Looking at a new bike. What do you think?

Hello, new on here. Thought I'd share a few pictures of a bike I'm looking at:





It's for a project, though I'm not sure what kind yet. I guess it'll be new paint, exhaust, shocks, engine touch-up, etc.

Anything I should look out for, except the usual stuff when buying a bike?

New paint and exhaust? That's funny! You are kidding - right? :blink: Oh wait - are you by any chance from Norway? Ed

Why is it funny? No, I'm not from Norway, why?

I thought you were kidding about painting and removing the exhaust system from a sought after, scarce model bike that had survived with a very scarce and desirable original paint job and the original exhaust system. There cannot be many of them still in existent since the KZ700 was a one year only model. Destroying the original paint job and removing the original exhaust system seem like rather wasteful (if not foolish) things to do when there are so many bikes available out there that already have been modified and have already lost interest and potential value as a result. Making those changes on a 30 year old survivor bike will immediately reduce its value and make it just one more common modded bike - just one more in the crowd instead of a bike that stands out in the crowd.

The Norway question was asked because I have seen at least one extremely desirable scarce original bike hacked on by a someone living in Norway who didn't even know what he had. I thought this is might be a trend in Norway as they may not have access to information about motorcycles that is readily available to the rest of the world. Perhaps some sort of internet blocking imposed by their government? That seem unlikely, but what other explanation could there be? Ed

+1
Only thing you will do is lower the value.

Agreed. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about customizing a bike, Just look at mine. But it was far from original when I got it. Clean that thing up and ride it. That paint is awesome retro. haha

I'm not sure if you are serious or not. Norway is properly one of the most free countries in the world, if not the most free :blink:

Anyways, I'm not going to repaint parts that look fine. It looks rather scratched in some parts so at least some of it needs repainting. If I paint the tank and other parts with the original paint scheme still on it, I will do it on parts from dead bikes and either keep the parts or sell them.

I still have to actually see the bike though, so I'd still like to hear what I should look out for. This is a very cheap bike btw.

Any small scratches can be airbrushed out. If you find small scratches call around to some new car dealerships and ask their paint shop guys who they use. Many of them use a private person who goes from dealership to dealership touching up small blemishes on new cars, Usually the paint shop guys don't have the skills required to do this well, but any new car dealer must deal with little scratches that happen during shipping o while the car is in their possession. I had some scratches on one of my cars done this way and the guy was able to match the paint perfectly without any paint codes even though the car was painted in Italy - the stone chips and one nasty scratch simply disappeared. Ed

Well, since you mention it, I used to work with cars, preparing them for sales. So it shouldn't be too hard to fix up the paint and polish it up. I was more thinking about the engine, frame, rims etc... It isn't really important yet though. This is getting way off topic. I still don't know what to look for :laugh: and at the asking price it migh be gone before I can get to it :pinch:

If the price is right, just buy it. Fix the paint job and get that bad boy back on the road. Change anything you want short of cutting anything. Keep the old parts in case you want to go back to stock.

I can't say there's some common trouble area to look out for as these are very reliable machines. If it was me I would take it for a good test ride. I don't know what, if any, riding experience you have. If your experience is limited you may want to take a friend who's been riding for years and ask his opinion. Aside from making sure there's no wobble or other handling issues listen for unusual noises from the engine. Ask the guy what maintenance he has performed or had done on it. Ed

Hey Troll,

I picked up this model last year and received good advice from the forum. Consider yourself lucky to find one with the original paint scheme. Impossible to find those tanks... Depending on your experience with maintenance the clutch may drive you batty when adjusting it first, but like I was told - it probably ain't broke. Once it's dialed in these little guys kick like a mule.

Sage advice given to me for these older bikes: Just because compression isn't perfect don't assume the rings are bad either. Once you've checked all the braking and suspension bits, give it the old 'Italian Tune Up." Kawis like high RPMs and long hot rides. Once you're friendly with the throttle and ride it on a regular basis it will open right up. Oh, and the local police love the sound of it

While this was a rare bike - do you guys really see it as being sought after OUTSIDE of this forum? I love my 700, but most people regard this as a baby Eddie Lawson bike. Oh, and don't get me started on the Ford Escort headlight on these things...