The Grouchy Kaws Resurrection

Firgured I'd better start one of these and help myself keep track of what I'm doing, what I did and what I want to do.

Okay so lets see, I picked her up from my dad's garage on June 4th. It was an 8 hr round trip and nice stop to see family.


In Dads gargage...


Loaded and ready to go!

I got her home very late that night and put her in my "new" garage (aka a kitchen.)


The next day I started pulling stuff off to see what needed immediate attention....



Ended up having a laundry list of things to do. Changed spark plugs right off the bat, filled the tank with gas and made sure she ran. 3 min engine test and all was good.
She was missing an air filter, needed a new battery , new sprockets and chains, the neutral light wasn't working, speedo wasn't working and had no tach cable, new fork seals and dust caps, possibly tires and a new seat.

While still in my kitchen, she got a few upgrades. She recieved new battery wires, a new battery and straightened out her back signal lights along with replaced and rerouted wiring.



Once we got her moved to the garage temporarily, the real work begain. She got a new rear tube, balanced tires, new sprockets and chain, new mirrors, new speedo and tach cables, the speedo was opened cleaned and siliconed back together, replaced the cultch and adjustor cover, replaced timing advancer and cover, cut and adjusted her exhaust, remounted the right front signal, replaced side covers, grounded point off kick stand and repainted, new clutch and brake levers to stock ones....



She also got new seals and dust covers, oil filter and oil change, and the neutral light plugged back in (yes that rights it wasn't plugged in! LOL)

The carbs were and are still a nightmare. Turns out its my bikes gremlin.... The diaphrams have been replaced, shimmed the needles, replaced needles (3 times,) saudured (sp?) the overflow tubes due to nasty cracks and still can not get the left one to stop overflowing no matter how many times we clean it, fix float height etc... Thankfully it's down to a tiny drip so I can ride it.. but still!

She also got new air pods...

At this point she became road worthy and was put on the road as of July 12th! Not bad for a bike that wasn't ran for at least 14 years that I know of....

While learning to ride and mucking with the carbs she was kept at the shop where I had a large parking lot to not kill myself on....

While doing circles we ended up having to realign the levers and shifters a few times ... LOL I managed to not break a thing when I did drop her a few times and only got brusies.

welcome!

sounds like you about have it sorted out.

good luck and keep us posted,

leon

She has since had new brake shoes put on and a 7inch headlight from another bike modified onto mine. Man were those old lights crappy!

Yesterday I replaced the speedo (again) to one that not only works but the odometer works too! I will now be able to figure out how far my gas tank gets! I took her for a test drive to ensure I hooked everything up properly and stopped at Boulovard Lake. (located in the middle of our city...)


I would still like to get something done to the seat as right now it's duct taped. I am burning a bit of oil so that needs to be looked at this winter. The carbs either need to be replaced or we gotta figure out what its problem is. I also want to paint her green this winter! Then she will really look like the grouchy kaw! Oh I also need to get into the master cylinder.. uck... So that's this winters line up so far.....

I also found a spare bike and picked it up on Tuesday! So now I may have that other carb I need and many other parts!.....

Thanks Leon! Probably won't be a whole bunch more until winter.. although once I start digging into the spare parts bike I might throw my adventures with that one in here too.. LOL I'll add to her as I go...

welcome to z-jungle! i know we just met,but will you marry me? :woohoo:

wireman wrote: welcome to z-jungle! i know we just met,but will you marry me? :woohoo:

Welcome to KZR...and be careful about "wireman"...this is not the first time he has proposed...

here is a pic of a kz 400 that i have always liked.




kinda has the street tracker look.

leon

Thanks wireman but I will have to respectfully say no..

And thanks for the warning Mcdroid along with the welcome... :laugh:

Thats a very pretty 400 leon... I'm looking to go an olive green. Not army green but kinda close.. I am hoping to tuck in her back lights and such and get a leaner look going but not sure how much stripping I wanna do as of yet...

That is a whole lot of work and a few bucks you had to lay down to get on the road. Eight days of work is amazing. It would have took me a month. Good job. roy