81 (K)Z650 Project 18"

So I have been building on this bike throughout the last 7 years of my life, went through 3 years of studying with the frame sitting in my living room as decoration due to money (and alcohol ) . Now I'm out of Uni and have I have collected parts for the bike for a year or so.

Since I started the goal has been to have same size wheels to get that nice symmetric look. This has become something of a must have for me and since the project have been on and off for so long I feel no stress getting it on the road, instead I feel good about things taking time. I now have a permanent shop space and even tough I have owned 5 bikes in three different countries I don't have a licence for Sweden yet so no stress getting it on the road.

This will be almost 7 year in pics



2013 - This is how the bike looked when I picked it up





2013 - I started taking it apart, at this point I had no plans, I was 24 and had not yet learned the art of structure and planning.





2014 - After a year in boxes I started hacking away on the frame, still making up the vision on the fly



2014 - I then bought another KZ a 550 that was missing the carbs.




2015 - Another year just slipped away.. I did clean the carbs (at that time I thought they were clean). Scraped all of the gaskets off, reseated the valves and then left the motor all open in my garage.



2015 - I moved 6 hours from the garage for 4 years, leaving it like this.

During 2013-2015 I had 2 boats 3 cars and lots of other shit that took focus of the KZs, my impuls buying sets me back all the time and this is something i'm still working with in my life

In 2019 I shaped up! No more buying stuff without finishing what I already have. I also moved back home to Stockholm.



Put e-bay carbs on the 550 got the inspection done and sold it!





2019 - Moved in to a new garage spot and slapped the frame together and started welding up a new loop in the back, made a seat pan and cleaned up the frame as good as i could.

At this point I had a made up a clear picture of how I liked the bike to look, I also made a budget and started sourcing parts on a monthly basis.



2019 - My first attempt at sewing a cover for the saddle




2019 - R&D on the electronics box

There is a bit left of 2019 that will follow up to present time in the next post!

Thanks in advance for dumping a bit of this journey here to get me motivated again!
In Sweden the covid lockdown is not as strict as other places in the world I guess, I work from home but can buy supplies and go to the garage whenever I like!

So 2019 continues

Media blasted various parts of the engine and changed most of the seals. Painted some the parts black and assembled .
Forgot two o-rings (not sure of the english word there) and had to take the whole engine apart, then forgot the two bolts that goes under the cam sprockets. Trail and error gives you knowledge :laugh:



2019 - Broke my own promise and bought a broken jetski.


2019 - Managed to sell the jetski with some profit to order a 18" wheel of a Z1000 Police bike. It came with the worst package ever and lots of bent bolts.


2019 - Took a chance on the wheel and asked around here a bit to gather knowledge, but realised I would need a bigger front fork, rotors, axels etc and put the 18" wheel on a paus until money and parts where located.


2019 - Kept working on the box for the battery. Bought a Shorai battery clone from Swedish harbor freight (Biltema), and cracked it open to save space.


2019 - Mounted the engine and did a test fire, took some time to get the coils right but eventually it fired up. Also mounted a Shin yo Bates style headlamp a bit to low so a new bracket will be made this year.




2019 - Finished of the electrics pan? Also a new seat cover was sewed







Coming in at 2020 I bought another boat with a big hole in the hull, and a Jeep Cherokee XJ that had been neglected for 4 years that took about 100 hour of garage time (and gave me 5 stitches). Using the boat to get to my family country house thats on an island. Sold the jeep with good profit.
Then I bought a Yamaha Xj900 that had been sitting for 15 years.





The XJ900 is carb cleaned, brake serviced, and passed inspection so it is know used for training.

Soon there will be KZ650 2020 updates!

Last week I had the luck of finding and buying a Z1300 front end, complete with brakes, disks and everything needed for a swap.
Next week I will have the stems swapped and new bearings to test fit.

I have also ordered a set of Dunlop K180s