1981 KZ650 Basket Case

swest wrote: Did you apply some resin to the wood?
Steve

Yes, I did. I brushed the wood with resin, then added a layer of mat, more resin, more mat and finally another coat of resin.

Good, it should stay put then. Waterproof too.
Steve

swest wrote: Good, it should stay put then. Waterproof too.
Steve

The wood really seemed to soak it up. I've never tried this before, but I'm hopeful.

Like building a boat. It'll hold.
Steve

I've made a little more progress over the last week or two. Seat pan is in primer and I've replaced the handle bars, headlight and gauges. It's starting to look a little more like a café racer. I still have a lot of soldering and heat shrinking to do over the next several days so I can get it back on the road.

The only major mod left aside from polishing and paint is the pegs. I've got a pair of Hayabusa rear sets for it, but I need to figure out a way to make the mechanical rear brake work with the hydraulic linkage on the new lever. Might be tricky coming up with linkage that provides enough leverage. We'll see.

This project is looking great. Very nice job. Also the ninja looks great too. Congratulations on having a kid willing to do a little work. Thats getting pretty rare these days.

fastdave wrote: This project is looking great. Very nice job. Also the ninja looks great too. Congratulations on having a kid willing to do a little work. Thats getting pretty rare these days.

Thanks for the compliments. I'm afraid the new is starting to wear off, Help from the boy is hit or miss these days.

My son walked away from his GS 750E. Left the valve cover off and the plugs out. I put them back on but after 10 years the carb holders gave way. He calls me and asked if he could come out and get his bike running. He wanted me to pick him up. I told him to take a bus. "I don't have any money for the bus." I told him after all this time it wasn't worth fixing anyway and my bike is still sitting. Get one of your friends with a truck to pick it up. I scrapped it a year later. Too bad, it was a good running bike. Should have sold the parts on eBay to pay for Bossie.
He's still mad at me for getting rid of it. He'll never grow up.
Steve

Sad. You couldn't have dragged me out of the garage if my dad had offered me a free bike, and all I had to do was help build it. That would have been a dream come true. How times change.

Son and daughter are like two sides of a coin. He's a free spirit, will never have children or be serious about anything, she is responsible, works hard and honest. I had to get my first bike and every spare dime went into it. I guess it was my fault. I wanted him to have what was so hard for me to get. Wrong signals.
Steve

Congrats on having a son with a genuine interest in learning something useful. My dad died when I was 11. Mom wasn't the least bit thrilled with me wanting a bike. I worked at a Kaw dealer on the side back in high school in the mid '70's. I finally got her blessings and she said okay, if I paid for it LOL. I was about to graduate HS and getting a few bucks here and there for graduation. That Kaw dealer let me buy a bike on payments at a discount. Had a few bucks ($1000) saved up for a down payment. Paid off the balance in 12 months!...(Now that's what you could call a 'motivated kid')! I knew all the shop guys, parts and sales crew and good friends with the owners. They all told me to hang on to that bike and treat it well, and that I was lucky to get one as that dealer could only get 2 of that model that year. That was my very 1st bike...my '76 KZ900LTD (which I still have). Enjoy your time together. Not a lot of fathers are that fortunate...........................Mike Vroom-vroom!!!

I agree, but he has to work for it, otherwise it will just be another thing given to him. That's where I went wrong. I made it too easy and he will have his hand out for the rest of his life. The bike wasn't the only thing, but it was the last thing he got from me.
Steve