77 KZ650 height for transport

The FSM puts the height of the 77 KZ650 B1 at 45 inches. The rear opening height of my van is 42 inches. I want to transport said bike 499 miles from a friend's place in Chicago to my home. Perhaps you see the problem.

Of course I can rent a trailer but just curious how hard it would be to reduce the height enough to make it an easy and 100% sure fit in the van. I don't have the bike in front of me so I can't test it out, but it looks like the bars (they appear to be stock) might fold down a couple inches at most but it also looks like the instrument cluster might still be more than 42". The cluster on my 305 is 43" high.  On the other hand, giving me some hope, the top of my hatch opening is about 22" forward of the lower lip (its a hatchback Previa, so the opening is slanted forward), so once the front wheel is completely over the lower lip, it drops down about 2", giving me effective 44" of headspace. And deflating the tire might give me all I need. Once I get the bars past the upper lip, there is even more headroom.

Can someone with a similar model and stock bars measure the height of the instrument cluster and comment on  how much the bars can lowered without any disassembly? Is it possible to compress the forks to the frame with a ratchet strap without damaging the fender? How many inches can it be compressed? Once it's in the van, I can release it. although I guess a lot of people trailer bikes compressed without damage.

It may fit pretty easily but I can't afford to guess because if I need a trailer I need to bring it with me. I also don't want to be monkeying around with disassembly and potential glitches doing it when I get there, other than maybe removing mirrors and loosening bar clamps, If I would have to take off the bars and cluster or something stupid like that I'd just as soon drive a trailer.

If the van is a viable option it would be a lot less hassle and much more pleasant driving 998 miles, especially the part that will be in Chicago traffic. Other people have fit bikes in the back of a Previa before, but I know some were less tall. 





one more pic coming but the website is down. Ah...here it is





PS-I also just realized I don't know what Kawasaki measures as the "top" for the height measurement.

 

pop the fork caps off and compress the forks.

How much will they compress? Is that going to cause oil loss, and is it necessary to remove the caps just to compress the forks for a couple minutes? I"m sure they need an oil change anyway but I don't want to start it in Illinois if I can help it.

Few other options: loosen the triple clamps and let the forks push trough the triple. let some air out of the tires. pivot the handle bars down. probably with a combo of these you could make it happen.

Just loosen the bar clamps. Rotate the bars and re tighten them.  Remove mirrors if fitted. 

Warren3200gt wrote:

Just loosen the bar clamps. Rotate the bars and re tighten them.  Remove mirrors if fitted. 

 

That what I was asking about. I still need to know how much that shaves off of the height or if the cluster would still be too high. I don't really want to ask too much of my friend because he might get annoyed and change his mind about gifting it to me. So I'm asking strangers on the internet lol. Plus it has a deflector on it that he'd probably have to remove to do any accurate measuring

Would just removing the mirrors give you enough clearance?

Surely somebody here has a 650B they can measure.

Height to the top of the gauges is 118cm 👍

109cm to the top of the headlight if you remove the gauges and pivot the handlebars down 👍
hope this helps,
Rich.

kimchella wrote:

109cm to the top of the headlight if you remove the gauges and pivot the handlebars down 👍
hope this helps,
Rich.

 

 118 cm is 46+ inches and 109 cm is still 42.9 inches, so its gonna be a tight squeeze. Though I think/hope once the front wheel is over the lip, the headlight won't have reached the upper lip of the hatch yet so I'll theoretically have 1.1 inches of clearance lol. Deflating the tire will buy me a little more. Should fit. It has to. Sounds like a hassle though, maybe I should just trailer it.