'83 KZ 750 'Resto-Mod" Build

After getting my KZ home, I posted a few pics in the new members area. Now that I have dug into it a bit further, I find that I have a good motor, spins freely, has good compression on all four, oil came out a bit dirty, but no water from sitting outside. Tank and carbs are full of varnish and crud, but that was expected.
Seems that I have a good candidate for fixing, so I decided to start a project thread before I get started.

I couldn't resist ... so I brought it home to keep my KLR company!

'83 KZ 750 Spectre

Obviously not stock any more, most of the wiring is loose or missing on it, airbox is gone, some things have been swapped out already.
It's going to be a job for sure.
Engine was supposedly hard wired and started in the bike almost two years ago, just before the previous owner lost interest. I know everyone has heard the line "It ran great ... Honest", but I got the bike for free, so I see no reason he would lie about it.

Don't know how it will end up, but here it is at the start of something!

I found a DYNAS ignition on it, but not the coils. Not sure if the tank is original (was told it was a "Spectre", but somehow it doesn't look right). Rear shocks are definitely added on, as well as the funky bars.
Vin tag reads" KZ 750 F"?

Labeled this as a "Resto Mod" because I think I will "restore" it as much as possible, but I am not going to worry about being too "Correct" with the restoration. Colors, options and upgrades will be as I see fit, as long as they seem to "fit". (Does that make any sense?)

I am cleaning the carbs now, and will give it a try getting them working again. If not, I have a shop that is more than willing to take my money and fix them for me!
I thought about a cafe build on the way home with it, but after looking at it for a while I decided against it. A 750 twin with spokes might be a different story, but this one has a good lines like it sits. Especially if you ignore that big ugly taillight!
I like the look of the chrome fenders (much more than I thought I would!) and the simple rear without a boattail. I am thinking about a simple and nostalgic color for the tank and side covers, something like a Gold metallic.

This is the inspiration for what I think I want to do ... (I know its a Honduh ,,, just squint a bit when you look at it).



Anyway ... here goes nothing!

What is that?
Steve

swest wrote: What is that?
Steve

You mean the gold bike?
A new CB1100, but with parts only available in Japan.

Wow,Ha! I scrolled past it,thinking it was just another old CB750. Especially with those headlight brackets and the paint. Very nice.Much better looking than the standard ones. A proper 'Modern Retro'.

davido wrote: Wow,Ha! I scrolled past it,thinking it was just another old CB750. Especially with those headlight brackets and the paint. Very nice.Much better looking than the standard ones. A proper 'Modern Retro'.

I don't think I would turn one away!
They have companies (WhiteHouse is one) in Japan that even repop the wire wheels.

All the style of the originals ... with modern fuel injection

Can you imagine a "modern" fuel injected KZ1000?

Well, not much to write home about yet.

Pulled the carbs off and apart, have them cleaned up and ready to go back together...

Waiting on some "rebuild" kits to get here.

Next will be cleaning out the tank while I wait...

Pretty standard amount of crud to clean out...



Need to either strip and modify the battery box, or make a new one...

Since there is no wiring harness to use, I am going to make my own, and I will simplify everything I can to just the basic components.
Thinking about using a Marine fuse box like this on one side of the battery box, and some small micro relays on the other side...

Have to do a rough sketch of the harness to decide how many circuits I need.

After some research, I am pretty sure this is a LTD model bike, and that matches the Vin label as a "KZ750 F1"
Don't know why the PO said it was a Spectre? It does have a gold painted head on it, could it be the engine from a Spectre? The guy had a lot of KZ's at one point. Or did the '83 LTD shaft model have the same engine as a Spectre? Aren't the heads/cams/pistons supposed to be a little different (from the GPz)?
I am not sure, but it doesn't really matter. I like it anyway!

Finally have some parts for the KZ!



Thanks to ebay, Jets-r-us, and Webbike, I have all the jets and what they call "rebuild" kits for the Keihin carbs.
I ordered two sets of mains, the 122's that were in the carbs, and some 125's.
The bike has a Kerker 4to1 on it, and being a 1983 bike, may have been a bit lean from the factory (emissions and all that), so I made sure I at least had one size up on hand.
Anyone think I should just start with the 125's? I ordered and have a stock airbox assy. for the bike, so I don't think they need to be any bigger, or will it not make a lot of difference?
It's heading into prime boating season now, so I need to get this together and started at least once before I put the bike away and go throw money in the river until fall.