1976 Kz750B Project Cafe

Woohoo! :woohoo: I have a bike again! It'll need a LOT of work but it's mine and for FREE to boot.

Here's the Pictures Check em out.

So for the bad things, the gas tank is full of rust, the fork seals need to be replaced, the tires need to be replaced, the blue paint needs to be stripped off of everything, the brakes need to be rebuilt.

The good, the engine turns over and has compression! oh and it's a motorcycle. so thats about it for the good.

If you read my intro post you know I'm going to try and turn it into a cafe racer styled bike, I plan on lowering the headlight to be even or lower than the seat height. Shave all the turn signals and replace with L.E.D units. L.E.D rear/brake lights. I'd like to replace the headlight with a newer HID unit. Clubman bars or clip-ons. New controls, grips, levers, flip the fork tubes around so the brake is on the back side and add the dual disk setup with drilled rotors.

And so much more... I'll keep you guys updated as time and money allows for this project.

Aaron

Post edited by: aarivers, at: 2007/03/09 09:56

Someone got carried away with the blue paint!:woohoo:

Are you sure previous owner wasn't this guy?

steell wrote:

Someone got carried away with the blue paint!:woohoo:

HAHAHA probably was him. Yeah that paint has got to go.

Alright so I got the bike pretty torn down last night, removed the wire harness, and carbs to take home and inspect/clean up. I need to find some of that plastic cover material that they use on the harnesses so I can re-wrap them since the old plastic is very brittle and covered in blue paint.

I'm going to pick up some acid from home depot and some POR-15 to clean and seal the gas tank with as the inside is just filthy with rust and other muck.

So I posted up some more pics to the esnips site. just click on the link in the first post to see the stripped down frame.

Well i'm off to find some clubman bars and other things.

aarivers wrote:

....So I posted up some more pics to the esnips site. just click on the link in the first post to see the stripped down frame

I would never do a tank treatment. I hope it goes well for you...

Here's a pic teaser for the group...

Biquetoast wrote:

aarivers wrote:

....So I posted up some more pics to the esnips site. just click on the link in the first post to see the stripped down frame

I would never do a tank treatment. I hope it goes well for you...

Here's a pic teaser for the group...

So what would you recommend I do to get the tank back up and running or do you have a cafe styled tank that would be cheap to replace it with?

aarivers wrote:

...So what would you recommend I do to get the tank back up and running or do you have a cafe styled tank that would be cheap to replace it with?

Here's where my honesty comes out: I've never attempted a tank coating. However, I've read enough horror stories about them to make me stay as far away from them as I can.

I *have* however, tried both electrolysis and phosphoric acid methods for rust removal. I have posted about these many times in the past, suffice to say that they remove rust very well, but do not attack "gunk" in the tank in any way, in fact the gunk protects the tank from either treatment.

Right now, I'm planning on doing a "BBs in the dryer" method on a tank, any day now, when I get some free time (yeah, right). I've posted about this too, and so have others. Of course there are variations, but it basically involves some quantity of small metal items (small nuts, BBs, even heard about sand) in a dryer with NO HEAT, packed TIGHTLY in blankets or such (no movement) for about an hour or so. This method will hopefully remove rust *and* gunk, will be easier, more enviro-friendly, etc, bla bla bla....

I don't mean to tell you what to do in any way...

Whew.......yer right...that blue has GOT to go.
The plastic cable cover you can get at Rat Shak or Home depot.
FWIW....I used the Kreem tank clean/etch/seal kit 3 yrs ago. No problems so far. Some folks like doing it that way.....some dont.
Good luck on the project.....

indykaw77 wrote:

Whew.......yer right...that blue has GOT to go.
The plastic cable cover you can get at Rat Shak or Home depot.
FWIW....I used the Kreem tank clean/etch/seal kit 3 yrs ago. No problems so far. Some folks like doing it that way.....some don't.
Good luck on the project.....

I found this site and was going to use his method, it seams pretty thorough check it out here

So I was think about it and it would seem that all I really need to do to see if I can get her to start would be, an new ignition switch, clean the tank and carbs, get a new fuel line and filter, and change the plugs. That should atleast get her to the point where I can see if she runs. And then I can worry about clip-ons or clubmans, rear sets, dual disk conversions and the like.

Looks like you have a good start on your project . I too am not a big fan of tank coatings have seen them turn to goo and clog up the carbs ,, But then maybe they were not installed right either ,, Keep us posted

You can follow the link in my signature to see my experience with POR-15. It's going on three years now and I'm very satisfied. In fact I did another tank last year and recommend it to others.

The process is easy to do and I've done two tanks without harming the paint which may not be possible with some other processes. Rust cannot be stopped from reforming unless the metal is never exposed to oxygen.