Project update to '78 KZ650

Sorry guys, haven't posted in a while but no excuses as I have been lurking on this site almost daily!:blush: See pictures of my bike in Intro section (how it appeared a year ago).

Anyways, uploaded a bunch of pictures taken with my digital camera but there all in my old hard drive silly me :silly: I will post some pics soon, promise! Anyways, if you remember, the bike was red w/silver frame & red alloy wheels. So if you don't mind reading here is what I've done from Aug '08 to present (all from a ton of reading of old threads and the absolute help of the search function on this site):

-frame, swingarm, wheels, & misc. parts powdercoated gloss black, tapped out and cleaned

-had the old chrome drag bar blasted and powdercoated black in a light krinkle finish

-upper triple clamp blasted and powdercoated flat black

-replaced stock steering stem bearings/races with set of A.B.R. tapered bearings

-replaced rusted out swingarm needle bearings with a new set plus new grease nipple & pumped it full of grease!

-all new wheel bearings and grease seals fr/rr plus my lightly used Cheng Shin Hi-Max tires back on

-found an unused "Arlen Ness" aftermarket ABS front fender for 19" tire ($25 bucks!) to use in place of the heavy stock chrome fender

-nearly finished with r/r terminals, connectors, repairing any chafing in the wiring harness (please, oh please let it be correct!)

-restored RH/LH handlebar controls to stock-appearing

-some misc. polishing of parts here and there

I made up my mind last year that this bike would have a completely different look...lot of black...but have not decided color & design for the tank, covers, and tail...saving that for last!

Ed

on to the pics!

new seat, old pan

try again:S

new seat, old pan

3rd try!

new seat, old pan

Nice!

disregard date stamp on pictures, these were taken in Dec.

shot of swingarm, new shocks

nice seat, details?

another

$12.95 clamps...for the custom look:silly:

unfortunately I'm not that skilled so I sent my old flat seat out to an upholstery shop w/request to shape it as shown (so my rear stays put). The guy removed the rusty strap, added the stitching & logo which were his own personal touches. I thought it turned out nice.

shot of handlebar w/krinkle finish

TwistedKZ, here is an underside shot of my seat. The guy just did the upholstery work. You can see where I replaced all hardware and had the hinges/brkts powdercoated. I picked up the missing seat stay, rubber pad, and door flap at a vintage Japanese parts recycler...no charge!