New Kz owner

Hello! I'm John and I'm the "proud?" owner of a '77 kz650b.
I picked the bike up for $100 and it's in pretty rough shape but I was able to get it running with very little work. I live in Northern Idaho and stumbled across this site while looking for parts for the bike and I must say, this site has been a wealth of information. I'm happy to be a part of it but I must warn you that I'm actually a car guy and this is my first venture into the world of motorcycles so I'm sure I'll have stupid questions to ask!!

I look forward to getting to know ya'll and I'll start posting a few pics of the bike when I get the chance.

Welcome.

This is a great site.
Nothing like a bunch of other people with similar interests to get you going.
Helped me bring my bike out from many years of storage.

A 650 for $100?
Some people just live right. Nice score!
Lots of 650 talent on this board... they'll help you get your new ride growling in no time.
Oh, yeah.... PICS!!!

Welcome aboard!
I'm sure you gonna love your B1, I know I love mine.

Thank you for the warm welcome. I'll keep posting on my progress with the bike in the project forums and I'll post some pics in the next few days. I've already gotten the bike running and the only thing I really had to do was clean the carbs, fix a couple bad wiring spots and change the oil and spark plugs. It starts right up and growls like a champ...not to mention that it'll jump out from underneath you when you take off.

Man, I absolutely NEVER run into deals like that. I wonder what I'm doing wrong...

Anyway, welcome to the forum!

Everyone is talking about the deal I got...I just got the bike from my neighbor and he sold it to me because he says he doesn't have time, or the patience to tinker with it.

Anyways, I took a few pics so I'll attempt to post them here.

Hey John welcome to the board. Where do you live? I'm in Post Falls. If you need help with anything let me know.

Hey cool deal!! I'm north of you a bit in Athol. So far I'm doing ok with the bike. Got it running but have a few issues to deal with, the first being rust in the tank. Going to give it a vinegar and salt soak for a few days and see if that helps. I read somewhere here that a vinegar and salt mixture will eat away the rust. Other than that, I'm doing good but I'll be sure to contact you if I run into problems.

Cougaro wrote:

Going to give it a vinegar and salt soak for a few days and see if that helps. I read somewhere here that a vinegar and salt mixture will eat away the rust.

Hmmmmm....... sounds like it would work better on some french fries. You might want to check this thread, I've used this method to clean a few tanks and it works well.

kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_content...view&id=22&Itemid=11

Buy a big box of BB's seal them in the tank. Then wrap the tank in a blanket and stuff it into a clothes dryer. (Note: If you get the steel BB's you can use a magnet to insure removal of those couple that don't seem to want to come out.) Stuff rags towels and anything else in so it cannot move. Then run the dryer (cold!) through a few cycles then shift the tank along it's axis and do it again. Then dump out the BB's and rinse the tank with water to get the flakes and dust out. Then flush it with white vinegar. This will displace the water and the bike will burn out any residue. You will get some flash rust that will cause no problems but get some gas in it quickly. Better if you then coat it with Kreem, Por15 or Red Kote but it's your choice. Put a inline gas filter on it!

Cool. My ex lives out there and my son works for his uncle out there. He has a SWEET shop and I can use whatever he has any time.