New Member 1974 KZ400

Hi everyone. I'm Candace. I just picked up a sweet little 1974 KZ400 this past Monday and I'm doing a full on cafe racer build. I guess I'll be posting updates on the project in the "projects" forum, but here's a pic of the bike when I bought it.

Low mileage, clean title, runs and rides well, but has the usual oil leak(s) that I understand are common with these bikes. It also came with a set of 11" rear shocks (2" +/- shorter than stock) and the forks were just about all the way up to the handlebars. lol I'm a tall gal at 5' 9", so that just isn't going to work for me.

AnyWHO, that's my intro. I'm going to go start my project thread. See ya there!

Welcome. I have a 1976 KZ400 that I bought as a café project too. I decided it was too nice to do a full café so I just changed the bars, lights and exhaust and called it good. Yours looks to be in pretty good shape.
Good luck, lots of good advice here...
JIm

Have you turned 17 years old yet? That bike has survived more than 40 years, and now you plan to kill it! Do you realize that there's not a cafe KZ400 out there that runs better or is worth more than a nice survivor like that? Cutting that up to make a cafe bike is about the dumbest thing you can do. :S There are a million KZ400's that are not in that great condition that you could buy for a song, and you could sell that one to finance your project.

While you're at it, why not buy the car below and make a dune buggy out of it. :whistle: Ed

650Ed... Yeah, I figured there'd be a few of your ilk who would respond in such a manner. I just didn't think it would be so quick or so nasty. Is this how a lady is treated here on this forum? Not that it's any of your business, but I'm 41 years old and have been around motorcycles and cars all of my life. Let me guess... You're about 67 years old and think these bikes are perfect in stock form. (BO-RING!)

Kill it? I'm improving it. It's a plain Jane KZ400, not a Picasso... Get over it. There are a million of these out there. I wasn't about to buy some rotted out roach and end up overspending to cafe it. It's always better to start with something in decent shape. This needed a full resto anyway, and I wasn't about to do it back to stock. YAWN. Only a fool buys a $300 bike and then ends up putting $6000 into it to make it nice. I'd rather buy something decent, like this one for $1000, put $2500 into it and be riding. Not fixing bad wiring, replacing half the frame due to rust, etc etc

I don't care about what the bike is worth when I'm done. Money has nothing to do with it for me. I'm not looking for "resale value". I'm looking for something that I can build to my personal taste and keep & enjoy for a long, long time.

PS Check out the KZ400 brat on ebay that's up to $5200 as of last check. Find me a stock KZ400 that would sell for anywhere close to that much? Maybe if you gold plated the frame.... :whistle:

Here's some good advice, if you don't like something, keep your opinion to yourself, or at least don't be so nasty. Thank you.

Candi

While I am of the opinion that nothing beats an original bike, I see why people mod them. I see your other thread where you have started the build already and I must say, I'll be following the thread! I do love a project build that is detailed and complete.

I understand your frustration and Ed could have been a little more careful in his words, but I would suggest valuing folks opinions without bellowing it back in their faces. I'm new around here too, your age (a young 29, right?) and I've seen a lot in my motorcycling days. Just be ready for some negativity with the positivity.

Thank you for the tactful response. I agree, original is nice, too.... Just not my style at all, but I would never dream of dumping on someone's thread and saying something like "Why don't you cafe' that ugly ole stocker?!". If I see a stock bike that I don't like, I just keep on movin' and don't feel any urge to post my thoughts.

I probably would have valued his opinion had he been more congenial. I'm a grown woman who can turn a wrench better than most men out there, and I refuse to be talked down to by people, hence the terse, and well deserved response that he got.

As for negativity, I have no idea why there's a need for it. Motorcycling is a hobby we all love and share. I guess some people just aren't happy and feel the need to dump on others. No biggie. I'll ignore it from now on.

Yes, please do stay tuned to the build thread. I have a 4 page project sheet in Mic Word, about 300 photos I've collected of other cafe' builds and I'm 120% prepared to do an incredible build and then enjoy the heck out of my beautiful "new" bike.

" Is this how a lady is treated here on this forum?"

Oh, excuse me; I didn't know you required preferential treatment because you are a "lady." Maybe you can help me understand why some women fall back on that old cliché. I'll try not to slip up and treat you like an equal.

I still believe you will kill it. That's not opinion; just a high probability based on other cafe projects that were poorly thought out. Prove me wrong by showing us all your amazing creation when you are finished, and then keep it for "a long, long time." That in itself will make you the rare exception among cafe bike builders.

Is a KZ400 perfect in stock form? Maybe to someone, but surely not to me; that's just one reason I don't own one. Will you make it better? Sadly, not very likely, I see by your other posting that you have already used the trusty hacksaw to convert the bike to have independent rear suspension. You may want to patent that idea. :laugh:

All that aside, I do wish you luck with it; at least you didn't start with a minty ELR. :laugh: Maybe you will be that rare exception to the rule. Ed

Ed; All I can say is "wow"... Actually, I can say a whole lot more. I've never been down with the whole "equality"/women's lib thing. I prefer chivalrous gentlemen who know how to talk to and treat a lady.

You don't know my experience with motorcycles, yet you lump me in with other people who haven't finished their bikes. I have an incredibly detailed plan, some would say I'm OCD, literally right down to the new hardware that will be going on the bike. I've built everything from 1st and early 2nd gen Camaros to Novas, Jeep CJs and many, many motorcycles. I've NEVER had a project get away from me, never gave up, and they've ALWAYS turned out beautifully.

I don't know why I'm bothering to respond. I guess because I was raised to stick up for myself, especially against people like you. I have nothing to prove to you; you've had the same boring, stock bike for about 100 years. (There, I bagged on an original bike. lol)

I also noticed many of the threads you've posted in where the OP was desperately asking for help with an issue and all you did was try to correct them on what year and model bike they have. Ugh! Yeah, you're definitely "that guy" and from the private messages I've already received, a lot of others also know that you're "that guy". It's easy to study VIN numbers, but not so easy to actually take the plunge and get your hands dirty, aside from an occasional oil change and basic carb sync... As well as spending time on forums critiquing other people. (Double UGH!) lol

As for the bike, the KZ400 is a good platform for upgrades. For a 400cc bike, it's way too heavy at 387+/- lbs, with excess frame members just to hold up those ghastly HUGE mufflers, a brake rotor that's way oversized/heavy, crummy CV carbs that weigh a ton, and the only good stock styling feature is the gas tank. When lightened down to around 320 lbs (or less), the bike will come to life. It'll actually stop, go and turn properly, especially with my 5'9" 130 lbs on it, and it will actually look like something that people would want to ride, unlike the horrid looking stock version. Funny how such an ass-ugly stock bike makes such a fantastic looking cafe racer.

Yeah, cutting the rear off and welding a up-swept hoop on is cafe' 101. That's generally one of the first things that gets done after an extensive project plan is created. Hacksaw? I have more tools than most A-techs. This'll be the 4th cafe bike I've done, so I can assure you that it's in more than capable hands. The only difference is that this is my first KZ, and that's why I joined this forum. Funny how I never ran into a curmudgeon on the CB, GS, RD or other forums...

You wish me luck? Save your disingenuousness for someone who will fall for it. Anyone with the 30 years of mechanical experience that I have can easily improve upon 1974 engineering and styling.

Feel free to check in on my thread, but please try your hardest to refrain from posting anything towards me. You'll be wasting your time and I won't be wasting any more of mine. Thanks/Bye.

"This'll be the 4th cafe bike I've done,..."

Do you still own the other 3? Ed

650ed wrote: "This'll be the 4th cafe bike I've done,..."

Do you still own the other 3? Ed

I never owned any of them. They were all for customers. The latest was a '75 CB500T built for my neighbor on a ridiculously low budget, unfortunately. It still made for a decent bike in the end, that's safe, reasonably quick, handles and stops well and looks almost half decent.

I have a strong dislike for low budgets on custom projects, for obvious reasons. It can lead to cutting corners, but obviously never in the safety department. I had to do a Duplicolor rattle can paint job (ugh) in satin black with silver racing stripe and a blue accent stripes, painted frame rather than powder coated, Emgo shocks & mufflers (double ugh), he couldn't afford the extra labor for me to rewire and tuck the wiring in the frame, no rearsets, no hidden battery in the tail, crummy stock CV carbs jetted 38/155 for the pods and mufflers, etc.. and I despise the seat, but it's one of the many parts he just wanted "slapped" on there because it was cheap. He didn't want to spend the extra money for full custom exhaust, so he sourced a pair of 45* Walker connectors to connect to the stock head pipes, which makes the up-sweep of the mufflers ridiculously high.. (triple ugh!) I told him for just a few more bucks I could have custom bent pipes in any upsweep he wanted, or at least weld 2-3 curves together to get the correct upsweep, but he was happy with the Walkers.. lol

To add to my frustration, he pre-bought many of the parts without consulting me first, and then handed me boxes of "stuff" saying "I hope you can make this work cause I can't afford anything else". It's basically what I would call a "bolt-on cafe". No real fab went into it, due to budgetary constraints, no real artistry, or difficulty (except for trying to cobble together something decent out of a mish-mosh of parts... )

But, in the end, he's thrilled with it, so I suppose I'm (somewhat) happy with it. It's nowhere near the quality of what my bike will be, but It's still fun to ride, I'll say that much, and that's what inspired me to finally do a bike for myself. The labor is free, so I can spend that extra money on quality parts, base/clear urethane, lots of aluminum, etc etc

Regarding the pipes; have you seen the parts these folks make? Ed

www.coneeng.com/motorcycle_components.html

650ed wrote: Regarding the pipes; have you seen the parts these folks make? Ed

www.coneeng.com/motorcycle_components.html

Nice stuff, Ed! Thank you very much for the link. I'll take a thorough look this evening. I was considering a 2-1 exhaust for my bike, but I've always had a "thing" for the look and sound of symetrical true dual exhausts. I'm sure I'll be able to find some good, useful pieces on that site, so thanks again. For now, it's time to do some wrenching. :woohoo: