KZombie

Do you have a hand impact?
Steve

Hey there. I don't actually have one. Do they work with 1/2" drive sockets? I thought they were only for 1/4" bits.

They come 1/2" or 3/8". I have both. You can get them at OR or AZ.
Steve

Greetings fellow KZR's.
Time waits for no man, they say but apparently time can wait for the machine shop man. I thought for sure the cylinder head would be done by yesterday but no.
So waiting impatiently all week, I received my new stock sprockets and chain in the mail. I chose to stick with stock 16/42 sprockets and a 530, 102 link chain. I almost clicked on the link to buy a 17/40 sprocket set to try and achieve lower RPM cruising speeds on these 75 MPH highways here in Tejas but it occurred to me that I should probably stick with stock, at least for now, so I can make all comparisons to the manual when the KZombie rises again.
Thus, I had to get that engine sprocket off. Well, I've been spritzin' PB-Blaster on pretty much every nut and bolt on the bike since I first dragged it out of that field years ago and thought for sure I could slap the 32mm socket and a 30" breaker bar on and pop that nut. Mmm? Yeah. Not so much. The manual stated this nut is on with 54 to 62-ish ft/lbs of torque but as you saw in the video above, this one must be more or been glued on. Anyway, cut to the point. I took the advise of the boys here and bought an electric impact and in short order that nut was off!


So, that small mercy granted. It was time to start stripping down the bike further so I could begin the frame rehab. This morning I started early and knew I was going to pull the engine first but then I realized I didn't have any bars installed to steer the hulk around. I decided last week, that I wanted to put KZombie's bars on the 1000 as they swept back further which is more comfortable on that bigger bike than the sport bars it came with. Decision time: First swap the bars on the 1000. That turned out to be a little more work, as I stripped all the LED lighting from the 1000 too and then decided to install the new grips I bought so all the bikes had the same. Here's the result of the bar swapping:


You can see KZombie in the foreground is now sporting the SE sport bars and has one of the new grips that were previously installed on the 1000 sitting to it's left. The 550a is in the far back and has the same sport bars as KZombie now. The 1000 has the chrome bars with a wee bit more rise and sweep.
OK. So that went relatively smooth. Now back to the real task at hand - pulling the engine from KZombie. In the pick above you can see the engine is still in the frame and covered in paper towels as all the case covers had been removed.
Turns out pulling the partially dismantled engine was a real bueno. Like always, all the nuts and bolts loosened easy. Stuffed a couple of jack stands and hydraulic jack with a piece of lumber under it and pulled the puppy myself in like 30 minutes:


So I'm leaving the engine like that until the frame is cleaned-up and repainted and then I'll install it and assembled it in the frame to make man-handling it's weight easier on my girly arms

Then I shuffled all the bikes around again and rolled the KZombie frame outside for a bath:


That vintage gray cast on the frame is pure neglect. Dust and paint booth fall-out from a few years. I was really thinking this frame was going to clean up nice and easy but damn that was not the case. I had to take wire brushes and a hot bucket of soapy water and scrub the thing down. I even had a scrubby pad (like you use for dishwashing - scotchbrite on one side, foam on the other) and it wouldn't or couldn't remove that dust. Thank goodness it was an awesome day outside. I just sat in the driveway all day scrubbing and brushing and scrubbing more until I got to this point:


You can really see how the frame is black again. Gone is that gray over-spray-dust layer. Unfortunately, removing that dust-paint layer revealed the frame is pretty gnarly. I was planning to just lightly sand and then spot prime and paint it but now it seems that would be insufficient. On the plus side, L@@K at those wheels! Dayum! They came out pretty nice and that was just a brushing. I will have to paint them again as the black portions of the rim and spokes is pretty worn-out but the alloy shined up great and for this I am happy.

So as I am still in a holding pattern on the cylinder head. I reckon the thing to do now is drop the front forks and the trailing arm and ??? My gut says to take the frame to be media blasted. I sure don't want to grunt on the garage floor with a wire wheel and hand sanding ad nausea. I can just see the bloody knuckles from wacking my leather-skinned fingers into all those sharp tabs and edges. :pinch:
I figured while the frame is being worked over, I need to rebuild the forks (read: replace at least one) and get the rotors turned. I was also thinking possibly of removing the headlamp bucket arms from the forks because I got the model that didn't come with a headlamp. I was thinking of putting that funky H4/LED headlamp on this one, but I'm not sure yet. More waffling to do - stock? not stock? stock? not stock?

Hey Wrench,

I gotta say you have an art for telling a story and I always enjoy reading an update here, love the style and journey you take us on every time, please keep it up its a treat!! Great job on all the progress and looks like it's coming together pretty darned quick soon for ya, congrats!

If you have the $$$ for media that is definitely the way to go, but at least in my house cash is king so it's a balancing act between punishing the body for certain tasks or punishing the bank account. Ether way you will get er done and will look killer

Thanks again for sharing and the killer reads,
Brett

G'day Brett !

Thanks man. I try to relate the story so it's fun. After all, that is why we do it; right?
I think your sentiment - Punish the body or punish the wallet - should be a signature! :laugh: Truer words have never been spoken.

wrenchmonkey wrote: G'day Brett !

Thanks man. I try to relate the story so it's fun. After all, that is why we do it; right?
I think your sentiment - Punish the body or punish the wallet - should be a signature! :laugh: Truer words have never been spoken.

Hahahaha well I just go based off my limited experience and based on the abuse I've put my body through over time some might say I could be considered a masochist cuz I always keep choosing that punish the body option

Brett

No pictures this time but I do have lots for later.
Quick question:
Can I buy a replacement steering lock key?

I have read in searches here that the lock cylinder cannot be removed without the key and KZombie didn't come with any keys.
I've looked everywhere on it but don't see any numbers to indicate the key's cut.

My KZ650 uses the same key for the ignition, steering lock, and seat lock. If your bike has the original seat lock and steering lock you should be able to use the same key for both. My seat lock has a 3 digit code next to the keyhole that can be used to make a key. Ed

I think the '79 650s will have a key code in the Z5001 to Z6000 range.
The key # may be on the side or back of the ignition switch or seat lock.

Nice work on the 650 so far.

I went through this a couple of weeks ago.Posted here;
www.kzrider.com/forum/4-electrical/602051-csr1000-key-question

Long story short, A good locksmith should be able to sort you out.

I bought an ignition and seat lock set with matching keys a while back but i think i probably still have the original seat lock in a box somewhere. I'll hunt it down.
I just looked at that steering lock and thought it was so tiny that it was different from ignition key.

Thanks guys!

Progress on the bike has been slow lately due to us moving & my cylinder heads (2 of them) still in machine shop. On the plus side, my new garage is bigger & i have actual workbenches now; no more grunting on the concrete floor for my old knees!