Thrown together to ride til winter

Took the tank home went to work on it sanded it down sleaned the area taped her up spotted it in and went to work on the mastercylinder you would have thought I would have tested it before I spent the time to polish and paint on it but NO! i'm mr OCC with my budget and my deadlines. so I take it apart and get frustrated I have another paint job to do from all the pictures I am flashing around work

The head of maintenence has a 76 KZ900 he bought new in 76 and with all my banter about getting mine going he has gotten the fever as well. he had it painted to match his dragster trailer and golf cart in the late eighties and the tank is not usable according to him. he asked me if I could find him one and match the paint so I know have the means to just buy a mastercylinder.

Reclear my tank and I am good to go. I learned a lesson i am gonna test it Put gass in it and set it outside in the sun just double checking. order my mastercylinder it's all good or is it???

My inexpearience is showing through. it wasnt bad prep it wasn't brake fluid it was a freakin PINHOLE rusting through!! so I am on Feebay looking for a tank when I read about all the fixes Kreem redcoat silver solder etc... Kim;s cycle has Kreem so lets go for it

for those of you that have used it on a tank that has rusted through probably could have told me this if I had of only joined KZR earlier. by the time the acid etch was done it was a steady stream in several places around my pinhole. But the lady said it would seal an eith inch hole I'm this far I gotta go for it. do my sealing and the fist weekend has come and went over budget by 150.00 at this point.

but seriously this would have been doable if my bike were here with me. instead of 55 miles away and a curfew. oh well...

here are a few pic's of the paint match I did which incedentally paid me 150.00 after materials so my 1000.00 project is at 1000.00 at this point






I only charged him for materials since I am just learning but he wouldn't except that had to pay me for my time (Bike Kitty)

it's not like I dont have a bike to ride I have the Goldwing but at this point it's an obsession I am on a mission Slow down, Cant too busy. Just get another tank. Nope it's gonna be that one.

You guys reading this already know this part' It's Kreemed it's not leaking and I am off work the new wires are in hand the fixed tank the mastercylinder is it my fault my girl has to work?? Didn't think so either. exacrly one hour and 9 minutes I pull up to the shop and get to work I did stop and fill the tank up on the way. wires crimped and on? Check! tank hooked up? Check! master cylinder on breaks blead? Check! 2 hours before my gal gets off work It's on battery dead Check! 2 kicks and that sweet sound fill the garage, and off I am down the side street couple blocks in town then Hit the expressway and Wow I am loving this it's all been worth it.

mid june june I am riding out the highway cant wait for the weekend for sure. put about 20 miles on her came back checked her over and you guessed it the damn tank is leaking again!! in the same @3**@ing spot! paint bubbled not dripping and it wont start when I push the button. Well maybe I didnt ride it far enough to charge the battery it was pretty low. I have to have a tank but honestly not sire I can reproduce it the way it is and my Girl loves it.

I have already Kreemed it so basically I am screwed what are the chances of getting that cleaned out grinding it down and soldering it withiout completely destroying the paint. I am thinking it will look good on the wall.

unbeknownst to me the next few weekends were cluttered with family stuff kid getting married grandbaby birthdays Don't these people know I got stuff to do? ok maybe thats a little dramatic but I had all kinds of how stupid I am stories to tell. did stop by and look at it though lol

Ok, all the weddings out of the way birthdays behind me and some storms Had to resort to a temporary fix on the tank I did it. I fround out the area filled it with JB Weld and let it sit for a week sansed it patched me some primer arounfd it (not gonna paint match it it's low left side by the petcock about 1.5 High and maybe 2" wide. it seems my battery is dead once again. put it on charge do some superficial cleaning nut no leaking gas and everything tightened up it's time to grab my girl and put some miles on her we are pretty happy with the it overall. my buddy Jim asks do I get the first burnout? My exact words were if it's gonna come apart I would just assume it do it right here in front of the shop with you on it. pull it off the charger and well... thank god for the kickstart

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Ok, all the weddings out of the way birthdays behind me and some storms Had to resort to a temporary fix on the tank I did it. I fround out the area filled it with JB Weld and let it sit for a week sansed it patched me some primer arounfd it (not gonna paint match it it's low left side by the petcock about 1.5 High and maybe 2" wide. it seems my battery is dead once again. put it on charge do some superficial cleaning nut no leaking gas and everything tightened up it's time to grab my girl and put some miles on her we are pretty happy with the it overall. my buddy Jim asks do I get the first burnout? My exact words were if it's gonna come apart I would just assume it do it right here in front of the shop with you on it. pull it off the charger and well... thank god for the kickstart

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I didnt embed the video right
anyway me being a sensable rider I found out my new ignition seems to break up when you get her upstairs

Here's the link if you wanna see and here the ignition break up and watch a short dry pavement smoke show

It didn't come apart and we put 150 miles on it that day had anither wedding to attend so we had to park it ad my mrothers garage the reception lasted into the we hours we ended up riding with a DD and closed down the local watering holes. knowing it was safe didn't get to pick it up til sunday had a neighborhood nightout thing with a car/bike show and my buddy's son was entering a mint condition sparta moped so after laying around all day saturday decided why not ride the KZ.

my brother lovingly put the battery on trickle charge while I was gone and informed me my bike isn't charging. so I put the volt meter on it at 4000 rpm its reading 14.5 volts I may be hungover and not a master tech and bike fabricater but in my book thats charging.

I'm not one to question his expertise He is the one who made my single harley carbureted Honda Goldwing a reality. He supspects a ground but I am running late. And dont have time to utilize that expertise to fing my problem off we go less than 8 miles into the ride I lose a cylinder or 2 hit the stoplight it dies. doesnt restart on the 2nd or 3rd or 4th kick push it to the side let it sit abit kicking myself for not slowing down taking a few minutes and possibly fixing it.

after few minutes 2 kicks its running rough but I am halfway between turn around or go on. I go on
had a great time it's amazing how many people stop at the old KZ and reminise walking straight past the chromesd up beach barred leather wrapped Harleys. (I'm a Harley lover have owned 3). it was worth the possible stranding.

After a gret time plenty of looks lots of comments I limp her to my buudy garage. It sucks living 55 miles from your bike but don't trust it to get me home. Check the batter isn't charging. low votage make one run this bad??? I am hoping thats all it is.

Ok eveytime I have checked the charging status it has been charging 14.5@4000 rpm. My brother checks it and it isnt charging he has 40 years of bike building and as well as GM Cgrysler Master certs and is the goto guy for stuff other people cant fix. my Buddy Jimmy has had KZ's since the 70's and owns an automotive and transmission repair facility as well as he takes in older bikes fixes em and sells them pr gets them on the road for his clients. So I am a human rescource type with 15 years sales sales and mangement experience no match for their experise. But I thing that new AGM battery is junk we keep testing the charing system and if I am there it charges so not to piss anyone off I am gonna grab a cheap battery after all it is my motorcycle.

the local alternator electrical rebuilder says easiest way to check and see if your stator and rectifier is working is unplug the the voltage regulator if it pegs the meter tyour voltage reg is bad well we do that before I leave and sure enough it pegs so I am gonna try a voltage regulator go to local kawasaki just hoping he can get one I want to ride this week. well...they guy gets on the same site we use says its 400.00 bucks and he doesn't know if he can get it. Sheez! Don't these guys have an outlet for aftermarket??

find one on feebay 25.00 with shipping now lets wait. Recently I bought an 82 750R with GPZ stuff all over it doesn't match anything I see on the internet as a 82 looks like someone has put 83 parts and whatnot. My theory is clean it up paint it put a clutch in it flip it. but that is another thread entirely it has a good battery so when I go put the new reg in it i will have a battery.



Spray bomb paint hides alot of bad things gave 500.00 for it but I did ride it alittle noise in the clutch basket tires suck but I can practice my painting do a little work on it "at the House"
it should be worth what I got in it finished and I get my money back.



Hate the paint job and yes I did it but really couldn't get excited about the project

Ok I get the Volyage regulator a new set of plugs and brought the battery I hope today is the 2nd real riding day. My son and I hooked up that afternoon (he was at my buddys house to pickup a Honda Elite someones dog ate) We do the swaps and wouldnt you know the Battery cable was too short, once again it's something I don't have the means to fix on the spot. so Kick kick kick I'm done get a battery next week and let it si another beautiful weekend what is it middle of August?? shoulda stayed on the gold wing and tore the damn thing down and started from scratch. thanks to youth and exuberance my son jumps on 2 kicks it's runnin I am alarmed because the voltage is off the scale with with the regulator, but I am convinced the battery is bad (i'm the only one) so lets take it for a spin see if the battery takes a charge and the voltage across the battery comes down.



No such luck takin battery charging it and load test it. Then Buy a real Battery if thats what it is. well... Thats what it was once again run to local bike dealers and end up at batteries now 24 month replacement waranty 94.00 without my core.

All is well. OK lets go through the List 500.00 for the Bike, 250.00 Z1 ent., 150.00 or so ebay 100.00 Dyna 300.00 paint sandpaper supplies 100.00 odds and ends 100.00 for second Battery (i'm rounding up)

$1500.00 Total
-$500.00 profitt from 3 paint jobs I wouldn't have had without doing this project
-$50.00 feebay
$950.00 Net Investment (Below Budget)

300 miles and it's running sweet Starting to collect stuff for the winter build Swingarm 180 tire (until I convince myself can afford a 300 setup) reseal and rewire motor/bike fresh motor lower front end Possible inverted fork the sky is the limit. and of course another Paint scheme

I dont expect to get through til December without spening a few more bucks But now I can enjoy the sun, the wind and the power oooohhh Yeeaah!!!!



Took it by the garage I picked it up at and they guy I got it from asked me do some paint work on his HD Bagger and I believe he said oh wow that rocks, looks good man. offered to let him ride it he just smiled It was a good day

Any paint scheme ideas?
suggestions welcomed on the winter Build

Thanks for following this post Truly thrown togeather on a budget Close to the deadline and ready to ride. The next steps wont be as hap hazard I Hope.

sheeeeee!t man,

as well as you did on this with budget and time constraints i can't wait to see what you do next.


what bulb is that that you used in your headlight?

leon