1982 Kz440 ltd build, need advice/ideas

Hey guys, I'm new to this forum. I'm currently in the process of a winter build, and I'm looking for advice, or help into the right direction.

This is the bike when I first bought it back in August for $500, it's a 1982 kz440 ltd belt drive, only problem with it is, it needed a battery, the crossover pipe in the exhaust rusted off, and something is drawing the battery.


I was going to the cafe racer type look, so the first thing I did was put some clubmans on it.



I drove the bike for a couple weeks, and started noticing the brand new battery I bought was starting to die, and would have to bump-start it if I wanted to ride. I gave up on riding it because of that problem, and that it was getting way to cold here in CT to ride. I'm now at the point where I'm tearing apart to look for a draw, and while I'm at it, I'd like to make it into a cafe racer.

Here's the bike after I removed the rear fender, brake lights, and turn signals.


Without the seat-



Removed the battery, battery box, and airbox-



Now I moved the front of the bike, and took off gauges besides the speedo, and turn signals.



and that's where I'm at right now. I'm still not sure what I want to do about the airbox, I'd really like to use pods, but I've heard that's a big no-no with these bikes, right?

Okay, I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing wrong when uploading the photos.. any help would be great, thanks.

Good Fortune!

Thanks a lot Patton!

Okay, so I started to tear down the rest of the bike.


The frame completely bare-


And the engine on my bench waiting to be cleaned up. What's the best way to clean it up? There's only some corrosion I want to get rid of.

nice progress so far

A soda blaster does a pretty good job of getting the corrosion off while not being too harsh. Other than that, the green scrubbing pads and some elbow grease.
Good Luck,
Jim

Just for an update I sent the frame off to be blasted, and should have it back next week sometime. Other than that I haven't been able to to much because of finals and work, but now that school is over, I'll have more time for it.

Thanks ThatGPzGuy, I'll just end up putting much needed elbow grease in, thanks.

What do you guys suggest for paint? I was going to just prime and paint it myself but I'm thinking about powdercoat, but it seems it'll be too expensive for me to do.

Frame paint: PJ1 & Por-15 are a couple. Eastwood has various frame/chassis paints as well.

Nick Lake wrote: Just for an update I sent the frame off to be blasted, and should have it back next week sometime. Other than that I haven't been able to to much because of finals and work, but now that school is over, I'll have more time for it.

Thanks ThatGPzGuy, I'll just end up putting much needed elbow grease in, thanks.

What do you guys suggest for paint? I was going to just prime and paint it myself but I'm thinking about powdercoat, but it seems it'll be too expensive for me to do.

On The kawi2stroke forum they swear by the Tough Coat semi-flat black if you have to spray bomb.
Global Industrial

I had an idea of going for a raw metal look, just like sand the gas tank down and frame(sandblast the frame) and clear coat it, I'm just waiting to get the frame back from sandblasting. What do you guys think? Has anyone done that before?

Just got the frame back from sandblasting, only cost me $50 for the whole frame.