'77 Kz1000 project

So I just this account today looking for some help with my bike, my new-ish (to me) Kz1000. I'm making something with the same kind of style as this. www.wrenchmonkees.com/motorcycles/monkee-36.html

If you guys could shed some light on this project that would be great. Oh yeah, there are some limits: I'm a kid without a job, so income isn't great. Especially right now, so I have all these parts, 200 bucks left, and until the end of the year. I already have headers(straight pipes, which requires rejtting I know) rebuilt carbs(actually I'm waiting on my kit rn) I have rearsets, a zrx swingarm, zx6r forks, no wheels, no brakes, no wiring system (but I'm reusing parts from the old), The paint is all pretty much free from a neighboring autobody shop I'm friends with. That's what I've got. Almost all stock parts are being sold if anyone's interested.

For fabrication, I don't have a welder but I'm acquainted with a very skilled and very generous welder(who I believe is also a machinist)

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

a decent set of tires is gonna be $200. Id say your going to pour in at another $1500 at least probably more, even if you play it cheap. better get saving. The easiest was would be to get the wheels and brakes for the zrx and zx6r, otherwise you are opening a huge can of worms. BTW i don't know if you are aware but the swing-arm in your pics is not off a ZRX. what state is the motor in?

This sounds condescending and stupid but, GET A JOB.

When you have no other expenses even the most low paying part time job can go a long way if you have a project. The focus will keep you out of trouble and give you motivation.

You say you have friends in the body shop, welding and machinist biz. See if they need help even if it's just sweeping the shop, not only for trade work but for some $ so you can buy the parts you need they can't help you with. Those are both excellent trades to learn and can feed you and pay tuition even if it's not where you want to end up in the long run. Many people have made an excellent living in those businesses.

The motor's great, only 11,000 and when I popped it open it was squeaky clean, everything mechanical was in order. As for the swingarm I'm pretty sure it was but doesn't a zrx have dual shock? The only reason I can think this one doesn't is that it was newer.

GPzMOD750 wrote: This sounds condescending and stupid but, GET A JOB.

When you have no other expenses even the most low paying part time job can go a long way if you have a project. The focus will keep you out of trouble and give you motivation.

You say you have friends in the body shop, welding and machinist biz. See if they need help even if it's just sweeping the shop, not only for trade work but for some $ so you can buy the parts you need they can't help you with. Those are both excellent trades to learn and can feed you and pay tuition even if it's not where you want to end up in the long run. Many people have made an excellent living in those businesses.

As for that, I'm already working with the body shop. I just need sometime in the summer to work there.

zrx1200

zrx1100

note the swingarms.

leon

God damn I'm stupid, its a katana swingarm. I forgot I changed it last minute. Sorry.

HeirloomKz wrote: As for that, I'm already working with the body shop. I just need sometime in the summer to work there.

i see, you meant the school year.... Still there are things that can be done to get some extra cash. Otherwise, I would just be patient and just do some planning and wrenching that doesn't require any money or very little until you can get what you really want/need.

"Just a kid"

Okay, the bike you selected to model after is a death trap for a 'kid' teeny tiny tail light, no gauges and turn signals. Those would be the first things I would make sure you addressed, good size bright turn signals (none of that 'bullet' crap) good large bright tail light, and toss a decent set of gauges on there. Otherwise you are asking for trouble.

And 'straight pipes' cause some level of sensory deprivation in the rider and help cause extra fatigue and can scare the crap out of tired drivers (even if they ride) also power losses, fuel economy etc, a small baffle can go a long way

HeirloomK(id)Z,

First, let me say Kudo's to you!
Being young (kid is a relative term that doesn't define an age in years), yet having the motivation and skill to even dismantle a motorcycle and rebuild it into something you "see" in your head is admirable and will provide you with experiences and skills that can serve you well over the span of your life.
BUT
This is where the other members here (myself included) may seem negative.
I can almost bet that every one of the above replies to you come from Dads - another term which doesn't define age in years - because we have the experience of riding and living for many of the years you haven't yet.

I have a son, whom, like you, always puts form before function where motorcycles and cars is concerned. I would tell him, "yeah, that may look cool (dope, sick, whatever the vernacular is today) but it's not practical nor is it safe.
Ultimately, it's the safety which is typically compromised when you start dreaming your bike's design. Sadly, the other driver's on the road out there DON'T see sick, dope or cool design any easier than stock motorcycles and so in the pursuit of trendy, you end up dead.

Just the other night, I was riding my otherwise stock 550, less than a mile from my driveway. Some "kid" driver who was apparently more concerned with her mobile phone than the road we were BOTH using, pulled out in front of me. Less than a couple of car lengths between us. I managed not to crash. Not to T-Bone into her little import car and die. Much of that I can attribute to my bike's design and some of that was years of experience and still some is just pure luck.

So, don't be defeated by anyone here telling you not to do something but do take their comments to heart. There's a reason why most of the stuff "kids today" want to rip off their bikes was put there in the first place. Cool rides are not seen any easier today by other drivers of the road and we all want you to survive being a "kid" and continue enjoying motorcycles untili such a time as you'll be telling your own "kids" why or how another motorcycle that has caught their eye is "cool" and get to work with them in your garage to make it a reality.

I I was planning on using some turn signals and mounting the guages somewhere else like on the sides of the tank. I also understand visibility is a problem, as people can't see cyclist well. Anyway of increasing that without looking like a retard.

I understand safety is important but being completely neon green isn't what I had in mind.