1974 KZ400 Cafe Racer Build

Thanks guys. I'm dying to get the frame back from the powder coater (hopefully today) so I can start putting this thing together for the final time. Once I disassembled the top end and saw the work that the previous owner had done while trying to seal it up, I had no doubt that the oil leak will be a thing of the past once we put it back together the right way. The last owner didn't even wipe away the excess RTV spooge that squeezed out when he put it back together, so that was a tell tale sign that he didn't do the most high quality of jobs.

So anyway.... The cylinders are honed, the new rings are gapped, the head is back together with new viton seals & lapped valves, the clutch cover, stator cover and sprocket cover have a nice satin sheen to them (after about 5 hours of work removing the black paint and deep scratches) and I'm just waiting for the 2 small cylinder base o-rings to get here before the motor can go back together.

Still waiting to get the frame back..... I'm down to the nitty gritty finishing stuff now. I drilled 120 5mm holes in the brake rotor, chamfered 'em all and then painted and cleared the inner section. I also spruced up the nasty old kick starter, including taking it apart and cleaning the innards, removed all the rust, painted and cleared. I would have had it powder coated, but I'll be using the electric start so the kicker might only see emergency duty at the most. The kicker was missing from the bike when I got it, and we had picked up a '72 Honda SL350 to part out last year, so I'm using the kicker and the headlight from that bike. Same splines on the kicker knuckle and it tucks away neatly like the stock kicker. And I really like the SL headlight because it's 1" smaller than the stock KZ head light and fits the theme of the bike better while still giving enough light.

I'm hoping to get the frame back from the powdercoater today. In the meantime, we found this 1978 KZ650SR non-runner with under 21,000 miles on Craigslist about 85 miles from home and got it for what we feel is a very good price.

After my husband got the bike home, we unloaded it and did a very quick 20 minute evaluation;
The good:
Clean NJ Title
Engine turns over smoothly and has seemingly good compression.
It's mostly Complete. Only missing the air box and rear turn signals at first glance.
Carbs look good (aside from the black paint on the outsde) and the slides all move very smoothly. Both the push and pull throttle cables are still there)
Has fresh oil in it.
Clutch springs feel good.
All 4 plugs just have some carbon on them, as opposed to being soaked with oil
Tank has been sealed, but from looking inside and feeling around, it's quite smooth, so it probably wasn't all that rusty to begin with.

The bad:
The owner who had it before the man we got it from went nutty with the flat black spray bomb without removing any parts or masking anything. (engine, carbs, shocks, fork legs, exhaust, dash, etc)
A few wiring gremlins (a few wires cooked, missing some insulation, 8 gauge batt cable that's supposed to go from Batt. + to solenoid was bolted to the frame, blade fuse wired in with wire nuts, etc)
All 3 calipers and both master cylinders need to be rebuilt.
Needs fork seals
Ape hanger bars have got to go (They even painted the bars!) :blink:
Fugly seat!
One side cover has one of its mounting nubs cracked off.
Faded original paint.

We couldn't resist correcting the 8 ga. cable, gingerly hooking up a battery and checking for signs of life. Dash lights work, the starter works and it has spark! :woohoo:

The plan right now is to just try to get it running and then decide what we want do with it. If we get it running and decide to do something with it, I suppose I'll start a new thread in the projects section.

Here are some photos of this diamond in the rough:

:woohoo: I finally got the frame back from the powdercoater. He took forever, but I'm happy with his work aside from the fact that he forgot to mask over the VIN stamping. No biggie. I used the Dremel with the sanding buff attachment to make it visible again. He made up for it by super-carefully removing and preserving the catalyst sticker from the neck. That was a nice touch even though I do know of someone who reproduces those stickers. I couldn't resist fitting the tank on to see how it looks. It won't be long now.

Really came out nice! love the frame color. Can't wait to see it all together.

HA! I saw that 650 on CL, the spray bomb engine turned me off. What did you wind up paying for it?

Frame looks great, nice job on the rotor too.

Kidkawie wrote: HA! I saw that 650 on CL, the spray bomb engine turned me off. What did you wind up paying for it?

Frame looks great, nice job on the rotor too.

Thanks! The 400 is finally almost done.

We got the 650 for $350. My husband offered $300 initially, the seller came back with $500, we waited a couple hours and upped the offer to $350, seller said he was going to leave it listed for a few more days and try to get $450, then about 2 hours later the seller said come-n-get it for $350.

He came to his senses.

KZCafeChickNJ wrote: The bad:
The owner who had it before the man we got it from went nutty with the flat black spray bomb without removing any parts or masking anything. (engine, carbs, shocks, fork legs, exhaust, dash, etc)

I hope that's hi-temp paint or there will be an impressive smoke display when you do get it started. It probably isn't though.

Did the seller say if the right front turn signal was broken when it was dropped? (scuff mark on right side of engine)

In any case it looks like an interesting project. Good luck!

KZJOE900 wrote: He came to his senses.

Exactly!

Nerdy wrote:

KZCafeChickNJ wrote: The bad:
The owner who had it before the man we got it from went nutty with the flat black spray bomb without removing any parts or masking anything. (engine, carbs, shocks, fork legs, exhaust, dash, etc)

I hope that's hi-temp paint or there will be an impressive smoke display when you do get it started. It probably isn't though.

Did the seller say if the right front turn signal was broken when it was dropped? (scuff mark on right side of engine)

In any case it looks like an interesting project. Good luck!

Check out my thread on the 650 in the "projects" section. Thread name is "1978 KZ650SR D1".

No, it wasn't high temp paint. The guy who did the rattle can job (and the wiring when he installed the ape hangers) was not at all mechanically inclined. He did an extremely poor job on the wiring, as can be expected of anyone who would be foolish enough to go wild with a rattle can like he did.

We've had it running since Monday, the day after we got it. The regulator bit the dust today taking a few wires with it in the process. It was a blessing in disguise, though, because it led me to strip back every bit of the harness that had been monkeyed with all those years ago. What I saw made me go :ohmy: Lots of bare wires (the unburnt ones), lots of weak connections, etc. I'll post the pictures of what I found on the other thread. As for the signal and the points cover, thankfully it was dropped at 0 MPH rather than at speed. We've already cleaned up the rash on the points cover. It still needs 600, 800, 1000 and final polish, but it's better than it was, and we're going with different turn signals anyway so the broken one is no biggie.

I went back through the thread but didn't see how you lowered the instruments. Given the other work you've done so far I suspect you made a custom bracket. Can you give a quick description? TIA!