1981 KZ550A2 Update

Great suggestion Pete. All of the electrical plugs and contacts are cleaned and re greased with dielectric grease. I stop unplugging some stuff as the plastic was quite fragile on a few connectors. I looked enough to check for corrosion and surprisingly they were all very clean that I could expose and the fragile ones looked good too. The loom has no apparent chaffs or broken wires either. All electrics and lights work. It has only 3500 miles before sitting. My experience is that improper routing and miles is what chaffs wires.

R

rrsmsw9999 wrote: Great suggestion Pete. All of the electrical plugs and contacts are cleaned and re greased with dielectric grease. I stop unplugging some stuff as the plastic was quite fragile on a few connectors. I looked enough to check for corrosion and surprisingly they were all very clean that I could expose and the fragile ones looked good too. The loom has no apparent chaffs or broken wires either. All electrics and lights work. It has only 3500 miles before sitting. My experience is that improper routing and miles is what chaffs wires.

R

That's good ta hear , many people overlook things like that
Keep us posted with your progress
Pete

Gonna go with KBS Gold Standard tank sealer. The pinholes are underneath and only one leaked, so I hopefully will not be doing additional bodywork/paint. I temporarily JB welded the leaker so i can clean gas out with denatured alcohol, wash and then dry before install. The tank has been etched and derusted already. Fingers-crossed. R

Here are some latest pics. new tires. i have to deal with the master cylinder still, but probably done till spring. The airbox hoses are on backorder at Z1 and there will probably be a foot of snow at that time. Also have tank sealer to try out, but I may try to solder first as the pinholes are under the tank out of sight. Either way, it's already colder than the sealer directions dictate. It fires over but runs rough. I may have a residual ignition probaby with the cleaned up pulse ignition. She will sleep till spring. battery coming in the house over the next few days.

Here are some latest pics. new tires. i have to deal with the master cylinder still, but probably done till spring. The airbox hoses are on backorder at Z1 and there will probably be a foot of snow at that time. Also have tank sealer to try out, but I may try to solder first as the pinholes are under the tank out of sight. Either way, it's already colder than the sealer directions dictate. It fires over but runs rough. I may have a residual ignition probaby with the cleaned up pulse ignition. She will sleep till spring. battery coming in the house over the next few days.

BTW the Shinko 712 front tire spooned on real easy. The rear was a bit of a pain. Surprising given the drop zone on the rear is quite a bit larger, I thought the rear would be the easy one. Harbor Freight changer, but just used spons with the tires clamped down. The HF bar sucks for install, good for demount. Spoons work well on the Vulcan rims to especially to not pinch the tubes. The old tires were so hard I just cut em off with a hacksaw and chiseled the bead. Easy peasey R

Also forgot to mention. I ran through all the gears up and down.
Smooth shifting and no leaks from the tranny cover I replaced. Happy motoring.
R

Nice one, I like that paint job youve dropped on alright there!!!!

Bike looks good! Ed

A few master cylinder repaint pics. Don't send the colorblind guy to get paint. Green under black. R

So it's not black? Is the red a reflection?
Steve

Nice to see the 550 puts a smile on yer face, does it for me too... for the last 25 years.

Just looking at those pics I get a buzz from, such nice looking bikes. $200 is silly cheap.

Nice find, keep at it.