'80 KZ1000 ST resuscitation

nice bike.

brings back memories.

I had one just like it.
I rode it around for a couple years with just a snowmobile plate on the back... :lol:

Got some progress to report, finally. So I put about 3000 miles on the bike, and the situation is as follows: after being run regularly, almost every gasket or seal that is meant to keep oil inside the motor is weeping, and I am getting paranoid about the cam chain rollers after seeing the condition of the top one under the valve cover. So I finally bit the bullet and the engine is going to get a rebuild. And, since I'm going to be ripping the bike apart, why not strip the frame and paint it? The teardown took about seven hours from this:



to this:



then this:



and finally, this:



The underside of the frame was really in bad shape, worst than I thought actually. Got a few parts that really need to be replaced. I had no idea that the steering stem bearings were binding so badly. The swingarm bearings were partially rusted as well! But i'm gonna try really hard to get it back together in a few weeks. The frame is sandblasted already, I'm just waiting for the paint to arrive.

oh man this going to be good :evil: .
take lots of pics!
how are you going to build the engine?

keep us posted,

leon

excellent

This is cool. But I also want to know more about the datsun.

The plan for the engine is basically a stock rebuild. I'm putting Mac 4-1 pipes on when it goes back in the frame, because I found that it is really irritating having to remove the entire exhaust system to change the oil filter. The intake ports are going to be cleaned up and smoothed out and matched to the intake manifolds; the exhaust ports are going to be just smoothed out. I'm not overboring or going to bigger valves or anything like that. All of the camchain guides and rollers are being swapped, new camchain, etc. Pretty much just a stock cleanup and rebuild. New gaskets,seals, new rings, and so on and so forth.

After its back on the road and broken back in, I'm considering applying one of Ferdinand Porsche's ideas to it: figure out how to shovel as much air as possible into it, and then match it with an appropriate amount of fuel. So I'm looking for ideas on how to accomplish this while retaining the stock airbox. Perhaps some modification to the lower airbox is in order? Also, the exhaust will have to be uncorked. I've contacted Mac Performance about buying the "competition baffle" for my pipes, but they've been a little reticent about giving me an actual delivery date. If I have to, I'll get some universal baffle tubing and fab up my own to fit their can.

By the way, the Datsun in the background is a 1975 280Z. Complete restoration from the ground up. Been working on it for 7 years, on and off. Just have the bodywork and engine left to do. I have so much money invested at this point, I can never sell it! This is a situation that I am trying to avoid with the motorcycle.

More progress. I just finished painting the frame. The color is John Deere Blitz Black. Check it out:







This stuff is awesome. The finish is somewhere around a satin or a matte. It looks a little grey in some photos, but that is really just the lighting or the flash on the camera. Its really a deep black.



Maybe you can see it a little better there. I'm really glad I only had to sand the frame twice, with all the little brackets and such. But it's done and reassembly can begin monday, after it's had a chance to cure.

Went and checked on all the stuff I painted yesterday. Wow. I just can't say enough about Blitz Black paint. This stuff is tougher than cut-nails, man. It's really hard to mar the finish, so it should stand up to rock strikes and other road damage pretty well. Upon looking really closely at the paint job, perhaps I could have spent some time cleaning up the factory weld-splatter and stuff like that. But time is "of the essence," as they say; I'd much rather be riding it that working on it, and riding weather is almost upon us here in Virginia. So the whole theme for this bike is this don't want to cut any corners, but I don't want to lose momentum by inventing unnecessary projects. Unfortunately, any customization is going to have to come later. I have seen some cool stuff in the projects section here, but that is a fight for another day.

bls5050 wrote: The plan for the engine is basically a stock rebuild. I'm putting Mac 4-1 pipes on when it goes back in the frame, because I found that it is really irritating having to remove the entire exhaust system to change the oil filter.

Do you want to sell the stock exhaust? I'm looking for one that doesn't cost what the entire bike did back in 1980!
Thanks for the tip on the paint. I'm working on the same type project and was wondering what paint to use.

Here's a link about the paint you might find interesting:



Some tips: use the hardener. This whole paint system is manufactured by Valspar, so there is a rumor that it is available through Valspar dealers. There are none near me, and the local John Deere dealer doesn't have much of a parts department, so I had to order it online. One quart is enough to do the frame, small parts, wheels, etc. They also make the same exact product in a high-gloss, so there is no need to put a topcoat on it. In fact, if you search the web, you will inevitably run across info about this stuff not being top-coat friendly. Maybe the same stuff they put in it to make it "easy to clean" makes paint not really want to stick to it? I'm a Cabinetmaker by trade, not a chemist so an explanation is up to someone else.

As far as the stock exhaust that came off of the bike, yes I still have it, and yes I will sell it, but there is a caveat: if you look at the circled portion of this photo



That is where the original battery leaked on everything under it. This spot will not buff out, it is permanent. There are also rust spots that will not buff out. All in all, they are pretty ratty looking, but there are no dents or leaks or anything. They work fine, so maybe a derusting and a rechrome job or a high-temp paint job are in order? That sounds pretty negative, but I'm really trying to not misrepresent them. They ain't pretty, but they are sound. If you are still interested, PM me and we'll talk turkey.

Okay the link didn't show up.

blitzblack.com/

Made some more progress today. Got the front end bolted back on, along with the headlight, guage cluster, etc.



Is there some kind of ritual when you change your ratchet over from "remove" to "install"? That was about seven hours of work. Had a heck of a time getting the front end lined back up and in place alone. Two people would sure make that an easier job.