18" front mag wheel for KZ650?

No, the bike came with mags, but it's 19" in the front, and I really like that "staggered" look like the Zephyr has, so swapping to the 18" rim to get that is worth it to me.

And I'm keeping the drum in the rear, as I use my bike as a daily commuter (or will once i get it to the point where it doesn't eat an electrical system or foul the plugs in under 400 miles). In wet weather, I feel the drum is safer, as it gives me much better control. My experience with discs on the rear in wet weather is they're much more like "on/off" switch, locking up easily.

I think I have the best of both worlds; the dual disc fronts stop on a dime in dry weather, and the drum rear lets me modulate the rear brake easily for maximum safety.

You said that it was a B-3, that came with spoke wheels, not mags. And if it is a 79 C-3 which came with mags, that had a disc in the back. The only 650s tat came with 18" drum rear mags were the F series 80-81.

All I know is that my bike is a '79 KZ650 B3. It has mags, dual front discs and a drum rear. I assume some changes were made to the bike, as the carbs have accelerator pumps (which I know came on '79 models) and non-adjustable jet needles, which I understand, didn't show up till '81. I'm also pretty sure someone made the conversion to the dual front discs, as to the best of my knowledge, no bikes were made in '79 with dual front discs and drum rears, and it has the single disc front master cylinder.

Regardless, the the title lists it as a 1979 KZ650 B3, serial number: KZ650B532898.

otakar wrote:

By the way, the 81 KH110C2, 80 KZ250-G1, 79 250-A1, 80 250-A2, 81 250-A3, 81 250-J1, 85 KZ305-C2 79 400-G1, 80 400-G2, 81 400-G3, 80 440-C1, 81 440-C2, all also had disc brake seven spoke 18" mags that would fit your bike with the four bolt disc hub pattern.

This is interesting as none of these models are even recognized as being built according to my Kawasaki parts CD. Any of these wheels will be few and far between in the USA at least.

I have an 18" rear mag wheel that is a drum on my 900 I have no idea what it came on originally but it will not fit my 650 due to the differences in drum sizes between the 900 and the 650. I like the rear drum in the rain also. My GS1100 has a rear disk that is kinda touchy.

Hi there! Im also going crazy trying to turn my 1981 kz550 into front 18" mag (2 disk brake). Do you think that the z1r's will do? ($250 on eBay). How about the 1980 kz 1300's? Any help would be much appreciated.

Not sure that it would be a bolt-on, but may be something that would work with some machining. It would probably be easier to adapt a 650 front end, along with the 18" Z1R wheel. It (the 18" Z1R wheel);should bolt up to the 650 (or 750E) front end

mjg15 wrote: Not sure that it would be a bolt-on, but may be something that would work with some machining. It would probably be easier to adapt a 650 front end, along with the wheel. It should bolt up to the 650 (or 750E) front end

That wouldn't accomplish the objective. KZ650 models all had 19" front wheels. I believe he is trying to mount an 18" front wheel on his bike. Ed

650ed wrote:

mjg15 wrote: Not sure that it would be a bolt-on, but may be something that would work with some machining. It would probably be easier to adapt a 650 front end, along with the wheel. It should bolt up to the 650 (or 750E) front end

That wouldn't accomplish the objective. KZ650 models all had 19" front wheels. I believe he is trying to mount an 18" front wheel on his bike. Ed

Fixed