New 77 b1 project

I just picked up another 77 kz650 b1 (very early 76 build date), this one with only 1835 miles on it!!! She's not a runner at this point, she's been sitting for who knows how long, but compression is good and everything important looks good. The wheels and exhaust are rusty crusty, but I've got good spoked wheels off my other 77 b1 that will swap right over, along with some other bits that I won't be needing since I'm stuffing a 1000 motor and zx6 running gear on my cafe. I don't have her home yet, she'll be coming home early next week some time, but here are a few pics to hold you over until that happens. I'm going to keep her very close to stock, with intentions on a full resto one day (once I find a good original exhaust).



As clean as the engine is I'm not likely to think the odometer is lying!!



And the whole package...



I picked her up in a trade. I had to get rid of my dad's old GL1000, couldn't handle the emotional baggage that came with it after him giving it to me weeks before he committed suicide. Along with the very low mileage 650 I'm getting a bunch of new tune up/rebuild parts (carb kits, caliper kit, brake pads, air filter, plugs) and scored this sweet ass Yosh track jacket. All in all I don't think I did too bad!!



Between the parts I'm getting with her and the parts I have in my garage I should have her tearing up the road with not much more than a day in the garage. More to come!!!

Looks Nice ... Good start.. Sorry about your Dad. Good luck Bro.

GREAT score, I love that jacket.

Mark

Mark Wing wrote:

GREAT score, I love that jacket.

Mark

I knew you would Mark

Got her home and started some of the projects to get her back on the road. Pulled the rear wheel off to swap it out for a non-rusty/good tire wheel off my other 77 and found this:



Wasn't real keen on the looks of the rusty swinger, so I pulled that and replaced it with the non-rusty swinger from the other 77 (nice to have so many parts off that one now that I'm doing the 1000 motor and zx6 running gear on the cafe). Did a pretty thorough once over of the frame (as well as I could without pulling the motor and stripping down to a bare frame) and any other rust I found appears to just be surface rust. I'll have to sand it out and seal it up so it doesn't get worse, but doesn't appear to be major at this point.

So I replaced the swinger, rear wheel (with fairly good tire still on it), threw on a set of 1" shorter shocks I had sitting on a shelf new in box, cleaned up a registration sticker that was on the rear fender, lowered the forks about an inch in the triples, pulled off the ratty exhaust and called it a night. Waiting for some carb kits to come in so I can get the carbs cleaned and rebuilt, need cables all around, and to got through cleaning all the electrical connections yet. Also going to swap in my points plate from the first 77 as it's got brand new points and condenser and I know that they are set correctly, will just need to time her and should be good to go. Here's a couple of shots in my dark garage after getting those bits taken care of last night:

Made some big progress with the project. In fact, got her pretty much buttoned up! Scored a decent stock exhaust on ebay for $62 shipped (missing the mount for the heat shield on one side, and came with a bit of a "patina" but it's solid and serviceable). Also replaced the tweaked stock bars, got the correct front MC, and went through all the general maintenance items. Other than that just did a little cleaning up. Looks like I'll have to pull the carbs again as my choke doesn't seem to function, so I must have missed gunk in the carbs on the first cleaning I suppose. Once she starts up she purrs like a kitten, and I was amazed at how quiet the motor is! No cam chain noise (something I'd accepted as normal with my other 77, even after proper adjustment)!

Anyway, still have to get some bar end weights since I reused the grips off my cafe project that had the open ends for the bar end mirrors, and do a bit more shining, but it's looking very promising for some quality riding as soon as the weather breaks!!

Man that looks GREAT, I think I hate you. Ha Ha.

Mark

She's a good solid 5 footer at the moment, any closer than that and you see the little bits that aren't perfect (for now). Plus, this is her good side, lol. The other side pipe has a pretty sizable acid stain on the exhaust and the tank and stator cover are both a little rough (slight crease on the tank and light rash on the cover). I'm keeping my eyes open for a correct tank in excellent condition (or might try and have this one fixed, paint matched and get a new decal set). The seat also has an inch long tear on the top near the seat strap on the other side that's just covered with black Gorilla Tape at the moment. I'd like to find a new stock cover, maybe the ebay gods will smile upon me and I'll find something NOS for the seat. But that's all just me being a picky bastard!

I like the bike. Ride on!

very nice.

Killer deal... good stuff!

Best of success.
Bill