New guy in Denver, Co

Hello guys,

I am Robbert, i am am looking at restoring a 78 KZ 650SR.
I had bought it 9 or 10 years ago and have it to ma father now i am thinking about getting it back from him since it sat since then. Do you guys think it is worth putting in the time and money to rebuild this bike?
we re-painted all the plastic parts and tank last year. it ran, but i do not think that the alternator is charging the battery, we had to re-charge the the battery every few days or so. also it only starts with the kickstart, and not the starter button. i was just browsing and saw some prices on some of the parts ( I think i saw $299 for an alternator)
that seems steep, are all the parts priced that high compared to newer bikes?
I guess i am wondering if this thing will be a money pit...

Welcome aboard! It is certainly worth taking the time to troubleshoot the problems before deciding if fixing them is within your budget. If the battery is not charging the alternator may be perfectly fine (BTW, $299 sounds too high). It could be a bad battery; a bad rectifier/regulator; a broken or loose wire; etc. If you get the Kawasaki Service Manual you can run the tests and diagnose & fix the problem. The KZ650 is a very nice bike and it's engine is quite tough. Of course, my opinion may be a tiny bit biased; I've owned mine for more than 37 years. Ed

Welcome.
I agree with Ed, well worth fixing.
I took on a '77 kz650 project, which could not be started when I bought her as she stood for many years.
Main concern for me is that she turns over, compression is good, a stock exhaust is there ( a first for me in 30 years), and I have lots of parts and am very familiar with the 650s.

Good to hear that there is support.
i will try and go though 1 step at a time, where can i find those service manuals you guys talked about?
i have the CLYMER book already. looked at the bike and found it is a KZ650 SR i guess that will help moving forward. i got it to the house today and took a few pics. i do have all the emblems and side covers, they are still at my dads. will get them back later this week before he loses them.
right now it will need new tires, the ones on there now are very old and are cracking. it also did not have oil for a few years (never ran without it though, was let off by my dad after riding) will add some so that i can start looking for that starter problem.