New member in Norfolk, England 1981 KZ750

Hi Everyone,

I'd just like to introduce myself before I start in with the questions!

I've had bikes for 25 years now, tend to keep them a while. The last bike I owned properly was a Guzzi Spada 1000, had it for 5 years or more, but felt like a change so sold it. My friend had a Honda CBR600F spare in his garage, wanting it back in the summer, so I bought that from him cheap cheap. We have lots of pheasants living in this part or the world, there is now one less and big mark down the road caused by a CBR600F fairing... Ooops.

So I went bike hunting, looked at all sorts, eventually found this one at a scrapyard, the guy rightly thought it was too good to scrap. It is said to be a 1981 model, has an early chassis number in the KZ750 range. Got it for a decent price.

Good stuff about it is that it is fairly original, not too modified, decent original paintwork.

Strange stuff is the aftermarket aluminum swingarm, anyone recognise that? Why would you put that on and not any other mods? Also the previous owner must have had a friend with a fabrication shop, as the points contact cover is fabricated from stainless steel, as is the chain guard. On the way home there was little 'tzzzing' at each gearchange, as the chain toughed the metal. That is going to have to go. It is also not a UK model, as it was imported in 1991. Makes you wonder where it came from - most likely from Japan, though I did hear these were exported to South Africa before the rest of the world.

Stuff needing work is that it just had aftermarket tacho and speedo, no idiot lights at all. I bought an instrument pack from Ebay, said to be a KZ750, but all the wiring was different. Took a while to puzzle that out, but it looks good, apart from a little dust inside the clocks - but the good 'ol American dust of Laredo, Texas! There is a bit of an oil leak from the cam cover gasket.

Lots of work to do, but looking forward to keeping it relatively standard.

Best,
Rupert

Greetings and salutations Rupert!

Nice story on the journey here. A pretty clean lookin' KZ you found there. What a score!
Welcome to the dark side

Welcome. Nice. Fender isn't OEM or the swing arm. Wonder what other goodies the PO put on there.
Steve

If the side panels are original the lack of a "K" would suggest it is a European model. The swing arm looks like a ZRX unit. There are many subtle mods. Like the rear mudguard delete and moving the indicators onto the tail piece. The front fender has already been mentioned but the forks look original. I like that fender. I wonder what it came off if it fits they are original forks.

Thanks all, for the welcome and more food for thought!

I buy the front fender being non-original, for one thing it has a bit of a paint or plastic boil where it has been heated by the exhausts! It wraps around the forks perfect so is made for those forks, I would say.

The moving of the rear indicators to the painted panel I had noticed - just have to wonder what the benefit of that is, since the stalks now point slightly upwards and it just looks a bit wierd to me.

The swingarm doesn't look like the photos I can find of the ZRX, the shape is different and the caliper is still above the swingarm. I've attached a better photo. With the underhanging arm it means that the centrestand has had to be removed.

Took it for a great sunny ride this afternoon - the east of England at its best. But ... boots got a bit oiled with a leak, which looks like the head or barrels gasket. The cam cover gasket is dry, the leak is lower down on the front of the engine.

R

Check to see if the oil leak may be coming from the tachometer drive on the cylinder head. This is a very common leak that is quite simple to fix. Ed

Front fender is off a pre USD crotch rocket (I want to say suzuki gs, they had nearly identical size fork legs) the swingarm is a metmachex item.

That appears to be a 750E. the muffler stays are the type found on the 1980 models in the USA. the 81-on stays are recessed in the center & painted black there (assuming the RH stay is the same type).

CycleChaos.com has engine number & frame number info for a number of Kawasaki motorcycles --- not sure if the info is applicable for non-USA models. Zedder.com is another place.

Meters. the 750E tachometer redline is 9500 rpms. I found a completed listing from Laredo, TX that are the meters
from a 750-Twin. the Twins have a lower redline. maybe provide a pic of yours?

You can't get away with anything without leaving huge digital footprints!

Yes, those are the clocks. Advertised as KZ650, KZ750, KZ1000, so I took it it would be for a 4-cyl. But in the small print, to be fair, it says it came off an '83 750 twin. Explains the difficult fit of the ignition key barrel!

Thanks,

Rupert

You can't get away with anything without leaving huge digital footprints!

Yes, those are the clocks. Advertised as KZ650, KZ750, KZ1000, so I took it it would be for a 4-cyl. But in the small print, to be fair, it says it came off an '83 750 twin. Explains the difficult fit of the ignition key barrel!

Thanks,

Rupert

RupertBear25 wrote: You can't get away with anything without leaving huge digital footprints!

Yes, those are the clocks. Advertised as KZ650, KZ750, KZ1000, so I took it it would be for a 4-cyl. But in the small print, to be fair, it says it came off an '83 750 twin. Explains the difficult fit of the ignition key barrel!

Thanks,

Rupert

You can't get away with anything without leaving huge digital footprints!

Yes, those are the clocks. Advertised as KZ650, KZ750, KZ1000, so I took it it would be for a 4-cyl. But in the small print, to be fair, it says it came off an '83 750 twin. Explains the difficult fit of the ignition key barrel!

Thanks,

Rupert

What is this?
Steve