81 KZ750H LTD Barn Find 16k Miles 1 owner

Life sure is strange ya know....but cool. I have had a search out on craigslist for about 12 years. Been looking for a KZ on the cheap for ole time sake honestly. I have had several pop up over the years and every single one was some half-@$$ed hack job "cafe racer" or "bobber" or other hideous mad max type looking bike. Don't get me wrong those type bikes (mad max) have a place in my garage and I hope to find a find a proper jacked up adventure type bike to do the same type build with. The KZs though....those fenders DEMAND to be left alone! These bikes broke new ground and paved the way for modern super bikes. As a child of the 80s I wanted mine to be as original as possible. I was around bikers and Harleys early on in life but we all know in the early 90s Harleys were untouchable for burger flipping kid. 
I worked all summer at the City of Seabrook cutting grass, cleaning trash, patching potholes, and painting buildings...saved every penny and this baby was my first taste of freedom!
An 82 Kawasaki 750 LTD. 16 years old...I bought the dog (Bozworth) and the bike. Had enough left over for drivers ed classes. Cleaning grease traps, bathrooms, and flipping burgers at Dairy Queen kept gas in her and insurance paid. 



And after 12 long years of waiting this sweet lady popped up...(Pics from the craigslist ad) listed for parts or sale. 





After praying for God's approval I spoke with my wife. I showed her the pic of 16 year old me and told the story. Both gave me a thumbs up so I offered $600 and shared my old pic with him as well. The seller (Rafael) was the nephew of the owner. Rafael explained his uncle the owner was in such a state that he cannot even speak any more so he had to clear it with his aunt. He showed her my pic and told her I intended to restore the bike and not use it for parts. She agreed and shared this pic.....



Rafael said the bike was still on his trailer and he had business on my end of Houston so he would just bring it by if I wanted. I quickly agreed as it saved me 3 hrs round trip of driving and bumming a trailer off one of my buddies. Isn't God awesome!
September 7th he brought the bike we now call the Kaw and I rolled her to her newly cleared out spot in the train wreck I call my garage.



Since then I have made progress but for a first post...this is enough. More to follow. 
Thanks for reading!

Welcome to KZR
 Great story behind this bike from all parties
Dave

Welcome to KZR. It seems you're in the right place. 

Welcome from the UK

Brakes, carbs and First start!
Crystallized brake fluid in the master, through the lines, and down to the calipers. Expected....


Took some serious doing to get the screws out. They need to be replaced. 

Unplugged the lines with some unwound paper clips and random wires I found laying around. Front and rear master were cleaned with the ultrasonic cleaner and purple power. Calipers were also put in ultrasonic cleaner and pistons popped out with PB Blaster and AIR!Everything was sanded down with scotch brite pads...sprayed with brake clean then repainted. 

To see how far I could get before ordering parts I assembled front brake assembly. Master is leaking from the lever side. Plunger seals are prolly shot but hey...was worth a try. 

Rear master is not even worth trying. Plunger was stuck tighter than a fleas @$$ over a beer barrel and it took a LOT of convincing to get her out. All rubber seals are completely worthless. Have not checked the rear master cylinder walls yet but my gut tells me the whole thing is gonna need to be replaced with something new.


Carbs were pulled and half @$$ cleaned using small wires to clean jets. They were not as bad as I was expecting. I was able to get all but one jet out so I just cleaned it in the carb for now. Top end of cabrs were not pulled at this point. I just wanted to make sure she wanted to run before I ordered a rebuild kit and got full on stuck in. The flaps were totally stuck but with a bit of brake clean and some lube post spray down\jiggle..they functioned well enough for a first fire. 
Got her to bark off with some starting fluid so changed the oil and filter before first start. 
I do not have an external tank for the bike as my sons bike and mine are both fuel injected. Found some tubing and stole my wifes Tony Chachere's turkey seasoning injector. You can see it hanging from my air reel above the bike.
This is a video of the second fire. My youngest was around to act as camera man. I had hoped for the original owner to see her running again but after texting a video to Rafael he informed me that his Uncle had passed 



Up until this point I have been wondering why the bike was parked and I may have found it. While she was running in later starts I checked the battery and she does not seem to be charging......Something to troubleshoot while waiting for parts I reckon. 

Welcome from Canada 

Welcome! I found my '82 750 LTD on FACEBOOK market place too almost a year ago. Happy wrenching!

Welp she runs but only on one half of the bike! She fires on 1-2 but is missing on 3-4. The 3-4 exhaust is cool to the touch while 1-2 is smoking hot. I would say maybe points but I do see spark. Every screw on this bike is TOUGH to get out. Man I wish they had used bolts....anywho its gotta be points or timing. I reckon I could double check the carbs and make sure they are getting fuel on that side....I just dont see how a bike with 16k miles could fall out of timing. 

She was not charging initially...come to find out that red and white wire hanging from the voltage regulator needs to be plugged into the starter relay/battery positive cable. Charging fine now. 

Front brakes are rebuilt and working! I tried to make the old hardware work but that just lead to me having to repaint the master due to brake fluid leaking out of the handle side of the master. Cleaning as showed above and after drying I ran a brass brush from my gun cleaning kit through the master to knock off any stubborn deposits. Once that was completed and the barrel was smoothish I used THIS kit. Went ahead and threw in new pads while I was at it. There was some pitting inside where the old piston was stuck but it seals and seems to be working. After the rear is fixed and I actually ride the bike my opinion on replacement may change but for now...they work. 

Front calipers went back together fine. C-clamp was necessary so the seals are good. 

Got one screw loose on the point cover...the other is being stubborn...not looking forward to fighting that one off. Even if they are fine the cover still needs to come off. 
 

Do you have an impact driver to remove crosshead screws?

BTW, it's important to replace the brake lines when working on a bike like this because they will have a heavy scale on the inside.

Chances are high that the carbs are still plugged.  You have to ungang them, remove all the parts, including the pilot screws, and soak in carb dip to get all the internal passages clean.  Then, replace all the O-rings.  You should not waste money on "carb kits" just get an O-ring kit.  The only parts you may need are float needles.  And if buying those, only use OEM Kawasaki (Keihin) or Keyster.  All the other aftermarket needle parts are iffy in quality.

BTW2: your bike doesn't have points

 

Thanks Nessism!
Ill pull the carbs again. Given your advice and thinking on it I bet some of the o rings are not 100% between the carbs and fuel is not getting to that side...could be a vac issue too as they have not been balanced since I cleaned them. 
I cleaned all the jets but the pilot...after seeing the issue I cleaned it on the 4th carb....3rd is prolly clogged up tighter than a fleas @ss over a beer barrel. 
Got the point cover open....you sir are correct. There is some magical lectronic digital madness going on in there so I promptly replaced the cover and pretended I didn't see anything. 

The timing advancer probably needs service. The manual has the specifics.  Be sure to separate the rotor from the advancer body & fill the groove w grease. and check that it moves freely & snaps back after actuating by hand. I use either high temp grease or brake caliper grease. I would install a new gasket & keep extras on hand.

ps: if you need to turn the crankshaft for whatever reason, use a 17mm wrench on the "nut". do not turn the crankshaft using the 14mm advancer bolt. also, this is a handy time to clean up the oil pressure switch terminal connection.

your 750-4 should be the same as the pic. except yours should have 1013 on the advancer, not 1022.

3-4 not firing fixed:
Timing advance and all that moved freely with no issues or corrosion.
Seems when I reassembled the carbs I neglected to properly place THIS spring on top of the bracket...keeping the carb closed. Now they are out of sync if they were ever in sync so that is the next challenge. Without the air cleaner on I cannot keep the bike from backfiring and popping. I have checked for intake leaks and it looks good. I have read you need the cleaner on when syncing so getting that back together. These are not my carbs....just an example. I didn't love yall enough to get up, get my phone, and snap a pic


Rear Brakes fixed....finally:
Cleaned, ultrasoniced, reassembled rear master with new plunger.....no brakes...repeated...no brakes...
pulled it again...this time I muscled that black plastic inlet off the master cuz everything else was spotless....seems THIS "hole" has to be clear for the pump to pump. If you are trying to get it out lube the area up really well with some WD-40 or other lube...only lift on the plastic. Do not pry the rubber. I almost ruined the rubber grommet trying to get the plastic piece out prying on the rubber.  
Cleaned again in the normal ways but even clean I couldn't see a hole there just a dip. It was so plugged up that it looked like metal. 
I knew there had to be another hole (like every master on the planet) for the pump action to work and I couldn't find a picture of what the inlet valve was supposed to look like so I just kept picking until I was sure there was a spot for a hole. Used a bit of small wire to drill it out. Replaced and bleed the brakes! Finally front and rear brakes are all clean and working!
I reckon my brain checked out cuz this master is vertical. Even the rear on my Road King is horizontal...oh well at least its sorted