1976 kz400 restoration

I recently started working on my grandfather's 76 kz400 as a memorial to him. It seems to be in pretty decent shape and he took pretty good care of it. It's been stored in garages since the 80's though and won't start as is. I don't have much mechanical experience and mostly know just the basic guidelines of what makes a bike work. About six years back I bought a new battery and plugs for it, but the battery doesn't work now. I'm assuming I have to charge it and hopefully it will still be good as there still is fluid in it. The tank had some surface rust with just a little bit of flaking so I removed it and the petcock and used the Por-15 motorcycle repair kit on it. The tank has to sit for 4 days so it should be good to go by saturday morning.












I know that the next thing I want to do is check the carbs to see if they are clean. I think I remember my grandpa saying that he drained the lines and the gas from it so hopefully they should be clean already. Any advice on how to go about checking if the carbs need cleaned?

The rubber engine duct intake and air cleaner ducts have all dry rotted and cracked. anyone know where I can get replacements? checked kawasakipartshouse.com but they dont carry the hoses.

If anyone has any ideas on what steps to take next please feel free to share them. I am a total rookie and using this bike as my way to learn about mechanics.

thanks in advance everyone.

Good start by lining the tank.
Looks to be done well. I'd let it sit longer if at all possable.
Try the battery, but it is probably gone.

www.z1enterprises.com/ should have the parts you need, or if not can send you in the right dirrection.

I'm not familiar with the kz400s.
Post up some full pictures of her here.
You could pull off the bowls to see how dirty it is in there.
Read through a manual to familiarize yourself with the parts and how they come apart.

There is a website for the kz400:
www.kz400.com/
Check that out too.

And check out www.dansmc.com/mc_repaircourse.htm

Thats really cool to have your Grandpas bike!
Doubt the Battery will work for you, you'll need another, they hate sitting for years.
If the Carb to Air Box Boots and the Manifolds are dry rotted, you may find the Diaphragms for the slide valves also are rotted.
They used some different stuff in 76 for the KZ400, so the Model is needed to try and find parts correctly.
there is a smaller twin forum at www.armbell.com/kz400/index.php?mforum=kz400
they may have some source for the hard to find NLA parts.