New Member, New kz750 twin (to me anyways...)

Hey all,

I picked up a 1978 KZ750 twin two weeks ago. The previous owner bobbed it slightly - different rear fender, solo seat, 2-1 exaughst, LED lights, new rear shocks, superbike bars, stainless steel brake lines and wood veneer racing stripes. I'm not sure I would have done exactly the same things he did stylistically, but a lot of the things I would have ended up doing myself. He seemed to do good work though, he was an older Harley rider that did it up as a project a couple years ago for an around the town rider. I've had several other bikes previously - '76 cb360t, 81 Maxim 650, '80 GS 450. I still have the maxim, but really missed the spoke wheels, kickstart and twin feel of the CB... saw this on Craigslist and pulled the trigger. So far I've put about 800 miles on it, and it's been great. I'm mostly using it for a commuter, as I drive about an hour to work each way. I'd like to set it up to take at least one longer trip this summer though.






I've done a fair amount of reading up on these bikes, and it seems the main issue to look for is the starter clutch. So far I've pretty much exclusively been kick starting it, however the starter does work and I have used it several times. My thinking was that by kick starting only I could avoid the starter clutch issues - however I've read a few accounts of the bolts coming loose and seizing things while driving, so I guess not?? How do you tell if it's going, or do you have to pull it to check. The last couple times I did hit the starter it worked but gave me a "squawk" sound and seemed to spin a second after starting... sign of impending doom, or something else? It's colder this week, I'm thinking of pulling it to have a look. Any advice? I want to do things right with this bike and hopefully have it for a while. Does anyone know how hard it is to check the valves on this thing? Adjust the cam chain tensioner? I'm ordering a manual but don't have one yet.

I realise this bike was sort of the unloved stepchild of the Kawi lineup, but I have a 4 cyl and I'm kind of sick of revving it all the time. The decent low end tourque of the twin has been refreshing, a real solid and fun everyday ride. Kind of like an extremely nimble tractor! I'm looking forward to more riding.

Welcome JR.
Looks like a nice KZ750 you've found yourself there.

I'm not familiar with the twin kzs, but I'm sure once you have your manual you'll be able to take care of her for years to come.
As far as "bolts coming loose and seizing things while driving", I've not heard of KZs with this problem.

hey mate.....
been riding/working on my kz750 twin now for about 19 months....
great ride i love the bike....

my starter was only working when the bike had been running (warm)....
when it was cold the starter would make horrible crunching sounds....
i also read these horror stories on the bolts snapping/coming loose and making there way into the crank....(ouch)
resulting in locked tyre at 50mph......(not fun ide imagine)

so i disabled the starter altogether and replaced the battery with a capacitor....(lost 5kgs in the process too)....
now hollowed starter.

Well now I know how they look with a Harley solo seat.

It's a cool bike, but could use a couple changes. Go back to a single headlight and take off the veneer and it will look great.

damarble wrote: Well now I know how they look with a Harley solo seat.

It's a cool bike, but could use a couple changes. Go back to a single headlight and take off the veneer and it will look great.

yeah, I don't like the headlight at all. However, I put some bright halogens in it and it makes it really nice and practical for commuting at night. I'm not crazy about the veneer either... but I've slowly gotten used to it a bit. I think I'm going to ride out the season like this, then do my own changes to it during the winter. So far it's been a great bike though, I'm really enjoying it. Only trouble is I get so many comments on it every time I stop somewhere I'm starting to get kind of sick of it!