81 kz750 four cyclinder project

She looks nice. I got rid of the stock handlebars on mine too...

If you haven't switched to pods yet, check this thread out for some different opinions about it. There are more threads about them on the site too. I'd encourage looking them up as well.

Changed exhaust, got rid of sissy bar, and went with aftermarket smoked bullet blinkers. Oopps and yes was from a 80 550 that the trans was changed.

Switching to pods is a bad idea with the CV carbs. If you are not skilled at carb tuning the bike will not run correctly. Plus if you get stuck in a rain storm the pods will suck in water then you are really screwed. That bike is way to nice to chop up, it would really be ruining an investment, but you gotta do you. Check out this video as to why keeping the trusty airbox is a good idea, 33 to 3:50 is where you wanna watch.

drgnknite wrote: Changed exhaust, got rid of sissy bar, and went with aftermarket smoked bullet blinkers. Oopps and yes was from a 80 550 that the trans was changed.

COOL! Can't wait to hear more. ................Mike

Vroom-vroom!

Good video - thanks!

One thing some folks tend to do is try to emulate changes they have seen on race bikes. So if a guy sees pods on a drag bike and that bike is fast he might assume that the pods will help make his street bike faster than it would be with the air box. However, generally speaking he is wrong particularly when it comes to stock engines. This is because the drag bike is running wide open throttle the whole race, the engine has been modified to consume vast quantities of fuel/air mixture, and the carbs have been tuned to provide maximum performance at wide open throttle and very high rpm. The drag bike may actually lose power at lower rpm & throttle openings, but of course the drag racer doesn't care since that low rpm loss has precious little affect on his 1/4 mile elapsed time. By contrast, the guy on the street is very rarely running his engine wide open throttle at top rpm despite the fact that he may do that occasionally. (If he was actually running the bike at top rpm & wide open throttle much of the time he would be rebuilding the engine VERY often.) So the loss of power related to pods at lower rpm and less than wide open throttle will often put the street bike at a power disadvantage because of the way a street bike is ridden. Ed

Exactly.
Steve

Oh ya gotta LOVE pod threads and bobber threads...a dime a dozen, It wldn't be right to start and end each week without a new one. .........................Mike

Vroom-vroom!!!

Ok so im probably not going to switch to pods, but still want to go and shorten the aft end of the frame to just past the shocks and solo seat with a fender. Then add some custom paint. Would also like to change the gas filler cap, has anyone done this yet? The gas cap that is.

drgnknite wrote: Ok so im probably not going to switch to pods, but still want to go and shorten the aft end of the frame to just past the shocks and solo seat with a fender. Then add some custom paint. Would also like to change the gas filler cap, has anyone done this yet? The gas cap that is.

You'd be better off with pods than chopping off the frame and putting some plywood slab seat on the bike that will make your ass ache on any ride longer than 20 mins. Not to mention those low in back seats put your knees up in your chest and causes those to ache too.

drgnknite wrote: Ok so im probably not going to switch to pods, but still want to go and shorten the aft end of the frame to just past the shocks and solo seat with a fender. Then add some custom paint. Would also like to change the gas filler cap, has anyone done this yet? The gas cap that is.

Nobody is saying the pod switch and necessary adjustments is 'IMpossible' and can not be done. However the headaches can be many and severe to achieve successful results. Contrary to what it may sound, there are a 'few' scattered successful conversions, and every single engine is different no matter how identical they may appear, and there is no tried and true formula that will work for any particular motor (setup) There are configs from successful people with a similar engine setup that may get you close. People are just saying that the likelihood of you ever being totally happy with it's overall performance is slim without many headaches along the way as evidenced by the thousands of threads in KZR's archives related to this very subject. Good luck with whatever you decide ..........................................Mike

Vroom-vroom!!!

drgnknite wrote: Ok so im probably not going to switch to pods, but still want to go and shorten the aft end of the frame to just past the shocks and solo seat with a fender. Then add some custom paint. Would also like to change the gas filler cap, has anyone done this yet? The gas cap that is.

I replaced mine. It is fairly simple, two bolts at the back...you can see them when you fully open the cap.

I have UNI pod filters on my bike KZ750. It runs well, but I am working on switching back to the stock airbox and I have been screwed stuck on the side of the road during rain storms one too many times. There are not many good looking stock bikes around. If you must cut it up, make sure you do it right.