KZ650 Semi Street Fighter Build

Awesome. How does it handle with the tail kicked up a bit like that? Does the steering feel stiff or want to cut in too much? Does braking really make it nose-dive?

650mod wrote: Awesome. How does it handle with the tail kicked up a bit like that? Does the steering feel stiff or want to cut in too much? Does braking really make it nose-dive?

I'm sure someone with more skill might find plenty wrong with the setup but for me it handles great. No ill effects with stiff steering or brake dive. I've had a few guys ride it and they all seem to agree with me on the handling.

Sounds good- I'll take it into mind when finishing my build up Thanks!

Had a great ride this past weekend, we pushed 3 hours which is the longest I've ridden this bike yet. It performed flawlessly! I swapped bikes with a couple others for stints and everyone loved riding it. Of course that exposed the only weakness left in the bike, and I swore to myself I was never going to dwell on this... It might not be fast enough... :ohmy:

Riding a modified k1200, with torque to spare, totally made me forget all my prior promises to myself that a 650 was plenty fast. So all last night I searched and priced, and researched , and basically lost a lot of sleep. I think I might attempt to build an 810 motor this winter while I have the bike apart for powder/paint. For those experts, forgive me as I'm just getting my feet wet here and this formula is probably all wrong - my plans are to use the 650 bottom end with 750 kz jugs and heads with gpz cams then punch it out with a wiesco 810 kit. I briefly thought about maybe squeezing a 1000 in the frame but I read that's a nightmare when it comes to maintenance as you basically have to pull the motor to do anything due to clearance. I'm still reading on the more intimate details but I think enough HP can be gained going this route to make it worth tinkering with.

Turbo! Turbo! Turbo! Turbo! :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :lol: :lol:

You sir, did a fantastic job building your bike. You should pat yourself on the back! You (and most others here) have completed what I have failed to do in a much longer period of time. My hat is off to you

79MKII wrote: Turbo! Turbo! Turbo! Turbo! :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :lol: :lol:

I've given that some serious consideration. I was talking about it in fact with the guy who's k1200 is in the picture above and he just happens to have this cute little turbo sitting on his shelf that I think might be about right. I setup one of my old BMW's (car) with a turbo, using mega-squirt (after the rrfpr but before some of the more name brand ecus) and it's not terribly hard and pretty darn affordable. A microsquirt setup would be perfect for a bike I think.

Ultimately I kind of like the NA approach but maybe D.Nel928's project will sway me once he makes it look easy...

the engine formula you stated sounds like a solid plan.
surely a spacer plate after wards if it was not fast enough,would lower the compression a little for the boost if you decided you need some squeeze. :evil:

you can squeeze some serious power outta these little motors.

leon

Neat bike I bet it moves too.

Just something I am curious about is your forks.

I see a lot of people use them but they are always that bronze color.

Are they something that is a pain to paint?

NubzX wrote: Neat bike I bet it moves too.

Just something I am curious about is your forks.

I see a lot of people use them but they are always that bronze color.

Are they something that is a pain to paint?

I don't think you would want to paint the fork legs, or powder for that matter. The added dimension from the paint/powder would make the triples a pain to install without scratching and don't imagine they would be nearly be as durable as the factory coating.

I believe the upper bodies are just anodized (or other similar chemical process), and that can be changed but it obviously requires disassembling and sending off to someone who specializes in that type of finishing.

There are a few pretty wicked projects I've seen here that guys had their forks re-coated. Black or silver would certainly feel more OEM but the ones I used were in great shape - and the bronze color doesn't bother me on this level of build.

I just read through this whole thread on my lunch break. Very nice work. Really sharp looking KZ650. Makes me want to get off my butt and get phase two of my bike rolling again.

NubzX wrote: Neat bike I bet it moves too.

Just something I am curious about is your forks.

I see a lot of people use them but they are always that bronze color.

Are they something that is a pain to paint?

Like what Ederer said, the color is anodizing on the aluminum, and the close tolerance fit to the triples will not tolerate a coating like paint or powder. Anodizing is a super thin chemical oxidation to the aluminum surface with a pigment added. That bronze color is just on the 1000cc bikes though, other sized GSXR's have gold anodizing I believe, but don't hold me to that. If you are looking for different fork colors with the cartridge design (upside down) I know some Yamahas that have black anodized uppers, and Hondas are usually plain aluminum as well as older GSXR's. I believe it IS possible to have an anodizer chemically strip the anodizing off and redo it in the color of your choice, but again don't hold me to that :laugh: