New Owner of KZ650

Hi all! New to this forum and to bikes in general. I'm picking up my first one: 1977 KZ650 this weekend. It's being passed down to me from a friend. They didn't ride it much while they owned it, and it's been sitting for a couple of years.

Do you have anything I should look out for before starting her up? I want to get all the fluids changed, visually check for any leaks, but since it was running a couple of years ago I was going to try starting it up after doing the fluids.

Can't wait to start working on her

Welcome, great first bike. Before turning it over, take the plugs out and squirt a bit off oil down the cylinders. Turn it over by hand several times using a 17mm spanner on the ignition side end of the crankshaft. If you feel any resistance stop. It should turn over very easily and smoothly with yhe plugs out.
Ensure the battery is fully charged, they run like crap without full battery power. You are likely to find the carbs will need cleaning if it was left with fuel in them. Modern fuels leave a varnish like residue when it evaporates which can clogg the jets and small passages.

Welcome.
Before you dive in, memorize this. --
www.kzrider.com/modules/ServiceManuals/K...Service%20Manual.pdf

Then buy these--
www.z1enterprises.com/catalog/product/vi...-244-3/category/952/

Seriously, once you are sure it will fire, it would be a really good idea to perform all of the routine maintenance, since you do not know when or if it was ever done. That will eliminate a host of potential problems and will help you become more familiar with how things work.
Those screwdrivers can save you more than their cost. All those screws on the bike that look like Phillips are actually JIS. A Phillips screw driver can make a serious mess of a stuck JIS screw.
The 650 has several passionate fans here, who will be more than willing to help you get it running to perfection again.

Welcome Lakshan. You picked a great bike and a great forum. I too adopted a 77 KZ650B1. Warren and Texas are starting you out on the right foot. AND, yes there is more to put down here than I have time for right now. Most importantly get a solid check list. You will need almost everything gone over. This includes:
- All Fluids which on this bike is engine oil with new filter, brake fluid in master cylinder(had to rebuild mine) and Fuel.
- Fuel, is it stale? Suggest draining tank of any old fuel. Also, the float bowls of the carbs if they weren't drained before stored. If there is any pink sludge or varnish appearance in the fuel tank or carbs, you will need to clean them. Old stale fuel especially fuel with ethanol is NOT your bike's friend. Look up fuel tank cleaning here or elsewhere. New fuel line and fuel filter from petcock to the carbs recommended .
-Spark Plugs, Plug Wires
- Points & Condenser - unless converted to electronic ignition( I did this).
- Drive Chain
- Compression check each cylinder, local shop could do this for you
- Valve clearances and gaskets replaced.
- Carburetors gone through and cleaned. I noticed the carbs have pod filters. That likely means you have a different stage jet kit than stock. You have a 4 into 1 aftermarket exhaust as well that is not stock. So, the bike is likely tuned for a bit more performance.
- Clutch plates inspected, and clutch adjustment
- brake pads(front), brake shoes(rear)
- Tires & tubes for sure, stock wheels use rim locks and can be a pain to remove and mount new tubes/tires.
- Battery - I noticed in one of your pictures that there appears to be corrosion on the chain guard that looks suspiciously like a battery failed and leaked out onto surfaces. OR, it is matching lava flame type custom graphic(not sure?). If there is an old battery still in the bike, get it out and replace.
- Wiring, hopefully you have it intact. Electrical gremlins can be frustrating. Pay attention to your fuse box. Fuses on these bikes can blow with regularity. I replaced mine eventually with a new fuse box. It is behind the right side cover.
-The list goes on & on. Really this list is for just about any air cooled four stroke motorcycle in the past 60 years.
I will be honest with you, that windscreen looks like a barn door. That is going to catch a lot of air. You might consider removing and running without once you get it going. My KZ had a Vetter Windjammer on it. It came off right away and quite happy running pardon the pun, naked.
Here is a photo after I got mine sorted. Mine is a bit cold blooded if not paid attention to regularly. Otherwise, The KZ650 is a great first bike and also just a great all around middleweight bike. I hope you enjoy yours. Feel free to reach out to me and many others here.

I didn't expect such friendly and informative responses, especially so quickly! I really appreciate it; thank you for your replies.

You guys have given me lots to start with, I'm going to get tinkering as soon as I can. Good note about the JIS, you saved me a few damaged screws! I am mechanically inclined, but new to bikes in general so I will definitely spend a lot of time studying up and learning what I can from the forum.

Yes, one of the first things I wanted to do is get rid of that windscreen, not a fan. And I will definitely get it repainted haha. The battery was newly replaced but that was 2 years ago and the bike hasn't been started in that time, plus it's not the greatest battery. I will be replacing it for sure.

Glad to know I can reach out to this forum, will post updates of my progress

By the way, sweet bike @Forrest

You are welcome anytime Lakshan. And appreciate your compliment on my 650. We have the same year, so hopefully we can exchange some ideas as you progress through your new bike.

One other item that may have been covered but worth mentioning again; Did you get the Owners Manual with your bike? And, you may want to get a Service Manual on this specific model. They are out there. If you need one I will check to see if I have a spare.

One item I did not mention would be:
Suspension - The front fork fluid likely needs replacing. There are various weights/thickness of fork oil. There is likely a thread around here somewhere or post your questions here. My bike was prone to tank slapping at high speed before the fork springs were replace with stiffer Race Tech units for my weight. The rear shocks were barely adequate for the day when new. I replaced mine with a pair of Works Performance and love them. The stock rear shocks made the bike weave and even wag when running fast in sweeping curves. The new shocks eliminated this. It is now on rails when up to speed. What I am saying some of the first upgrades worth doing are for the chassis. BTW, I worked with the Works Performance engineer to make the correct length shock for the 1977 KZ650. It's swing arm is a different length than later models. The result were shocks that truly fit the bike. If you order be sure to let them know they have produced another.

As you can see, there are a lot to items to consider for something that appears quite simple. Best advise is get it refreshed and think about what you might want to do with your bike. You can customize from there and make it yours.

Welcome.
Great bike you've found.

Picked up the bike a week ago! I'm going to order/do a couple of things and thought I would get input from the wise folks on the forum.

1. Read about the ease of install, longevity and reliability of the AGM batteries (my TLX uses AGM oem as well) so I thought I'd get this:
10L-A2 AGM battery - fortnine.ca/en/bikemaster-agm-platinum-ii-battery

2. This is the iridium version of the stock plugs:
NGK BR7EIX - fortnine.ca/en/ngk-iridium-ix-spark-plug
When the old plugs are out, I'll do as Warren3200gt suggested and:

before turning it over, take the plugs out and squirt a bit off oil down the cylinders. Turn it over by hand several times using a 17mm spanner on the ignition side end of the crankshaft. If you feel any resistance stop. It should turn over very easily and smoothly with yhe plugs out.

3. For Oil, I'm reading mixed reviews on synthetic vs conventional, some posts saying I need JASO oil. Manual says to use 10w40 weight. Should I be concerned with using a synth 10w40 oil like Castrol GTX?

4. Will be draining old fuel and cleaning the tank (looking up some articles/videos on this)

5. Cleaning the carbs (using the carb cleaning 101 post on this forum as a guide and ).
cleaners:
- Gumout 800002230 Carb and Choke Cleaner Jet Spray
- www.amazon.ca/Carburetor-Cleaner-AIFUDA-...46&s=gateway&sr=8-14

This is just my starting point, I know I got lots more to do...

I don't get it - why install those spark plugs? Notice those are RESISTOR plugs, but your 1977 KZ650 was not designed to use resistor plugs. Instead you should use Denso (ND) W22ES-U plugs. I've owned my 1977 KZ650-C1 for more than 42 years (62,000 miles) and that what I use. They last a VERY long time; longer than most folks keep their bikes.

Initially I used Castrol GTX 10w-40 motor oil. I did not know that at some point Castrol changed the formula to make is friendly to catalytic convertors. Over time it ruined my clutch disks so I replaced them. Since then I have followed the recommendation to only use oil that is JASO-MA certified, and I have experienced zero clutch problems. For years I used Mobil Racing 4t fully synthetic oil, but now I use Shell Rotella-6 oil. I switched because with the Mobil oil the starter clutch often slipped, but with the Rotella it does not slip. Ed

650ed wrote: I don't get it - why install those spark plugs? Notice those are RESISTOR plugs, but your 1977 KZ650 was not designed to use resistor plugs. Instead you should use Denso (ND) W22ES-U plugs. I've owned my 1977 KZ650-C1 for more than 42 years (62,000 miles) and that what I use. They last a VERY long time; longer than most folks keep their bikes.

Initially I used Castrol GTX 10w-40 motor oil. I did not know that at some point Castrol changed the formula to make is friendly to catalytic convertors. Over time it ruined my clutch disks so I replaced them. Since then I have followed the recommendation to only use oil that is JASO-MA certified, and I have experienced zero clutch problems. For years I used Mobil Racing 4t fully synthetic oil, but now I use Shell Rotella-6 oil. I switched because with the Mobil oil the starter clutch often slipped, but with the Rotella it does not slip. Ed

Took Ed's advice and picked up a couple sets of ND's off Ebay a while back and will be changing over next year...... and am so glad I read you switching out the Mobil one for Rotella since you suspected it causing your Starter clutch to slip......... after switching to M1 I right away had SC slippage and read that a few others did too.......... I then gave this advice out and kind of felt like maybe I sounded a little crazy suspecting the oil but with you thinking it too I feel better. Am thinking you might still need to tear into it soon but at least for now you bought yourself a little time.

By the way nice bike lakshan .... your gonna love it ........ and being from Canada you can take your time over the winter and have it all ready by spring.

+1 on 650Ed's advice.

In the pic you can see that Rotella T6 is JASO MA, MA2 compliant. That is the Japanese industrial standard for engine oil designated for wet clutch motorcycle engines. The T4 and T5 also carry the MA designation. In case you are not familiar with them, T6 is fully synthetic, T5 is a blend, and T4 is non-synthetic.

EDIT: Can't get the pic to load. The info is in the middle of the back of the container.