Newbie here!

Hey everyone!

I'm new to motorcycles and new to these old Kawasakis.

I actually completed my MSF course a couple weeks ago and have been looking for a good cheap starter bike.

A guy I work with told me he saw an old Kawasaki at a local used car place, so I stopped and talked to the guy- '78 Kawasaki KZ750 Twin with 17K on the ticker. Took it for a little test drive, came back and talked to the guy, and ended up buying it for $1400

It's a pretty neat old bike, has some character, but I sure don't know much about it. What are common problem areas on these things?

Also where can I look to find out what parts interchange with newer models (such as seats, exhaust, etc)?

BTW- here's a couple pics!

Wow! That looks like a really nice, clean and stock bike. If it works well just, keep the oil level right, put in regular gas, oil the chain and enjoy a great riding season. :woohoo:

If you think you need some parts you can try here for good prices and great delivery:


www.z1enterprises.com/catalog.aspx?pid=KZ750-B3-1978


Best of success!

PS
Could you add your location to your signature... it's considered friendly.

Welcome to the site and nice bike. I would leave it like it is unless you see something I don't. Keep it tuned and ride it. I'm not sure of any problems with those bikes but if there is any someone on here would know. BTW where are you located? Chances are there are a few members close by.

It doesn't really "need" anything at the moment, except probably a good going-over which I plan to do (change the oil, check fluids, plugs, wires, etc). It smells like it's running a bit rich.

I honestly don't know much about carbs so this is a learning experience for me.

Also I may change out the mufflers...the ones that are on it right now don't fit the pipe right, it's blowing carbon back on the pipes at the muffler inlet, and they "pop" all the time when the bike is idling. The head pipes are a little rusty, if I can find a good deal on another set of those I may replace them.

Otherwise it has a few spots of rust here and there, I may or may not worry about fixing them...just looking forward to riding it for the time being

Oh, and I'm in Morgantown, WV...I figured it was publicly displayed here, I entered it into my profile last night.

Smells a bit rich? :huh:

Check your plugs. If they are black and sooty your carbs may be fine but your ignition coil's battery input voltage may be low due to accumulated connector losses. This causes proportional decrease in the high voltage output leading to incomplete combustion of the gas and therefore the rich/gas smell symptom.

I would suggest doing the WG Coil Repowering Mod before spending time and money on anything else. Many members have added this to great benefit. See here:


www.wgcarbs.com/index.php?option=com_con...view&id=12&Itemid=26

This is how I did mine. See here:

s259.photobucket.com/albums/hh311/bill_w...lay%20Modifications/

It should add tremendously to your reliability and ease of starting. Plus, at about $10 USD in material it's pretty hard to go wrong. Then if you still have the rich symptom you can attack your carbs with confidence.

Best of success.