1981 KZ650 CSR

I recently got this bike for free from my neighbor. It's a project, since it's been on it's side in the dirt for a very long time. Fortunately, the engine turns over after soaking in various chemicals. The rear brake is seized up, so that's unfortunate. All of the controls and other things are in bad condition. 
I've decided to change it by doing a couple of things: changing the rear wheel to a 18" one, and replacing the forks with standard KZ650 ones. I'm sure I'll have a lot more changes coming along, but this bike is pretty bad, but restorable. It's just a fun project. 

Welcome from the UK, the CSR has “leading” forks so the trees are likely to have a different off-set to a regular 650. I would suggest using the trees that are correct for the forks you go with otherwise you are likely to have excessive “trail” which will effect the way the bike steers (not in a good way)

Congrats on the 'new' motorcycle...and it will be a grand learning experience

Welcome.
Sounds like you're going to have a lot of "fun" !
Lots of help here and btw we love pictures.  

By Fun, sf4t7 meant to say, get ready for overcharge on your debit/credit card, ha. 

the seized brake is probably no big deal.  If the brake pedal doesn't move, spray penetrant on the shaft and give it time to work. if the problem is at the wheel and you find a replacement, then the new wheel plus brand new brake shoes would solve that part. if you switch to cast alloy wheels, probably the best match is a 650F or 550A.

Thanks for sharing that. I checked and the CSR triple clamps appear to have a shorter offset than the earlier regular 650 series. This would mean that the CSR would have less trail than a regular 650 if the forks were the same length. Since the CSR forks are much longer, replacing them with the regular shorter forks would reduce trail. However, I've read elsewhere that the steering stem angle on the CSR is a couple of degrees more relaxed (less upright) than the regular 650 but I don't know that for certain. What the actual result will be with the swap remains to be seen and if it's not working then I'll have to just do something else. It's all just a big experiment for me. 

CSR:
 

650C:
 

Thanks for the suggestions. It's a fun project. I have saturated the brake with all sorts of penetrating chemicals like Kroil, et al. and it's still stuck. I've given up and I'm just going to make a new wheel using regular 650 parts. I also found out that the CSR rear wheel has 48 spokes vs. the regular 650 having 40. So, the hub has to be replaced since I don't know of 48 hole 18" rims being available. What I'm not sure of right now is if the brake and cush drive are the same between the CSR and the regular 650. That's my next adventure. 

Partzilla provides information regarding which models a particular part was used on..

www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motorcycle

Look up the part by year and model.
Click on the parts group description, say, rear wheel and hub.
That will bring up a parts diagram. 
Find the part you are interested in and scroll down the screen and click on the part number.
The next page shows price and availability and if you scroll down just a little bit, you will see the words, Descriptions Specifications Diagrams.
Clickon Diagrams to open a list of models that use the part. You may have to click on Show More to find the one you need.

Please keep in mind that the same part with a different finish will have a different part number and will not appear to be interchangeable, even though it fits perfectly.

dirk11wright wrote:

Thanks for sharing that. I checked and the CSR triple clamps appear to have a shorter offset than the earlier regular 650 series. This would mean that the CSR would have less trail than a regular 650 if the forks were the same length. Since the CSR forks are much longer, replacing them with the regular shorter forks would reduce trail. However, I've read elsewhere that the steering stem angle on the CSR is a couple of degrees more relaxed (less upright) than the regular 650 but I don't know that for certain. What the actual result will be with the swap remains to be seen and if it's not working then I'll have to just do something else. It's all just a big experiment for me. 

CSR:
 

650C:
 

You want want to put the data into the calculator on the below link and take the guesswork out of it 
RB Racing Rake and Trail Calculator
 

dirk11wright wrote:

Thanks for sharing that. I checked and the CSR triple clamps appear to have a shorter offset than the earlier regular 650 series. This would mean that the CSR would have less trail than a regular 650 if the forks were the same length. Since the CSR forks are much longer, replacing them with the regular shorter forks would reduce trail. However, I've read elsewhere that the steering stem angle on the CSR is a couple of degrees more relaxed (less upright) than the regular 650 but I don't know that for certain.  

The rake angle on an 81 H1 is 29 degrees, 2 degrees more than the 81 D4 and 1.5 degrees more than the F2. Page 1-6 of the FSM.  

Welcome. I recently picked up one too but I can't work on mine until at least fall. 


 

dirk11wright wrote:

Thanks for sharing that. I checked and the CSR triple clamps appear to have a shorter offset than the earlier regular 650 series. This would mean that the CSR would have less trail than a regular 650 if the forks were the same length. Since the CSR forks are much longer, replacing them with the regular shorter forks would reduce trail. However, I've read elsewhere that the steering stem angle on the CSR is a couple of degrees more relaxed (less upright) than the regular 650 but I don't know that for certain. What the actual result will be with the swap remains to be seen and if it's not working then I'll have to just do something else. It's all just a big experiment for me. 


 

Reducing the off-set actually "increases" trail (you can use the calculator I provided to confirm this) this is why the CSR/Ltd have "leading axle" forks to bring the trail down to an acceptable level