TOPIC:

... than the first time you get to ride your bike after an extended fixer-upper with not very promising start!

Hey All,

I found this bike:


about one month ago on my way home from work. Just ten minutes before I saw it, I would not have told you I was even looking for a motorcycle but there it was calling me from the roadside.

It looked great to me even though it was not complete - missing ALL forward controls, it had a pretty dented-up fuel tank, cracked side cover, was told by the ol' boy I bought it from that "it hadn't been run in over 10 years...". There were no front signal lights (pretty much everything was just hacked/cut-off) and it had a ratted-out seat that was also missing the grab bar. There was no battery and it appeared at first glance that it probably spent the last unknown years outside too since it was very dirty over-all and much of the shiney stuff was oxidized. But for some reason I could only see a diamond in the rough.
On the plus side it had the key, the tires and belt were nearly perfect? and the odo had 10k on it?

I found this forum within a day of hauling the bike to my shop to begin fixin' it up and am thankful for all the advise and help I have received here. KZ folks obviously ROCK!

I've become a master eBay'er during the rebuilding and repairing process and thank heavens for all those folks/vendors out there that support these older bikes - even when the dealers no longer do.

Probably the worse thing installing the right forward control that enabled me to do my first compression test which netted 85psi but after another here suggested not giving up hope (due to low 10k miles) and I followed his suggestion to use some PB in the cylinders and turn over the engine daily to help liberate the potentially stuck compression rings...

I KNEW the carbs were going to be jelly inside since the tank still had gas in it (or what was once gas) so the carbs came off and with a little more help from the folks of KZR I cleaned and rebuilt them both.

After eventually sourcing all the missing forward controls I got to test all the lighting and even the point of pressing the "start" button and amazingly - it rolled over (woot! good starter anyway) and even hinted at trying to run (ok sputter a little). It wouldn't actually run though and after extended trying the battery ran down.
I didn't give up hope yet but those naggingly low compression numbers kept surfacing in the back of my mind...

Ultimately, I had to check the valve gaps as this was higher-up on the list of possible low-compression causes. So I pulled off the timing advance cover to check for TDC and do the valve gaps. This is when I discovered a rusted-solid mess that once was the advance unit. Rusty-water poured out along with rusted bits when I pulled the cover off. It's not a stretch when I tell you better looking WWII parts have been retreaved from the ocean.
Ah hah! Maybe THIS is why the ol' bike wouldn't actually start? Ya think?

Well, I did check the valve gaps anyway and they were within' spec (.008 is what they had and .007-.009 is the spec). I decided to drain and change the oil (2nd time since i got it), change the oil filter and drop the exhaust to weld-up a couple of small holes on the bottom/side of the left pipe.
I ultimately painted the repaired area with some 1000 degree BBQ grill paint after reading another person here had success with this approach. I only needed the paint to keep the bare steel from rusting so I got a bit creative with it and did both pipe ends:


I finally got a replacement timing advance unit through the 'net and got that installed a couple of days ago...

While waiting for all my eBay wins and 'net scores to arrive, I put my fuel tank through the dent pulling:

body working:

painting and even pin striping:

It looked awesome too! until a mishap rendered the beautiful paint damaged when it was less than 48 hours old (insert crying emoticon here):

So i scraped the paint all off and started over:

Now the tank is on the bike but I haven't got the pin stripes back on yet:


So today, it all came together!

The weather was beautiful, the tank assembled (just painted it yesterday for the second time) and hooked up the new fuel lines. Added only a half gallon of gas since I didn't want to drain a lot if things went ... ah ... less than ideal. Nervously I pushed the starter button... and Varrumm! She fired right up and I took it for a short spin (only about 1 mile cause I still don't have a helmet)

If you wanna see a short movie I made of the repair/rebuild process and including my first ride since 1984 today check this out:
~ Let the Good Times Roll! ~

Now... I can't wait to ride her again but I gotta buy a helmet and get the tags...Monday

Post edited by: wrenchmonkey, at: 2007/11/10 19:20

Great tale and a lovely restoration job. Have fun.
Thanks for the pics

Nice !
Reminds me of 1983 when I was 19. We always rode cheap dirt bikes we picked up for around $200 or so and 1 day my buddy came home from school with a 1982 440LTD he got for $600 (back then a year old). He got if from someone so cheap cause it needed a shift return spring. Not a scratch on the bike. I wanted it so bad cause it felt pretty quick for a small street bike. Told him I would give him $800 for it as is. He said he would fix the return spring and sell it to me for $900. I begged him not to... Needless to say.... he tore apart the entire engine, lost interest and parts, and the bike never saw the streets again. The twins were nice bikes.

Wow...VERY nice!!
Great job!

Excellent job! I always admire those diamond in the rough projects .

Your bike looks great! I know exactly how you feel, having resurrected two KZs and working on the third. Mine all looked about like yours in the "before" picture. There is nothing more gratifying than when you hit the starter, and it fires up for the first time. Helmet + tags = good ideas. You don't want your bike impounded by the cops.

Looks awsome........great job