Hey all just another newbie here

Hello everyone at KZR. I just found out about this forum maybe 5 minutes ago and I instantly wanted to join. My whole life I have wanted to ride dirtbikes/motorcycles and I have never got the chance. A few days ago I was thinking and I came to the conclusion that I would get a motorcycle and a permit before summer ends, maybe even my motorcycle license if I have the money for the course. I always loved going fast, Heck, I even had a blast riding around on a 49cc moped. But I want something that can go a little faster than 25 miles an hour, sorry, a lot faster. Recently I have been looking into buying my first motorcycle and I stumbled across a 77 Kawasaki KZ750 for a decent price. The owner says it has about 25k miles and that last summer it was running but it was also surging too, he said that cleaning the carbs could fix it. Other than that he says its good. My question to you guys is, Do you think it's worth the money, or should I look for a different bike?

welcome to z-jungle!
any pictures of it,how much?

you never told us the price, that would be a big help, and riding on the street is not about going fast(although that is a perk), it's more about gas saving to me right now, at least that's what i tell the wife. tell us the price, you'll get plenty of feed back.

No pictures but he said it was almost identical to another one of his bikes but it is green (I attached the picture). He is selling it for $400. What kind of issues could I be dealing with by buying this bike? I heard it could be as simple of cleaning the carburetors out or something that could be really costly. I don't want to have to put a lot of money into the bike, but what can I expect for spending $400?

could just need carbs cleaned and a good tune up

hey, i just sunk 300 dollars in a 79kz750 form an old timer who bought it for 400 dollars, not running, he re-built the carbs and still could not ger it running, i paid him 300, changed the plugs and she fired right up, i am still fine tuning it, and can only kick start it, but i feel it is well worth it. BUY IT, from what i have learned here, as long as the motor ain't seized, it is worth it, keep us posted.

Hey Andy,

Where are you located? We've got's lots of members across the US and a bunch of the rest of the world as well.

Please let us know.

Bill

I'm sorry that was a typo, the bike is $500. I'm really hoping that it just needs the carbs cleaned. Is cleaning the carbs a difficult task? I was talking to a friend of mine about the bike and he says that there are lots of mild carb problems because of the ethanol in the gasoline, are these problems fixed easily (IE: changing filters) or something complicated. Cause most of the smaller things I can handle, like changing spark plugs, tires, fuses. But I have no experience with a motorcycle, just on cars.

jacksdad, do you mean the spark plugs? That would be nice if that was the case, as spark plugs are easy and cheap (I would assume) to replace. As far as fine tuning goes, what can you fine tune?

KZSCI, I live in Maine off the coast of rockland on an island.

yep in my case, changing the spark plugs helped it run, tune up things would be changing or installing inline fuel fitlers, cleaning the air filter, since its an older bike it'll probably have points, which mean cleaning them with a high grit sandpaper, if they are pittet, if not, leave them alone, checking the timing, same basic things oyu would do on a car. In my case, i pulled it behind a four wheeler in SECOND gear and that seemed to "free" things up, if tyou get it running, put high octane gas in it, if there is alot of rust in the tank, you'll want to clean it out. cleaning the carbs is a very easy task, four screws and they are off, check out youtube, there are a couple of videos to help woth this task. If you do get the bike, let us know what is happening and we will be glad to help. good luck.

Hey guys, just an update on the 77 KZ750 I was looking at to buy. The owner basically said that he had it running last summer but wasn't riding it because of the surging. He said the engine raced as if the throttle was fully engaged, so it was unsafe. This sounds kinda weird, and while I want this bike I don't want to buy one that has a lot of problems. Any idea what this could be? Still just cleaning out the carbs and tuning up the bike?

jacksdad, what do you mean by the bike having points? Were you having trouble with the bike when is was in 2nd gear only? or did pulling it behind the 4 wheeler help it with all the gears?

no it has a fine transmssion, it just that second gear is the best to roll start it, first is not powerful enough, third gear is too tall. as far as the points, any vehicle bike, truck, car, even boats made before about 1980 had points instead of elecronoc ignitions , i don't know the defference, but someone on this site doed i promise.

if it runs, it's worth it to me, even if yu can't get it right, you can part it out and make your money back, if not more so you gonna get it?