1978 Kawasaki KZ650 --- Restorification

add a lower fork brace and much of the handling worries will be gone. Honda 550s and 650s (80s vintage) have fork braces just above the fender (for a total of 3, Top and bottom triple tree, then lower fork brace) where as the KZ650s don't...you'll be fine adding one.

popssss wrote: add a lower fork brace and much of the handling worries will be gone. Honda 550s and 650s (80s vintage) have fork braces just above the fender (for a total of 3, Top and bottom triple tree, then lower fork brace) where as the KZ650s don't...you'll be fine adding one.

Yeah buddy. Fork brace is a part of my plan with this bike. Ill get the one from fast from the past. I want fftp's rearsets too. Now... If i can find a nice set of shocks. I want works, fox, or ohlins. Pricey i know but this is my pnly bike and i jave nothing better to spend money on lol. I appreciate any leads.

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationOK... So I'm still alive. Just been happily riding until it gets too cold... I think that time is now.

Besides, my starter motor crapped out and I am tired of push starting! (Remember it has an '82 750 engine, no kickstarter). Oh, that reminds me, my bike is a 1979 model not a 1978 according to the title.

I left the bike at my buddies garage as I still have to clean mine and make room lol. Sunday will be my last ride of the year. I'm gonna break the bike down and replace every single god damn maintenance item. Too many times, these old bikes still have the OEM bearings, brake lines, gaskets, seals, etc. These tires are Shinko's and are 6 years old. Throttle and clutch cables seem good... Brake pads are unknown but it stopped. Basically what I'm trying to say is that I will replace all maintenance items even if they "look" and worked good. I don't know how old they are and I don't want to find out the hard way, simple as that.

And while I'm doing that, I must get the frame sandblasted and powdercoated. There is rust in places and it is UGGLYY! I would like to do the rims as well but I am unsure if I want to keep the gold color or something else. The exhaust is ugly as fuck too.... Ceramic coat?

I hope to have everything buttoned up by March, if not April. Backfire Moto will be back in the Spring and my bike WILL be there.

I bought myself a Clymer manual to help me along the way.


I am also keeping my eyes on a few factory service manuals and will get a kz750 manual next week.

Pretty much all I have to say for now. I hope to get into more details when I get the bike to my garage with pictures... LOTS OF THEM!

Here's a few pics at my buddies place.


Engine has oxidation. Repaint is likely...







And I do like to off topic once in a while. Here's the first!

On my way home yesterday, I spotted a DeLorean DMC-12 in the flesh with it's super low profile, polished body panels. Amazing.... Sorry for the crappy pic though.

Got the bike home today. Unfortunately I had to throw in the back of the truck due to a dead battery. :laugh:












The battery is charging on my newly purchased Battery Tender Jr. I'll put the battery on the bike tomorrow to give you guys a little soundclip via Youtube. Stay tuned....

If you'd like a set up undrilled KZ650 discs for the front let me know. I bought them in a parts lot for my KZ1000. However KZ650 discs are about 3/4 inch smaller in diameter.

I suspect no one is interested in this, perhaps due to the boring content. If so, i see no reason to update this thread. But for now, here is a vid.

The bike is still a bit cold.

it sounds good but dont leave the petcock on pri for long when its not running, it will flood your engine with gas

Flaming Chainsaws wrote: I suspect no one is interested in this, perhaps due to the boring content. If so, i see no reason to update this thread. But for now, here is a vid.

The bike is still a bit cold.

gengomerpyle wrote: it sounds good but dont leave the petcock on pri for long when its not running, it will flood your engine with gas

It is not on prime. The petcock is switched to the ON position.

Hey FC, don't worry about the lack of posts in this thread. As you'll come to find out, this forum is quite a bit less active than the other one you are used to dealing with. I noticed that your thread has had 326 views already, so people are watching. I know that I have been doing more watching than commenting these days. I bet the pace will pick up once you start documenting the work you have done to the bike. Keep posting, and I'll keep watching.

Alrighty then.

I killed my battery again. The starter motor does not catch sometimes. It just keeps spinning and sometimes it makes a weird noise. Luckily i already have a replacement starter. Or maybe its the starter clutch? I wont know for sure until i look into it. Please tell me that i dont have to remove the carbs to replace the starter....

I'm betting that it's you're starter clutch. I don't know about removing the starter without removing the carbs. Never tried that one. It shouldn't be too hard to take the carbs off with those pod filters. The airbox is what makes it difficult.