New Site Member - KZ virgin too

New guy here. New to the site and to the KZ bike. I recently finished a rebuild of a 93 Ninja ZX6e using alot of help from a site dedicated to those bikes like this one is. This guy is getting to old to be racing around on that kind of bike but I will until I get this bike back from the land of the forgotten.

I wanted to build a cafe racer and found my KZ 440 LTD for cheap and thought it would be a good candidate as I am a little familiar with Kawasaki now. I will be lurking around the site a bit absorbing as much information as I can so I know what I am doing before I start. I have a few questions already but will wait until I am a little more knowledgable on this bike so I dont sound stupid or repeat a question already asked. For now I am excited about my next project and learning my way around this site. Thanks in advance for having all of this information in a great site. I am sure I will be visiting often.

Welcome aboard! I would suggest as a first step that you perform a full tune-up and oil/filter change on the engine, change the brake fluid and fork oil, and check everything over carefully. The idea is to eliminate all maintenance related issues and establish a baseline. This will enable you to compare the performance resulting from any changes you make against the stock performance level. Here's some info in the link that might be helpful. Ed

kzrider.com/forum/10-new-members/589649-...r-savannah-ga#594587

As I mentioned I got it cheap. Very cheap as part(most)of it was disassembled so I am pretty much starting from the frame up and modifying it as I go. Thanks for the advice.

Well i am into this project now and 200 bucks on a partially disassembled bike has turned into around 600 bucks wort of new parts needed and already lots of work to clean the usable stuff up but loving every minute of it. New tires, new wheel bearings front and back, new steering/neck bearings, new chain, new seat, new tail light, blinkers and headlight all needed, new drag style bars going on, new fork seals and dust covers, exhaust wrap, air filter pods, oil filters and all fluids, new battery. I am making into bobber and already cut off all unneeded tabs and such from frame and grinding now to get ready for paint. First time working on a KZ so I have a few threads open requesting some tips and answers to questions, yeah the are probably amateur questions but I am also reading old posts as fast as I can to catch up so please be patient if I ask a stupid easy question. Thanks in advance.

Here is a picture of it when I brought it home. I had plans to turn it into a Cafe racer but recently acquired a 77 KZ400 and that looks like a much better candidate for my Cafe Racer project so decided to make a bobber out of this one since I have always liked that look as well. I know I could have started with a better base but I like to learn by doing the work and something about bringing a bike back to life that I enjoy. My project last winter was a 93 Ninja ZX6e that was in rough shape and non running when I got it but took my time and learned as I went and had a blast on it all summer long until last week when I put it in storage due to the cold weather here in VA. So now I am turning my attention to this project with the Cafe to follow. Is there any difference in an 82 or 83 KZ 440 A LTD??

I have of the parts you don't see in the picture in a parts bin that the PO had already taken off the bike. Seat was shot, chain shot, alot of parts not going to be used or unusable and many parts being replaced like all bearings etc but it will be brought back to glory. I will see if I can do it justice by the time I am done with it.

Here is some pictures of the 1993 Ninja ZX6E that I brought back to life. Before and after...I call it the General E. Bought for 500 and about 1000 in parts, tires etc...Daily driver now.

Here are some pics - before and after of another ZX6e. I learned so much from the General E project then I came across a 2002 non runner for 200 and brought it back to life also. Kept it mostly stock and put about 400 bucks into it and sold it for 1500. Only took a month or so to turn this one around due to learning curve.

I forgot to mention I did both of these projects, and working on the KZ 440 under a pop-up tarp canopy in the backyard of my townhouse, lol. Looking for a house with a garage, hopefully get one soon!

And this lil gem is the 77 KZ400 that I mentioned that would be next. Plan to turn into a Cafe Racer once the 440 bobber project is done. Picked it up for 200 also. Cant wait to get to this one.

if the lil bikes turn out like the 600's you did they should be pretty cool.

keep us posted,

leon