KZ400 cafe with a touch of class...

Well I finally tackled the fork seals, not a hard task, but it was time consuming being my first time (this is really my issue with the whole project...I've never actually done any of this before...) We also got the fork brace painted black so it'll disappear nicely when the new white fender gets bolted on.


This is the nifty plate mount my buddy Chad welded up for me...I'm really happy with it.



Lastly we spent a bit more time machining the fins and lettering (with a dremel this time, not just bloody sandpaper...)


Had the 3 packages come that I was waiting for she'd likely be on the road...but apparently paying extra for 2-3 day shipping means maybe in 5 or 6 days...

...not happy.

So inevitably here she sleeps for another night. It'll likely be a week or so before I can get back out to her...

nice job.

Well she runs!!!! and quite well I might add. got the petcock in, threw on the new battery an 4th kick she revved to life (not bad after sitting since October)

Now all that's left is a brake adjustment and to reinstall the fenders as soon as I get them back from the bloody paint shop...so close.

Well sincce the tracking number said my new tail light arrived in my town 13 days ago I went to the post office yesterday to found out WTF. Well it turns out the douche bag put the wrong address on the package (somehow combined my 2 addresses) even though it was all done trhough paypal where all of that info is preset...

since they have no trace of it we can only assume it's on it's way back to Jersey....

I found a non-ebay seller of the same part and ordered it through his website. Hopefully the new one will arrive before Wednesday so I can get this thing finished once and for all. I plan on just keeping the other lamp as a spare once it arrives as it was only $18 anyway...

Well the first of tail lights arrived and much to my dismay it was too wide...I'm truly retarted for assuming it would fit, but unfortunatley with the bike 30min a way, sometimes I just have to improvise....much like we did yesterday. We opted to mount it horizontally on the license plate bracket which kills two birds with one stone as I still needed a license plate light. I also swapped the bars out for a set that are WAAAAAAY less aggressive and far more comfortable. I may still swap out for drag bars but we'll see how I like these.






Got all of that wiring done, threw the unfinished rear fender so we could get the turn wired, threw in a new electronic flasher only to find out the the right side turn is shorting internally...big time...like billowing smoke when you turn it on shorting...

Well I left the turns disconnected until I could find a replacement...damn chinese parts...and took it for a spin.

Only took five or six kicks to get it rolling and I took her for a spin once warm. On full accell she sputtered a little and cleared up and ripped. Over the next 5 or 6 passes up the street it got progressively less peppy and then just bloody quit. I pulle dit into the drive and tried to kick it over only to see that the nuetral light and head light where just barely glowing (brand new battery). I turned off the key took it back around to the shop and let it sit for 10 mins or so, went back over and all of the lights were at full power! I disconected the headlamp just to minimize the load on the bike and tried to kick it over...nothing.

Pulled the plugs and they're black as sin...where do I go from here guys? The season's almost over and I'm stumpted. Everything is new (battery, coil, petcock, rectifier, regulator, oil, filter, carbs were set and cleaned last summer...) HELP!!!

Is the voltage regulator new?

Sooty plugs - rich mixture or not enough power to the coils.

Check the coils and the V at the coils.

Maybe use a hotter plug to see if that affects performance.

Is the air filter clean of obstructions?

Just a cople of ideas.

If the battery is dead, then check for a bad wire. You have seemed to do a lot of work on the wiring in the rear of the bike and at the coils so start there and see if anything looks fishy.

Well it looks like it should be rolling next week...

Last summer I ran into a guy while walking back from the bike shop who had an old Kawa torn down to frmae in the middle of a fulle OEish spec resto. I pooped my head in and struck up a conversation only to find out he'd been working on Kawas for years! He ended up giving the clubman bars that now reside on the bike (and are sooo much more comfortable) and off I went.

Fast forward to the last few weeks. I dropped by a few times during the daytime while working on the bike (he lives 2 blocks from the shop) never to be fortunate enough to catch him. Well last time out there I had Chad snag his address and I wrote him a letter!

He called mid last week and we went through the scenarios a bit. All that to say he's gathering up spare parts to meet me out there soon so we can work on it and hopefully get her roadworthy...

Keep 'em crossed boys...


...oh yeah and the fenders are completely done in paint now too

Well, we've been unable to match up our schedules, but I got the final assembly done. All that is left is re-looming the now exposed harness and finding the charging system issue...so damn close...

UPDATED PICS!!!!











The last aesthetic touch will be to run a strip of black fender edging on the rear fender to clean up the lip like I did on the tank seam.

I still may do the strip down the tank, but we'll see...

wow that turned out really cool looking !

Well I made it out with the old man on Thursday, but due to it being 7:30 in the evening after a hard days work for him I wasn't able to get the kind of help out of him I'd hoped for. At his point I'll likely be taking to a shop to be finished. I sat and stared at it for 40 minutes that night as the rain began to roll in and realized the entire summer was now gone...I've tried everything I can come up with. I've asked questions on 6 different forums, had some one who should know the bike pretty well come out, and have had no luck with any of it...

...I just want to be able to go out next spring, put fresh gas in it, kick it over and go riding...we'll see if someone who knows what they're doing can make that happen for me...

Well I went out on my day off on Wednesday and did some testing. Still no charge, but since I added the engine ground it doesn't seem to be dropping in voltage like before, well not so rapidly. It's reacting similarly after several laps, but it doesn't plummit to 7v when you open the throttle like before.
After speaking with some guys at a local shop I did as I was told and retested the stator when it was hot (which it still was after running it a while on the charger and then raping it around the neighborhood till it wouldn't take it anymore) and sure enough it tested out of normal limits (0.4-0.6 ohms, tested at 1.0 ohms) The book says ANYTHING outside of those number to replace the stator. Well next step is to pull it and have it rewound as a replacement from Kawasaki is $400 if you can find em...

I'm just glad to have found the problem. It'll likely sta where it is until later this winter when I can pull the cash and time together.

very sweet looking bike, what kind of prep did you do before painting the engine? what kind of paint did you use, hows it holding up?