1977 KraZy 900

Buy a shop manual...have I mentioned you should buy a shop manual? Don't buy the Clymers or Haynes...buy the genuine Kawasaki Heavy Industries manual...Kawasaki part number 99997-700-07...eBay is your source...they are fairly inexpensive...and welcome to the group

looks like a z1,unless somebody swapped bodywork B)scratch that,looks like z1 emblems on kz side covers

Ya, what everybody els said, "why?" that is beautiful the way it is!

Why tear it down? Let me clarify. It's not torn down to the marrow yet. I've got the tank off, the carbs, and the pipe...and the seat, but I think I can handle that. She is titled as a '77 KZ900 A5

I have a couple of problems. I pulled one of the spark plugs and a good deal of the threads came out of the head with it. That was a first for me, and I've been advised that the head will need to be pulled and repaired with a (heli-coil?). This is a new one for me and I have another head off of a running kz900 to replace the current one, while it's at the machine shop. Also, one of the carbs has a chunk missing from its intake flange, so I'm gonna have those rebuilt ... unless I muster the minerals to do it myself. Plus I have a vision, a Kerker pipe is in the plan, a swing arm a couple of inches over, and various other knickknacks.

If I'm not taking the path of least resistance, please let me know. I'm here to learn.

That pic of the bike was taken about two years ago. It had been in storage, until the former owner pulled it her out, got her running, and sold her to me. All of the metal needs to be polished. The wiring needs work. Turn signals work sometimes, sometimes they don't. It has an electronic ignition now as well.

The guy I bought it from told me to turn the gas off before I killed the engine and let it burn some of the fuel out of the carbs, so the plugs wouldn't foul. I did that, and the plugs fouled anyway. A couple of times.

I've never rebuilt carbs, and if I have to pull the head off, I've never timed cams, adjusted valves, or much of anything like that. I need to learn the different systems, charging, fueling, braking, etc...and the synergy between them, so I can do this stuff myself.

My father was a master mechanic. One of my first memories is jumping dirt hills with him on an old Triumph. He built his own drag car, a rail. He worked at the railroad in Knoxville, TN and was killed in a work accident when I was 7, and my mom was killed by a drunk driver when I was 11. I went into state's custody.

All that for this, my dad never had the opportunity to pass his skill set onto me. I'm 32 now, and can't wrench or do bodywork yet...yet. I've piloted all kinds of old rides, scads of bikes, old VW's and muscle cars, and now it is time for me to learn the intricacies of these machines, and the theory behind the majority of others. I intend to be able to pass this stuff onto my kids and grandkids, plus keep a little cash in my pocket. I don't foresee my affinity for old rides disappearing in this lifetime.

I scared the hell out of myself on a hard-tail stretched Z1 dragbike once ... about 15 years ago, and knew then that I'd own an old Kaw someday. Divine sovereignty, I guess.

I'm going to know this sh*t inside out if it kills me. I'm not technically inclined either, so take it easy on me. For what it's worth, I tend to hold onto most of what I read as I'm a journalist in the military. I'm heading back to Afghanistan at the beginning of 2012 and aim to have the bike finished by then.

For now, I'm riding an '80 Suzuki TS250 enduro bike. Street legal two-stroke. My neighbors love it in the morning.

Regards,

John

TS250

Looks like a leftover frame from 76. They switched rear footpeg mounts in 77.

First off welcome and beautimuss KZ you have there...

Secondly, DO NOT OPEN THAT ENGINE (yet) or anything else at this point... Turn signals and such, yeah sure go for it but as for internals or the electrical, STOP for now...

Thirdly, as mentioned buy the Kawi shop manual... Read & study every single page... Put it in the crapper, study it, make notes etc...

Use the search function here and read every damn posting on the subject matter your studying. Make notes of what you've researched into... SERIOUSLY!

Lastly, ride and enjoy that beauty and get to know her...
Keep mental notes on how she's responding, flat spots in accelerations, blurps here and there, suspension ok, charging system working correctly, oil spots, smoking, clutch slipping, transmission operations, weird noises etc....

Again for now, learn where she's at first for she's not a $400 POS, she's already a running beauty.

Then when the time comes you need to open her up, adjust your clearances, swap some internals etc... then you'll be ahead of the game plan...

One last piece of advice, take pictures before removing, disassembling everything! You will need this later on, trust us on this one.

OMR