

Looking good!

Another 'lil update.

Photos 1-3 show the shocks installed in all 3 positions. Everything is a nice, tight fit, so I can call that precision fab job a complete success. :woohoo:
4. Battery/electrical components tray welded in. (I still have to order the Boyer Bransden ignition kit, lay out all the components, the Li-Ion battery, the solenoid, etc, then fab and weld some brackets for all of it)
5. Patch panel w/new pop up gas cap welded and lead soldered in. Pressure tested, no leaks. :woohoo:
6. 2 of the 4 seat hold-down tabs welded in
7-10. The tank patch panel and pop-up gas cap installation is finally done, after a coat of short strand fiberglass filler, a coat of regular filler and a final skim coat of polyester filler, with a whole lotta sanding in between. (Ugh!) I wanted the tank a little flatter up top by the cap, which I accomplished by shaping the fiberglass filler, and blending a nice curve up to it.

congrats on the progress!

all the fab,and body work is killer :evil: ,

keep us posted,

leon

531blackbanshee wrote: congrats on the progress!

all the fab,and body work is killer :evil: ,

keep us posted,

leon

Thanks Leon. The majority of the fab is finally done. I have 255 hours of labor into the bike so far. :blink: I have a little more welding to do on the aluminum seat/tail combo and then I can do the bodywork on that, make a seat pad for it and get some primer and paint on it and the tank. I'm just dying to see it as a roller. I have my colors picked out as well as the paint design and I think it's going to look just incredible! :ohmy:

I was planning to have the frame, center stand, swing arm, etc powder coated, but in keeping with the cafe theme of keeping it cheap and doing everything yourself, I might just go with paint instead. We've had things powder coated in the past and generally haven't been all that thrilled. Everything looked great, but if a big enough rock flies up, it's going to put a scar on powder coat just as much as it will on paint. And since it's not a dirt bike, I think powder coat might be overkill anyway. I'd rather put that part of the budget into performance upgrades like the Boyer Bransden ignition system, stainless shorty mufflers, etc.

Anyway, stay tuned. Much more to come!

Hey guys,
Sorry it's been such a long time since I posted any updates. A few things came up and the bike project had to be put on hold for a little while. I'm happy to say that I've been back at it for the last 2 months and it's finally just about finished. We did a complete mock up of the bike, sorted out all the wiring, jetted the new Mikuni VM32 carbs correctly (It runs and sounds *fantastic*!), lowered the stock gauge pod, made up the rear set linkages, and sooooooo much more. I also decided to break out the old sewing machine and have a go at making my own seat cover. It's not exactly perfect, but it's not terrible either considering it's my first try. I might sort out the bugs in the patterns and remake it in leather, but for now I'll stick with the one I made. So right now I'm just waiting to get the frame back from powdercoating and waiting for a few more engine gaskets to show up this week. Here's a buncha pics of the progress.

Here are a few engine pics. The bottom end is rock solid, being that it's a 3300 mile bike, but it did have the dreaded top end oil leak that was never dealt with under warranty. Actually, it was one big leak where the cylinder meets the crankcase in the front by the timing chain tensioner. The previous owner had tried to fix it with a top end rebuild but it still leaked. He also decided to paint the motor when he did it, and that didn't turn out too well either, so I had to take it all back down to bare metal and do a decent VHT paint job on everything. The bottom end is the frame and stripe color, and the top end is VHT SP127 "Universal Aluminum". The previous owner must have started the motor dry and tore the valve seals, hence the extra carbon in the combustion chambers. That's all since been cleaned up and I have NOS piston rings, viton valve seals, top end gasket kit and all new seals for the motor. While we were in there, we lapped the valves and did some mild porting and polishing for better flow.

Glad you've been back at it. Been a fan of your build since the beginning. Love the paint scheme you have chosen and all the correct mods you have made, right down to the extended exhaust. Too bad it's the Fall season and not Spring. I don't know how you are going to bear waiting for the winter to pass so you can ride that beauty. Check out this build: kzrider.com/forum/11-projects/597679-my-...ild?start=120#745351 . Same genre of build.

Thanks Joe. I'm glad you like it. I was going for a sort of "British Racing Silver" color scheme and I'm really happy with the look. The extended exhaust is a byproduct of wanting the front section of pipe tucked under the frame and then turning out and upward as smoothly as possible near the rear sets. I think the lengthened exhaust gives the bike an overall longer and lower look, which is what I was going for from the beginning.

This might sound odd, but I like building bikes more than actually riding them. I'm sure I'll get a ride or two in once it's done, but I'll enjoy just looking at it and starting it up once or twice a week over the winter.

Nice to see you back and sticking to it. You joined the site at about the same time I did. I've since got my bike to an acceptable point, not nearly as in depth as yours, and crashed it. Therefore I'm starting over, I've also bought 2 other KZs, given up on one and am parting it out. 3rd one runs great with barely any work and I've been riding the wheels off it.

It makes it a bit easier to view your pics and keep them in context if you do click #4.

Thanks for the tip. Sorry to hear about your crash.

Pistons cleaned up and ready for NOS rings and a test pattern for the brake rotor.

Looking great so far!

These people might have a shift linkage you can use: www.fastfromthepast.com/rearsets/rearset-parts/shift-arms

Glad to see you're back at it! Paint is turning out great!
For what it's worth, i DID get my Kz400 to seal up.
New O'rings, and a re-torque of the head bolts after 50 miles have kept it perfectly clean since.
Can be done!