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kz750e Resto-Mod 30 Sep 2017 14:39 #772051

  • Dr. Gamma
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CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! Your 750E got posted on the Kawasaki Z1000 MK2 page on facebook!!!!!!

Even in primer, 36 likes and growing!!!!
1972 H2 750 Cafe Racer built in 1974.
1976 KH400 Production Road Racer.
1979 Kz1000 MK. II Old AMA/WERA Superbike.
1986 RG500G 2 stroke terror.
1986 GSXR750RG The one with the clutch that rattles!

Up in the hills near Prescott, Az.

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kz750e Resto-Mod 30 Sep 2017 15:19 #772055

  • Daftrusty
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Ha!
Thanks Dr. Gamma! If you had not given me a heads up, I would have never known.

I have in fact found a retired painter that is willing to paint all the bodywork for a fraction of the price that the body shops have quoted me.
I have my mk2 pinstripe decals ordered, so maybe by the new year, I will have it finally painted. *fingers crossed*

I have been slowly putting miles on it order to get the motor broken in before winter gets here. I am almost at 500 miles, so it will soon be time for it’s first oil change and I can then re-check the valve clearances when I take the tank off to be painted.

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kz750e Resto-Mod 01 Nov 2017 07:21 #774084

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So I have had to make one “minor” change to my 6-speed transmission swap.
There was one day where I took my 750 for a ride and when I got home I jumped on my zr550 and took it out for a spin so I could compare the weight and general handling differences between the two bikes. And besides the 550 feeling like it was 200 pounds lighter, I instantly noticed how little effort it took to shift between gears. It’s not that the 750 is “hard” to shift, but it definitely has a stiffer action at the shift lever. Since the transmission in the zr550 is essential identical to the gpz550 transmission I used, I was curious why it felt so different.
At first I thought the kz750 shift detent spring was to stiff for the 550 drum, but the zr550 and kz750 the exact same spring.
Then I looked the gear lever mechanism that rotates the shift drum when the gear lever is moved. Turns out that the shift lever return spring is different between the zr550 and kz750. Oddly enough the 84 zx550 transmission I used, also uses the same return spring as the kz750. I remembered comparing the two springs when I was choosing what parts I was going to use during the transmission swap. But….The zr-7 and the Zephyr 550 and 750 all used a lighter return spring when they switched to modern rearsets that used longer shift linkage.
So I looked in my ebay box of zr-7 misc parts that I bought years ago, and there was a return spring!! The “newer” spring is smaller and made of a smaller gauge wire. It is noticeably easier to compress by hand than the beefier kz750 spring.



It involved “minor” surgery to swap out the springs. I had to remove the chain cover, chain, sprocket and transmission cover just get to access the gear change mechanism. It took seconds to swap out the return spring and another hour to put it all back together. Thankfully I was doing the first break-in oil change on my motor, so I didn’t have to tilt the bike to keep the oil from pouring out of the exposed transmission area.
After a road test it now feels much easier and requires less pedal pressure when shifting. The tension at the shift lever is greatly reduced. It is stiff a little stiffer than my 550, but not by much. Some of that I think, is because the heim linkage at the shift shaft on the 550 is more elongated/larger, thus giving it more leverage to rotate the shift shaft than the zx600 linkage I had to end up using. I tried to swap the 550 linkage on the 750 shift shaft, but the 550 has the heim joint on the wrong side and it makes the linkage on my rearset bind up.
But now the snow is falling and I have put the bike away for winter. So more innovation will have to wait for spring.

I only have 500 miles on the transmission swap, so I can’t attest to any longevity issues, but I was wondering if people would be interested in a dedicated instructional thread about the swap itself? Kind of a “how to”.
That way if someone is interested in reading up on it, they don’t have to wade through pages of unrelated content in my build thread.

Let me know what you all think.
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kz750e Resto-Mod 02 Nov 2017 04:32 #774121

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I bet that a nice write up with pics, posted in the file base where it is easy to find, would be gratly appreciated.
Thank you for offering.
1982 KZ1000 LTD parts donor
1981 KZ1000 LTD awaiting resurrection
2000 ZRX1100 not ridden enough

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kz750e Resto-Mod 02 Nov 2017 05:26 #774122

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This entire thread has been a wonderful "how to" in it's own right but something more formal would be ideal. The guys on the 650 site may be interested as well. I particularly like how you worked out what needs to be done to use some of the ZR-7 parts like the starter clutch. That sort of stuff is priceless info in my opinion. Great job.
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kz750e Resto-Mod 02 Nov 2017 13:45 #774139

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Thanks for the feedback guys!
When going through by boxes of parts looking for that return spring, I found some extra parts that reminded me why I went to such lengths to use a nut and washer when modifying/machining the clutch hub.
Its little things like that, that made me want to go back and edit my post from a year ago to add that information. But since I can't edit old posts, I started to think maybe I should make a instructional thread while I can still remember the exact details.
I also have the habit of way over explaining things, because I often find the devil is in the details. Vague instructions can set yourself up for failure.

I will try to get working on a write up of the transmission swap and also the starter clutch.

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kz750e Resto-Mod 29 Nov 2017 13:38 #775305

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a write up would be awesome!
i have tried to tell people about your trans conversion before but they end up thinking i'm an idiot because i don't know enough to explain it properly.
so if i could point them to your how to that would be awesome.

leon
skiatook,oklahoma 1980 z1r,1978 kz 1000 z1r x 3,
1976 kz 900 x 3
i make what i can,and save the rest!

billybiltit.blogspot.com/

www.kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/325862-triple-tree-custom-work

kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/294594-frame-bracing?limitstart=0

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kz750e Resto-Mod 29 Nov 2017 14:42 #775307

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I forgot to update this thread and point people to the write-up on my 6-speed swap.
When I went back and re-read my notes and remeasured things, I realized I made a couple small errors when I initially wrote it up.
I remembered why I used a washer when modifying the inner clutch hub and little details like the difference in lengths between the Zephyr 750 and zr-7 transmission shafts.
But please feel free to direct folks to my write up if they are curious about how I did it.

kzrider.com/forum/2-engine/607443-6-spee...on-swap-instructions
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kz750e Resto-Mod 16 Mar 2018 13:39 #780346

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Does anyone know where I can get a set of rubber clutch dampers for a GPZ-550?

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kz750e Resto-Mod 16 Mar 2018 17:45 #780353

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Mark Miller wrote: Does anyone know where I can get a set of rubber clutch dampers for a GPZ-550?


Perhaps you should start a thread in the parts wanted section.
1982 KZ1000 LTD parts donor
1981 KZ1000 LTD awaiting resurrection
2000 ZRX1100 not ridden enough
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kz750e Resto-Mod 17 Mar 2018 18:25 #780391

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As far as I know, no one makes replacement clutch dampers for the 550's. They are so completely different than the 750's in both size and shape.
Years ago I considered paying a company to make a cutting die or a water jet file made of the 550 damper and a sheet of Viton so I could start a side business of selling them. But the initial costs to get started would take forever to pay for itself if the demand wasn't as great as I suspect it should be. Maybe one day.

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kz750e Resto-Mod 07 May 2018 06:27 #783007

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Well....it took four months but my body work has come back from the painter.
I supplied him with a mkII pinstripe kit and settled on plain black instead of the Luminous Navy Blue color I wanted but I never could quite track down.
The pinstripes didn't fit the 750 side covers at all, so I had him leave them off and the shaft drive tank is just slightly different dimensions than the mkII so the pinstripes positions don't exactly fall into place. But my bike is a shameless clone of the z750fx/kz1000 mkII , so none of that matters to me in the slightest.
I had also found a OEM seat still in the factory Kawasaki parts box to replace my old seat with a cracked seat pan and ripped cover. There was apparently a difference in the seat pans from 1980 to 1981 and I had to order a different hinge pin to fit the different style hinge assembly.

Here are some teaser photos I took complete with greasy finger prints and a layer of dust on everything. I just did my first 500 mile break-in valve adjustment and head re-torque and was eager to take it for a test drive while the weather was nice.


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