I've never started a project bike thread because I usually end up switching horses in mid stream and they never get finished
But this one's different, it's "The" bike, the one that just grabbed me and said "Come on, let's go with it and see where we end up", and I have been working on it slowly and steadily.
Probably should have called this thread "El Cheapo 750 Project, because it is being done on less than a shoestring budget, as in unemployed and living by myself. But hey, if it was easy anyone could do it, right?
To start at the beginning (good place I guess), I bought the bike from a former member that lived in WI and bought the bike on eBay for $250. As it happened, the bike was 45 miles from here (Eaton IN), and about 350 miles from him, and he didn't really want the bike anyway. So I Reimbursed him the $250 and went and picked up the bike.
Turned out to be a sorry excuse for a 1980 KZ750E (but I already knew that), this bike had been sitting outside so long that the chain had rusted into a solid bar. Ever trying pushing a KZ750E with a locked rear wheel? Good thing I had GPzIfested with me, he picked up the rear end and I steered it with the handlebars, sure am glad that boy took up weightlifting
So, that was last year (never claimed to be fast), and I have slowly been accumulating parts since then.
Parts list and prices as near as I can recall.
KZ750E $250
GPz750 cams $30 (eBay)
Standard GPZ750 rings ($35 eBay)
.020" Oversize GPz750 pistons ($45 eBay)
.020" Oversize rings ($55 eBay, took me a year of searching)
Wiseco 810 kit ($300 minus head gasket)
3 (I think) sets of 4 into one headers ($??)
4 or 5 mufflers ($??)
99 GSX750 forks and wheels ($100)
GPz750 swingarm ($??)
3 KZ750 motors and 2 GPz750 motors ($100)
MegaSquirt $140
GPz750 Turbo throttle bodies ($35)
Steering stem adapter bearings from All Balls ($32)
KZ550 six speed trasmission (??)
That's all I can recall at the moment.
Motor turned out to be from a 81 KZ750H and was in decent condition aside from the 5 pulled carb manifold screws, don't know how anyone could strip out 5 of the 8 screws, but they did.
I'm building this bike to be comfortable for me, to ride the way I want to ride it, and doing 99.9% of the work myself (Can't afford to pay anyone).
The Plan (yeah, right):
I did sorta have a plan, until I saw a pic of a ZR750 and realized I was building a clone
That rankled a bit, I've never been a follower and have no intention of starting now! Kawasaki did a fine job of designing the ZR750 (wish I could afford one), and I'm not going to build a poor imitation!
So now where?
Well, since the power train and running gear are going to be similar to the ZR750 and there's nothing I can do about that, that leaves the body. How about a handmade tank/seat/sidecover one piece fiberglass body like the Tracy but in a cafe style? Hmm, have to think about that since I don't know much about building stuff out of fiberglass.
Enough of this, my two typing fingers are getting tired, I'll go take some pics so I can show you where I'm at now.
To be continued