KZ400 cafe with a touch of class...

andy22285 wrote:

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?

I used Castrol SuperClean on the engine and scrubbed it down, a bit of brake clean in the grimy areas to get through it. After that I just sprayed it down with Duplicolor engine primer and then several coats of Engine Ceramic low-gloss (not flat)500deg black. Went on super smooth (light even coats are key)

The only thing I am disapointed with (and I should've known better this late in the game) is that it deos not stand up to raw gas at all. I'll need to do some quick spotting before it's on the road to cover some drip marks etc...

Well the new (used) stator arrived this week...

...once the bike is trailered to my new place I get to tearing into it right away...hopefully soon...

i love that white paint job i've been kicking that idea around for my streetbike shoot-out bike that i'm building, i'm starting to definitly lean that way. by the way nice job on the scoot.

Very nice! I wish my son would have kept his 400 project.

Not bad looking for a cliche racer.

:laugh: Thanks. I consider it a "mild cafe". Even the mild bars I have are likely going to be swapped out for superbike or drag bars. I like the low profile look, but I'd much rather enjoy riding it...

hey give this a try the bars you have on there now flip them over and try them again you might be plesently suprised at how they feel, i ran a set on an old xs 650 i had, it made the bike a whole lot of fun to ride.

The latest idea vizualized in photoshop by a good friend:




Yay or Nay?

Definitely Yay!

Love the tank idea, looks excellent. Like the short front fender in the first pic too.

Thanks! The fenders are as they are in the first pic, I just needed a better profile and the old one was the only one I had (i.e. second pic)

Pretty effin' cool...I always liked the rising sun graphics that others have used---nice touch. I'd go with it!

Like the graphics and ya did a nice job on the bike. Bro had a white Yam650 that had apes on it. I like white bikes.
A nice stop light and short exhaust w/o the mummy wrappings would top it for me. Nice job!!!