Tear Down and Rebuilt KZ900 LTD--I'm Scared!

Just joined the site--looks great!

I bought a KZ900 LTD for $1.00--it didn't run. But it does now--and its a great bike. Much faster than I expected.

Been riding it for about a year now and decided to tear it down and rebuild it for fun.

Problem is I don't have a clue--and a bit nervous to break open the engine.

Any advice on were to start? Or should I just dig in and see what happens.

Here she is as bought



Post edited by: DPH900, at: 2006/03/27 23:42

Hell for a dollar you could mess it up and part it out and make a ton of money!! J/K First thing I would do is make room for all of the parts. I would buy some shelves from wal mart or something. Get a lot of zip lock bags for nuts and bolts, even if your going to get new ones it's nice to know what your replacing. Get a manual or two. Play nice with anyone in your town that has a history building these bikes. Get plnety of info here. Start saving money because a minor restoration will take on a life of it's own and will cost double of what you had planned on. Good luck!

You can do it. Get a factory service manual and you'll be fine.
Mark

DPH900, YOU CAN DO THIS. Take your time, don't get in any rush and be very logical in the way you take it apart. Clear yourself a 4'x2' empty space on the bench to keep your parts laid out in the order you need to put them back. Clean everything you take off, replace what needs to be replaced and drench anything metal that moves in 10w40 as you reassemble.

I tend to fill the cam/valve cavities with oil before I put the valve cove back on.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on.

DPH...if You want...I can e-mail You all of the pages that I downloaded from Buykawasaki.com(or You can spend the time and get Your own downloaded)
These are all of the exploded views and factory part numbers for EVERY part.
The info I have is for My 77 KZ1000,but about 90% will apply to Your 900 LTD.
Let Me know Bud...it'll come in real handy...great for printing off pages of certain areas that You're working on,so You can just look at the pic,and see the order of the parts You have in hand.
The factory service manual is also a good thing(for sure) but it won't have the pics like the ones I'm talking about...blast Me a U2U with Your email,if You're interested,Bud...

Post edited by: sandy, at: 2006/03/28 11:00

Most of the time when people do what you are describing the bike ends up as a basketcase. It's going to take a lot of time and money (and knowledge) to totally dismantle the bike and rebuild it, and most give up and never complete it.
If it needs painting then paint it, if somethings broke then fix it, if it ain't broke then don't mess with it.

Just my $0.00002

Post edited by: steell, at: 2006/03/28 11:57

Is it burning oil? Is the compression good? Do you have the budget to hop it up? A rebuild can get expensive if you require a piston kit and boring. A complete gasket kit is a few bucks. How many klicks on bike? These things can be made to go extremely fast in a straight line, if you have the megabucks. If engine checks out fine, I would be more inclined to prettying it up. With a manual, bench/shop space and basic metric tools they are not hard to work on and I never really consider working on a bike as work. Put thought into budget and what you expext from bike. If it already faster than you thought why not make it look real fine or at least not showing it's age. If engine is almost shot and needs it go for it.

RomSpaceKnight and steell bring up very good points. No doubt you can do it and there's a number of different ways to go about it, but make sure you have the time, MONEY, and commitment to do it. I'm in the process of doing exactly that with my 76KZ900LTD. (Check progress link below.)I'm a rookie wrencher and have farmed out what I felt were the more difficult undertakings (due to lack of smarts) like the engine and carbs. This website is a great resource to find parts and the people who can and will help. They've been a great resource to me. I've thrown way more money into this than what is logical! (About $3000 and counting - and it's getting closer to being done). You could do anything in-between. Good luck!

While I concur with everyone's sage advice of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", you have to ask yourself what you want out of the bike.

I'm a newbie too. I picked up my bike in order to learn how to fix a motorcycle so that in the future, I could do all of my own work (with the exception of things that require expensive machines like milling or tire changing) without having to pay someone else.

Budget is a serious consideration and one that I was conscious of when deciding to buy a project bike. I decided, however, that part of the fun (or aggravation) will be scavaging for reasonably priced parts.

Anyhow, this is just my two cents. Good luck with your project and be sure to take plenty of pics for the rest of us (oh, and yourself )

why? why? why? check compression, good leave it alone.
i have had mine torn apart for three years and just now getting her back to running status. paint,buy the prettys, these bikes are not complicated by any means
but they are very fragile. You could make alot of rookie mistakes before you get her back to running
cond. they are also very expensive to work on.
If you must tear her down have a clear idea of where
your going, big block, refab, etc. Keep in mind it may be a while before you ride her again.

I couldn't ask for better advice. This is all fantastic!

I have a bit to think about---

I may have jumped the gun a bit, the bike is already broken down -- only thing left is to pull the engine off the frame.

I am not worried about the time, and I have a pretty good budget for this thing--as long as it stays under 7K. Its more of a project than a need to ride.

I plan on going in--and goin in deep.

Thanks to all--I will post pictures with the progress

DPH900,

Here is an idea. I'll give you 5 times what you paid for that POS, and you can go get another bike that doesn't need a rebuild....... Just kidding. I passed on a $500 LTD900 a few years ago, and have been sorry ever since. I've always wanted an LTD900 to restore. Do you have any current pics of it? Also, If it is running OK, I'd wait till fall to rebuild it. Especially if you are just doing it "for fun." You're likely to miss alot of riding while you get it done. Where are you located? You may find help just around the corner.

Post edited by: b200driver, at: 2006/03/28 20:26