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Hi, I’m planning on restoring my late grandfather’s 83 kz440 ltd as my first motorcycle and have found myself reading a lot of this forum while doing research so I figured I’d join.  It was last registered in 2009 so it’s been a while since it’s been used on the road, only 8500 miles on it.  It’s currently in a different state so I haven’t had much time to work on it and haven’t even tried starting it.  Lots of minor things to fix, stuck clutch, bent handle bars, rear left signal is out, and a missing battery.  Next time I’m up there I’m going to change the oil and actually try to start it.  Planning to keep it pretty much stock with a few exceptions like straighter handle bars instead of the mini apes, probably saddle bags, and maybe LED lights.

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Dave

Welcome from the UK

Looks a lot like th1980 I just rescued .... I also replace handle bars .... don't like the high bars, master cylinder took a little tweaking to work on straighter bars.... quality seat cover available on eBay and not expensive... carbs will probably need a cleaning at some point... they come off very easily.... be a good idea to dump and clean tank before you start... like you say oil change is a good idea... 
Mine was in pieces when I got ... here is pic shortly after I got it running for the first time

I think I like the hight of the stock bars, I just think the wrist angle would be uncomfortable and since they need to be replaced anyways.  I was planning on draining and cleaning the tank, but I am also tempted to just pull of the tank and make a temp tank out of a bottle to get it running and clean the tank at a later date.  Stuff like the tank, carbs, and seat might get brought back home to Florida with me to work on instead of just working on the bike when I am up north.

Howdy. My 650-CSR had similar handlebars and I originally replaced them with Flanders BMW Med Tall Street bars which were great around town but not so much on the highway. At least the brake m.c. was level, though. I've since replaced those with Emgo Euro bars from Z1Enterprises.com.  For pics of the flanders bars click link at the bottom. Z1Ent may have an Emgo version of the same style. Whatever you get, measure yours first then figure out what style would be good for you. Width + rise + pullback.

I like handle bars from the older Magnas and Goldwings. They keep your wrists in a natural position and are a comfortable height. Sellers on e-bay sell new ones called Magna-Hawk handlebars.

martin_csr wrote:

Howdy. My 650-CSR had similar handlebars and I originally replaced them with Flanders BMW Med Tall Street bars which were great around town but not so much on the highway. 

Interesting, those bars look pretty normal so I am surprised it could make an impact on highway drivability.  Since this is my first bike I am somewhat worried about ruining the ergonomics in ways I don't understand.  There is a big motorcycle store in Ohio near where the 440 is now and they have a bunch of handlebars so I can get some feel for them in the store and maybe even bring a few home to try sitting on the bike and return the rest.

The riding position is straight up.  55 to 60 mph they were okay. But 65+ and speed runs, not so much.  

Sit on the bike, close your eyes. relax, reach out as if you were grabbing the handle bars. Open your eyes. Note height, pull back, wrist angles.

Why does everybody hate on the buck horn style handle bars.


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Nebr_Rex wrote:

Why does everybody hate on the buck horn style handle bars.


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Uncomfortable wrist position.
Elbows turned in to body
Praying throttle tube / hand grips / my grip strength, don't break loose during hard acceleration.
Yes, they look cool, but that's the only positive.