KZ 650 Noob from Alberta Canada

Hi all,

I've been lurking here for a short while, so I thought I would quickly introduce myself. I'm a 38 year old motorcycle addict and my most recent purchase(s) is a '78 KZ650B and a semi-finished hardtail rolling chassis. I picked the '78 up from a fella that used to wrench on it for a lady. She stopped riding it in '95 and it's been sitting since. It is a complete bike and with the exception of faded paint and plastic is in very good shape. I have had quite a few bikes in the past and almost like to work on them as much as I like to ride. I put a new battery, took the carbs off and cleaned them up and with a little work got it running... not bad for a $400 purchase - which also included a bike lift!

The VIN says it is a 78 650B, but all the info and pics I have seen show them in different colours. The strange thing is it doesn't not really show any evidence of being painted. Even the pin striping looks stock... any ideas?

My original plan was to put the engine in the HT frame, but we'll see how things go. I may just give a few subtle changes and leave it reasonably stock. Here are a few pics of it semi-disassembled...

I have a few carb questions but will post in the other forum.

I'm looking forward to getting this on the road! It should be good fun.

The tank and tailpiece in the pic are from a 1978 KZ650-C2. They must have been used to replace the originals on the "B" model bike in the pic. Ed

Interesting... the side covers also match the colour scheme. I guess somebody (or possibly the shop?) went through the exercise of changing out the tank and plastics at some point during it's life. Makes sense. The side covers have the bike shop decals on them as well, but no date to speculate if they sold it as "new" or used...

Welcome. Nice find.
I'm partial to the C2 colours, even if mine is no longer that colour.