1975 KZ400D - restore project

Wicast3, I also have an 81kz400 done w a bunch of extra parts left over. If youre looking for something specific private message me.

I have found that those piston slide carbs need a lot of finesse when installing the slides. The top cover can hinder the piston movement if it's not aligned properly. I find they always need about one drop of oil on the outside diameter of the piston and one drop in the center shaft. Then the trick is to reach in and move the slides up and down with your finger as you slowly tighten the two screws a little bit at a time going back and forth to each screw. Make sure the slide moves freely all the while. If it suddenly moves slower, see if you can find out why, or start over. Try to put the parts into the same carb they came out of.

Good luck on the project. I always liked those Deluxe 400's.

Got a lot of mediablasting done today. Rims and Hubs are soon ready for powder. Tim from Unit 6 Motoring fabricated the 5 3/4 projector headlight so it will fit nicely in the stock bucket. Tim kicked some ass today with that! Got the center stand from the cadaver and other parts ready for powder. We had to heat up that hollowed out metal tube that the center stand mounts to. Was a pain in the ass. That happened on my 81 400 as well. Cleaned, blasted and polished some of the rear brake components too. Hands are sore from polishing and I sure am glad I have the 77 cadaver to look at when I wonder in my head where this part goes!

.

Looking really good Jack. One of these days I'll have to get going on mine. Right now it's just a good running (but not stopping) survivor.

Just put 12 hours into the bike, long day, but well worth it. Got the rear brake components all cleaned, painted and mounted. Got the center stand painted and mounted. Got 3 of the footpegs cleaned up, painted n mounted. Got the chain guard on, got the airbox cover painted and mounted. Tore the old seat off the pan and started blasting that, but I broke the mediablaster 1/2 way through that! My friend Blake finished up the carbs and we got them installed for the most part. Ran the cables, got the left sproket cover on the motor. Painted the headlight bucket. Tim, from Unit 6 Motoring mounted the coil and ran the plug wires. Got the hubs and the rims painted, they look good! All in all today was a busy and productive day on the 400!

Got some fresh wheel bearings and rubber, the bike rebuild is going great

Got some more work done yesterday on the bike. Got the seat pan blasted and ready for paint. Replaced a few things on the cosmetics of the carbs, got the left footpeg and kickstand mounted. Blasted the turn signal and kill switch switches, Im glad I have the cadaver cause the guts of both switches were nearly rusted away. Got some more stuff finished with the headlight. Got the triple tree and other fork bolts cleaned and tightened. Mounted the front fender support and front brake caliper. Mounted the handlebars. My friend started to get everything ready to respoke the rims, cant wait for that to be done.

I also picked up a fairly clean 76 kz400-D3 for a really good price. Another project for another day!

Today was another productive day on the bike. Got the wiring done...for a moment I was wondering what the 3 wires that went to nothing was, then a friend told me its for the Euro version "city light". We had to take the forks halfway back off because I forgot to put that little hat chrome spacer at the top of the fork/under the top of the triple tree. Tim from Unit 6 Motoring got the daymaker headlight mounted and installed. Wiring is just about complete, minus the turn signals. Front fender and mudflap installed, Blasted some more parts for powder. Blake started working on the hubs and spokes, comes to find out, the kit I got, Im missing a spoke for the front rim (bummer). We installed the battery and it seems everything electrical is working the way it should! Today was a good day working on the bike

Jack, bike is looking great! Are they the original handlebars? Did you ever find the right side chrome for the body panel? I haven't been able to find a new one, if i do I'll let you know. AL

They are the original handlebars (at least what came on it back in 1992). I did find a pair of side plate chrome plastic pieces, from a user who posted a reply on one of the other threads on this forum. For some reason, even if I choose international searching on Ebay, I still dont get Canada's results. The gentleman on the other forum post here linked me to a person who had several pairs for sale...I did pay top dollar for them, but at this point, everything has to be crispy haha.

What Id love to have is a sticker set for the rear inner fender and under the seat pan. I did some searching and only found a Japanese languaged sticker set. Im hoping to get the seat pan powdered today, and get the seat reinstalled on the bike today. Still waiting for the Ebay user who sold me the spokes to reply, I feel thats going to be the biggest hangup waiting for one spoke (or a new set) from Asia.

For the stickers did you try these guys?
www.diablocycle.com/