1977 KZ650 Resto-Mod

I purchased this 1977 KZ650B not running about a year ago never owning a motorcycle or repairing/rebuilding a motorcycle. The previous owner said the electrical melted down in 2005 and it had been sitting ever since. I've done car repair before, and my mind thinks mechanically and I thought to myself "how hard could this be?" 

My son and I tried to start the motor when we first got it but ran into a lot of electrical problems. It was then as I was looking at the frame I realized that I wanted to sandblast and powdercoat it. So I tore it down to the frame, got it blasted and powder coated, and have been putting it back together ever since. I've done a lot (listed below), but I had a win this morning. I've been trying so hard to get this motor started. When I finally got the dyna-s ignition a couple months ago I installed it and then tried to get the motor started with the bare minimum to no avail. No spark, and I couldn't static time it either. 

So I took a 2 month break on doing much with the bike. Then one day I decided to just start working on the wiring and the handlebar controls. Once I started seeing the wiring come together and the m.unit working properly I decided to tackle the ignition system again. Turns out I had wired the coils wrong. Once those were wired properly I could time the ignition, and this morning I fired her up on the third kick! Here's a link to the video (It's a public facebook video so you should be able to see it even if you don't have facebook).

www.facebook.com/1356185211/videos/902734827794502/

It feels so good to hear that thing fire up. 

What I've done so far:
Rebuilt the forks
In process of rewiring the whole bike (motogadget m.unit blue)
New ignition coils
Installed Dyna-S ignition
New handlebars and handlebar controls
New mirrors
Designed and fabricated my own tail tidy/fender eliminator
New brake light
Rebuilt the carbs (still have a leak somewhere you can see in video)
New air box hoses
Cut the front fender a little smaller
New regulator/rectifier
New field coil
New headlight mount
Lots of cleaning
New handlebar grips

Still need to do:
Rebuild front brake
New seat
Finish electrical wiring
Brake lines
Throttle cables
Clutch Cable
Rebuild starter clutch (at some point. Kick is working fine)
Finish de-rusting the gas tank
And probably a few more things I can't think of right now.

I have a bunch of pictures of the process so if anyone wants to see any of them, I can definitely share them here!

We like pictures 

Looks like a fuel drip from carbs, be careful! Yes, we need pictures. I know that feeling when engine starts. 

Here are a few pictures I've taken over the course of the year (lots more, but these are a good representation of all that I've done)

I bought the bike last year, tried to get it started with my son to no avail. So I tore it down to frame. In the process I had a lot of cleaning to do. It had been sitting since 2005. So the carbs were all gummed up, grease built up everywhere, and a little bit of rust on the frame (a lot on the battery box). Most of the rust of the small 







For a bike that had been sitting for over 15 years it seemed to be in pretty good shape rust wise. There wasn't much. But I wanted a nice clean frame, so I got it sandblasted and powder coated.



Still a lot of elbow grease on many of the chrome pieces. I had thought about just painting the pipes black, but when I tried the steel wool on the pipes, they came out looking really good. So I kept them and several other chrome pieces.


Once I got the frame, swingarm, kickstand, centerstand, and upper and lower triple trees back I began putting the bike back together. Upgraded to a one unit regulator/rectifier from Z1enterprises, also decided to go with the motogadget m.unit blue since I was having to rewire the whole bike anyway. I've put in a dyna-s ignition with new coils. I have also fabricated a tail tidy/fender eliminator






Overall it's been a great experience and I can't wait to finish her up. I'll keep posting pictures as I finish up the rest of the bike. I have been trying to keep a lot of the vintage look with some tasteful modifications. 

Yeah I noticed that after the fact, and then while I watched the video. I'm going to be spending some time tracking that down.

Looks really good, can't wait to see the finished product

w00t! Good stuff, keep it coming! 

Well done.
Coming along well.
Welcome to you and your son.

Was able to get around to looking through my pictures for more interesting shots.
My son and I ran into a stuck slide in one of the carbs, so it took us a long time to get it out, but when we did there was this look of shock on our faces and excitement. He spent about 2 weeks with me last summer and then I did a bunch of work on my own (powdercoat, engine clean, rebuilding carbs) until Christmas time when he came out again and we put the motor back into the bike and rebuilt the swingarm. 

I've been working on putting everything back together since then. Ordered the motogadget blue from ebay, and the Revival Signature mo.unit Deluxe wiring kit ( this one ), dyna-s electronic ignition, and some new handlebar button controls. I finally got everything wired up and working last week. Started putting covers back on.Getting closer to getting her out on the road.

Things to finish up:
Front Brake line (getting an adapter for the new brake lines and new rigid brake line in the front has been a bear)
Need to make sure the gas tank with rebuilt petcock doesn't leak
Recovering my seat (doing it myself)
New tires (being mounted today)
A few other odds and ends

The bike is looking really good, nice work 

I see a next gen KZR member .... Great to see a father/son project get some progress!

wrote:

I see a next gen KZR member .... Great to see a father/son project get some progress!
 

Yeah, he definitely has the MC bug.