KZ650 Poll

This is my 167,800 mile one bought new 30 yrs ago July 24, 1978.

Ron, gotta hand it to you, while we may disagree on certain topics (like mods and repaints), I have nothing but respect for the way you take care of your bikes. That is one sweet looking ride.

I'm with Onkel, Ron.

If everyone kept things that nice, there'd be no need for repaints. :woohoo:

del

Since torturing Bad Kaw has become one of my favorite things to do on this board, I thought I'd post a pic of my latest KZ 650 purchase. I bought this bike from a member here who wanted the space in his barn back along with a treasure trove of parts for almost nothing. The deal was that I had to take all of it though, the bike, 2 spare engines, a couple of extra headers, a couple of front ends, and boxes and boxes of assorted stuff. This is a 78 650 B with 21K showing on it and it looks to be pretty complete and in OK shape. Since I sold the KZ900 at Mid-Ohio I now have a few pennies in my pocket and I'm trying to decide which project I want to mess with next. I'm thinking I may try to get this one to run on Monday which is my next day off. It is either this one or the blue 77 C-1 I got from Chicago.:S

Until today I never had a good pic of the 79 650 SR from hell I bought last fall. Thanks to the genius of roy-b-boy-b and his willingness to help me sort this bike out, it now runs pretty well. This is a pic of the good side. The side cover on the other side sort of got melted last fall when it backfired thru the carb and set the puddle of leaking gas on the ground ablaze.:ohmy: It turns out that the freaking moron I bought it from had the ignition out by 180 degrees as well as having the firing order for the plugs all messed up. Thanks to Roy I'm beginning to not hate this bike so much I took it for a short ride on Monday and with a few more things it might become a decent bike again.

I see that having the ignition off by a 180 degrees can have even the best of us stumped. :laugh:

I rode for two years with my cam on the advancer off 180*. The bike ran fine because the green and black wire were reversed to the coils.

When I had it apart the Winter after those 2 years, I reinstalled the wires properly, green to green and black to black, not remembering they were reversed the previuous riding season. Of course the bike wouldn't start. Until I figured it out.
Seems the mechanic put on the advancer cam 180* out a few years back when I got her out of storage. :blink:

My C2 on the shore of Lake Simcoe:
.

Here's another one. I paid $150 for this motorcycle back in 1996 and since I *never* throw anything away, I was able to build something usable. The blinkers and grab rails were missing, I had those laying around. Beat up blinkers from previous spills on my better bikes ect. Tank and tail came off my original 1978 650 as I bought brand new parts as the originals started to go south. Side covers got in another purchase that looked like NOS covers but someone glued on 1979 emblems. Oh well.
I'm the same with seats as everything else. Seat would last about 70,000 miles or so, then I'd buy a new one and save the old POS. New cover from Z-power in England came out good enough on this thing. Scratched and dented mirrors and a scratched stator cover from a 1978 complete with the rest of the charging system from a junked 1978 was swapped on this 1977 B1 as the B1 charging system did not work on this bike. Rusted Kerker was swapped for original 1979 B3 pipes aquired for free from a guy who just saw I liked KZ650s and gave a bunch of stuff to me free. So I basically have $150 in this bike and lots of free half used up parts. This is what I ride every day. Had 25,000 on it in 1996, 63,000 now. That's a heck of a $150 purchase.

Bad Kaw wrote:

Okay, just out of curiousity...who here has a KZ650...and who doesn't.

:whistle:

I wonder how BadKaw is feeling after starting this thread 10 months and 3 weeks ago and we are on the 6th page?? :S

Well, John, just to add a little more fuel to the fire.....
A] I've got a good shot at a 650B2 that I will turn into a cafe racer if the deal pans out....and...
B] A totally different deal involving a 650D2 or E1. I haven't seen this bike yet but if the price is right, even though it's not to my taste, I'd buy it anyway just to rescue it from the current owner's neglect....although it is garage-stored.
Well, we'll see what happens.
Sorry for my (hopefully) good luck, BK !!!
:silly:

Well, he shouldn't feel too bad as I offered him my 650B. Since he's moving and buying a house, he passed for the moment, but my offer still stands, BK.

Bluemeanie wrote:
[quoteI wonder how BadKaw is feeling after starting this thread 10 months and 3 weeks ago and we are on the 6th page?? [/quote]

John, just look at the stable of bikes that Bad Kaw owns and ask yourself if you feel sorry for him. BK reminds me of the guy who murders his parents and then asks the judge for mercy because he's an orphan.:laugh:

Rick, you have to be the ultimate thorn in BK's side with that stunning 78 KZ650 C-2 you have. Has it turned over 2000 miles yet? If you haven't already done so you need to add a pic of it to this thread. Your bike has to be one of the nicest finds I've ever seen.