New to the bike world, but not mechanics

Cause no one asked

youre gonna fry it with them car batteries

Welcome from East Tennessee!! :woohoo:
If you need parts check with Z1Enterprises in Marion, New York state, ask for Chris, I have bought a LOT of parts from them over the past few years., good prices, fast shipping, knowledgeable and friendly staff. Just a Suggestion. They specialize in Older Japanese bikes , especially the Kawasaki KZ's.
Good Luck on the Bike, keep the pics coming please. :woohoo:
Regards
TennesseeZ Ed

jeffasaki wrote: youre gonna fry it with them car batteries

The car batteries aren't for the bike. The bike battery is hooked up to a really nice battery charger/maintainer and a 4 way splitter that switches which battery it is charging/tending every 10 min.

ed spangler wrote: Welcome from East Tennessee!! :woohoo:
If you need parts check with Z1Enterprises in Marion, New York state, ask for Chris, I have bought a LOT of parts from them over the past few years., good prices, fast shipping, knowledgeable and friendly staff. Just a Suggestion. They specialize in Older Japanese bikes , especially the Kawasaki KZ's.
Good Luck on the Bike, keep the pics coming please. :woohoo:
Regards
TennesseeZ Ed

Thanks, I'll be sure to check them out when I need more parts. So far ebay has been my friend for carb needles

On the 6mm bolts, don't wrench down on these .......you will strip the threads in a heartbeat. As for thread locker, I used more anti-siege that thread lock. Get a proper factory manual, it tells you torque settings and what nut and bolt should have thread lock applied.

A quality fastener with a lock washer will work fine.

Well, that is definitely a 79 or 80. Looks like a lot of cleaning and polishing! Fun. So, right off the bat, to me and this may just be that someone spilled oil on the fins but blown head gasket? Check the tank, might have a bit of rust in her. If it is an 80, not sure on the paint scheme here, it would have an electronic ignition and MKII motor in it for sure along with the headlight that you can replace the element. I think you have the 79 model. Take your time with her and she will be a beautiful thing after.
I would get those carbs cleaned, although you may have the same problems my 79 had with the carbs. I had to junk them and I put smooth bore carbs on them. I would shoot some oil in each cylinder and let it sit awhile before turning over just to make sure you don't scar the walls from rusty stuck rings. Man, you have a project ahead of you! But the good thing is if you tear it all apart and completely restore everything you will be the most happiest camper around.

Thanks for the tips 4TheKZ1000. I already bought myself a service manual from a New Zealand company that specializes in bike literature and manuals.

From what I have read so far the VIN indicates that it is a '79. The oil on the fins was from me using PB Blaster to get the plugs out, and then putting PB Blaster and oil into the cylinders. Let it soak for a day or two and then turned her over with ease. Already pulled the tank and dumped the old gas, then let it soak and drain with water until it came out clear. I need a new filter for the reserve side of the drain valve though. The carbs have already been some work, just to get the pistons moving again. My next big step is to pull the bowls and find out why all liquid going in the fuel inlet line is going right out the fuel overflow line.

You mentioned electronic ignition on the '80, does that mean that the '79 isn't electronic?

Yeah, I was leaning toward 79 and yes the 80 came with electronic ignition. Good thing just to order up a set of dyna coils, taylor wires, dyna s plate and a set of taylor wires and while you're at it a pingle petcock and if you need to clean the tank out I have a friend who did a write up that he used a couple of bottles, well he was told to buy two but he got three cause he's a Texan. www.zrxoa.org/forums/showthread.php?3036...!&highlight=zrx+chet

you can even get a can of plasticoat and spray the tank sidecovers and tail fin till you get around to painting it. It's cheap and it looks good and it peels off if you don't like it leaving the original painted surface.
Spray the wheels with a can of wd40 and GET NEW RUBBER, WD40 will do wonders for the bike. The paint may not even be that bad if it gets a really good cleaning. Clean the wires really good so they make contact. I guarantee that the fuse box will give you troubles. I would replace with a new style pin connector box and what else? Plugs, new carbs. Get a set of 28's the pumpers and trash those 26's, guarantee you that they are probably like mine were, garbage and a hell of a work to even try and get them going ( I may be wrong but I doubt it), or get a set of 29 smooth bores Miks, toss the airbox to the side and get a set of KN filters from amazon, save you lots of busted knuckles later, Get a Vance pipe and replace the sprockets and chain. What else? Get a gel battery. Not that the cheaper acid filled batteries are bad but a gel will last much longer and in the long run be cheaper for you and not spill acid on the frame. MAKE sure all the terminals have been gone over and contact points cleaned. Now, that should be the gist of it. I would also get a nice corbin gunfighter and lady saddle and a set of superbike bars and nice set of octagon grips, nice and cheap and you should be set to ride for awhile till you can afford to take the next step. Now, these are just the steps I took before I did a TOTAL resto but I don't know where you are at with spending cash on her. She is worth every penny. I know you said you are not new to mechanics and much of what I already said probably you intended to do already but I just outlined the things I did that I couldn't do without. The petcock is just a friggin nightmare when bike have sat for so long. I love these bikes with a passion probably as much if not more than most here. I assume you too will love them or you would have just purchased a cheap ride that is much newer. I got a nice zrx1200 with 7k miles and mods that cost as much or more than the 2900 I laid out. Great bike but not a classic.

Well, that is quite the aggressive way of cleaning the tank. How did they protect the tank from rust from the factory, or did they? It seems like the WD-40 would wear off over time and it would get rusty again.

Wow, that's a lot of good info. Sounds like all the usual stuff I expected. Surprisingly the paint and leather are in really good shape.

Why spray the wheels with WD-40? Help lube the bearings?

As far as carbs I have a couple friends that have rebuilt Mekunis. From what I remember looking at, new carbs are kind of pricey; but out of curiosity how much would a set of new/bigger ones cost and from where?

The airbox was tossed for foam filters at some point, that have since disintegrated so new filters are going to be a must. The petcock actually works pretty well after I ran some fluid through it and took off the old clogged filter, which I'm going to have to rebuild.

I actually picked it up for the cost of transport from where it was sitting to my garage. I chose to go this route because I prefer to fix things rather than buy them. It is much more rewarding and you usually save a few bucks along the way.

WD40 works really well to clean the grease off of things and makes the wheels look like new again. For the tank, I seriously would do the good filters not the 3 dollar ones I tried before and didn't work. a good set of 29's go for about 500 or less if you happen upon a pair someone doesn't know about. For a set of great Keihins with filters you are looking at about 750 dynaman.com
I have a set of 31's, if you do 29's they bolt on, if you go bigger you will need headwork. I got my head ported to fit those carbs. Seriously great set of carbs.

CrazyJew89 wrote: ... How did they protect the tank from rust from the factory, or did they?

When new the tanks have a silver coating inside them, and they won't rust when kept dry. Once they are filled with fuel they still won't rust as long as they are kept filled with fuel, but if a used tank is left empty it will eventually rust. Ed