New Member

Hey people,
New member here from Sacramento, CA. I have been riding bikes just about forever, but just picked up my first restoration / custom project, a 1974 KZ400. I've done a ton of wrenching on dirt bikes, but these street machines are new to me as a mechanic, other than just routine maintenance on my daily rider, a 1996 NTV650. I'll probably ask a bunch of stupid questions, but I'll try to search through the forums for my answers before I duplicate anything. I'll post up some pictures of my project as I work through it, but it has been hotter than balls in Sacramento all summer, so my time in the garage is very limited... The bike came in pieces, but it felt like there was good compression when I kicked it, so hopefully I can get this thing back on the road. The license plate was last tagged in 1985!
Cheers,
Ryno

Welcome to KZR...we love questions...even stupid ones :laugh:

rynocampagna wrote: Hey people,
New member here from Sacramento, CA. I have been riding bikes just about forever, but just picked up my first restoration / custom project, a 1974 KZ400. I've done a ton of wrenching on dirt bikes, but these street machines are new to me as a mechanic, other than just routine maintenance on my daily rider, a 1996 NTV650. I'll probably ask a bunch of stupid questions, but I'll try to search through the forums for my answers before I duplicate anything. I'll post up some pictures of my project as I work through it, but it has been hotter than balls in Sacramento all summer, so my time in the garage is very limited... The bike came in pieces, but it felt like there was good compression when I kicked it, so hopefully I can get this thing back on the road. The license plate was last tagged in 1985!
Cheers,
Ryno

You will find this forum very helpful. Lots of knowledgeable guys (im not one of them lol) who know these bikes from top to bottom. Good luck on your build....

Welcome to KZR
Ask away
Dave

Welcome, yes pics, need pics. :woohoo:
Steve

So I am going to build this thing into a bit of a brat/cafe type of ride, and I guess one of my early questions is; is this KZ400 going to be a pain in the a$$ to kickstart once I get it together? I am hoping to strip a lot of the "extra" parts, but I am having trouble deciding if I should go with a low profile battery under the seat, or just scrap the battery altogether and use a battery eliminator or similar setup.

Almost forgot, here are a few gems that I took when I bought the "bike in a box," and one after I opened up the engine.

I would keep a battery on it if it were mine
Dave

rynocampagna wrote: ....... I am having trouble deciding if I should go with a low profile battery under the seat, or just scrap the battery altogether and use a battery eliminator or similar setup.

The 1974 KZ400 must have a battery for the engine to run because it uses a field coil generator. Ed

rynocampagna wrote: So I am going to build this thing into a bit of a brat/cafe type of ride, and I guess one of my early questions is; is this KZ400 going to be a pain in the a$$ to kickstart once I get it together? I am hoping to strip a lot of the "extra" parts, but I am having trouble deciding if I should go with a low profile battery under the seat, or just scrap the battery altogether and use a battery eliminator or similar setup.

Welcome aboard!

Don't take this the wrong way, but please do not lump brat and cafe together. They are different styles with different motivations.

If you decide to go the cafe route, you will find that there are no purpose-built commercial rearsets available. That is probably all right, because if you did install rearsets there would likely be interference issues with the kickstarter.

Here is a pic of my former '79 KZ400, which has a cleaned-up rear section and low bars and... that's all. The clubman bars were a test fit for the clip-ons, which I never got around to installing. (Those will go on the current project.) Overall the bike is slightly sportier than stock but hasn't really been modded enough to fit into any particular genre.




I saw one poor schmuck on CL trying to sell a stock KZ440LTD with drag bars as a 'cafe racer'. It still had the cruiser tank, the king-and-queen seat, and all the chrome. :sick: