'77 KZ650 Basket Case Full Build

I took a 1977 B1 on trade and already had two KZ650's donors in the shed... 




A few months later, I was packing up to move across town and a friend offered me storage and help rebuilding the bike in trade for some design work. It's two years later and we have continued to barter our way through the build. 

The subframe was modified to support a shortened tail section and brake light / license plate
Wheels were a junkyard find from an 80s-era 750
Progressive shocks from Dime City Cycle


We designed a new seat pan using card stock then water jet it out of aluminum.
A new seat was sculpted from Sargent Cycle Products foam.
We fitted a stainless exhaust from Delkevic and Dyna S ignition.

After everything was mocked up, we stripped it down and cleaned it up.
The frame was sent out for powdercoat. We rebuilt the head and added a Wiseco KZ700 piston kit.
The seat foam was wrapped and stitched by a local leather worker



All new swingarm bushings and tapered roller bearings in the neck

I had a pair of SV650 calipers kicking around from a past build and figured we could make them work with the later model KZ forks and wheel


I designed up a little adapter and some awesome guys at work donated a lunch break to get them machined.

Most of the parts are back from the paint shop.
Still waiting on the headlight bucket and front fender

very tastefully done so far!

Can I borrow the water jetter?

Not to detract but the tail section looks truncated and the seat has a little crease in it. You won't get into Bikeexif.com like that.

You can do it tho. Look forward to more updates

Grant, looks as if you are on a mission,  likely one to sell parts. I think that if you make it a point to sell parts and services that are really top notch then you might be able to fulfill some personal goals. But to bank on selling parts for the kz650 might not be the best ploy. For that reason, being that i have a few 650s... I'll be honest with you and critique your project honestly. You have done some great design work there and seem to have equally good services at your disposal. 

Iron out some kinks and I might send some business your way.

Best of luck to you.

I appreciate the honest feedback. I just do this for fun, but if there's enough interest in a part, I'd consider polishing it up and doing a production batch. 

...and the seat cover relaxed a bit, but we'll stretch it back into shape soon

Yeah, no kidding, you've done a great job on that seat for the most part. There are some great examples of the 650 that have been customized and for me personally I'll keep my 78 till the day i never swing another leg over a bike again.

Doing things for fun is it out of this world and if at the same time you can make some money then it's even better.

I look forward to seeing more on this build.

The inner fender was removed when the frame was modified, but I'm a fan of fenders and keeping the motor clean!
I have a new front fender from Airtech Streamlining, so the factory steel front fender was laying in the parts bin...
After some cutting, welding, and powdercoating, we have a tidy little hugger that mounts to the swing arm