1976 KZ900 LTD Project

Hey all - I wanted to start a thread documenting me going through and repairing/resurrecting the 1976 KZ900 LTD 2 months ago. I figured it would help me stay motivated throughout the project if I had people watching the progress. :laugh:

I picked up the bike for free from my cousin, after it had been sitting in a shed for about 12 years. I got it with a milk crate with random parts - it's not complete, but most parts are there. It definitely looks like it has been sitting; it's dirty, chrome needs work and has some minor damage. I am going to be getting it running first and then work on prettying it up without doing a full teardown. My goal is to get it running well, and be able to ride it to work on nice days. I used to have a CB360 and Suzuki GS500 before I bought my house, so I miss being able to ride.

The kickstand I was given in the box of parts is definitely not for this bike. It's curved and I need a few blocks of wood under it to keep it standing up. I picked one up from eBay and I hope to have it on soon. My speedometer is completely smashed up, I need to figure out of I am going to repair or replace. I looked at some of the units on eBay, but the pricing is insane.

So - here is how it looked the day I dragged it home.

Looks like it's all stock except maybe the rear shocks. I love modifying bikes but only those that are already damaged. I hope you plan to keep this one stock as they are becoming a rare find these days.

Later, Doug

StreetfighterKz wrote: Looks like it's all stock except maybe the rear shocks. I love modifying bikes but only those that are already damaged. I hope you plan to keep this one stock as they are becoming a rare find these days.

Later, Doug

Doug - I do plan on keeping it stock. The only thing I could possibly see myself changing would be the handlebars.

Nice looking unmolested machine

Congratulations on scoring a pretty much unmolested and Free bike. Good luck with it.

welcome.
and congrats on the score.

sounds like you are on the right track,keep us posted.

leon

Pulled the tank off, it was rough on the inside.





The rust in the tank gunked up the petcock pretty badly. Luckily the fuel lines were disconnected so it didn't travel to the carbs.





I have been using EvapoRust to clean the tank and the stuff is awesome. It did a great job. Here's a comparison:






Next goal is to tackle cleaning the carbs.

the evapo rust seems to have done a great job.

leon

Now that the tank is clean and ready to go, I am working on the carbs and the petcock.

Here is a quick picture of the engine before, I am going to try to give it a quick clean along the way. Is there any effective cleaners besides the motorsport simple green worth trying? I have some aluminum wheel cleaner but I have to check what type of cleaners/chemicals are in it.




Got the carbs off - just a light cleaning makes a huge difference.





Pulled the bowls off of the carbs, even though the bike was stored with the tank dry I guess the carbs weren't completely drained so they need a little work.




I have the petcock all disassembled and ready to be cleaned with the carbs. Hopefully the ultrasonic cleaner and PineSol bath will do a good job with all of the gunk.

Ok, time to start on the carbs. PIcked up a Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner to help with the smaller pieces.

Got everything all laid out, still cleaning the last section of the tank.



Cleaner filled up the PineSol and letting the bowls go.



The carbs are all this bad:



I am cleaning the carbs as a whole, I didn't want to tear the bank apart. I used a rubbermaid container filled with PineSol and then strapped a sander to the outside to help agitate every so often.





I will post some pictures once the carbs come out of the PineSol bath.

Felginator wrote:

I will post some pictures once the carbs come out of the PineSol bath.

seems like you know what you're doing. i feel the need to caution on the pine-sol though. do not forget about them and let the pine-sol dry out and form an impenetrable oily film that must be boiled off in lemon juice.... ask me how i know :silly: After that debacle i have cleaned a several carbs and have found boiling in water, or a mixture of water and lemon juice is VERY effective.

DoctoRot wrote: After that debacle i have cleaned a several carbs and have found boiling in water, or a mixture of water and lemon juice is VERY effective.

Boiling water is extremely effective at freeing up slides that are stuck beyond belief. :lol: