I was sourcing out some parts for my 81 kz750 to start lining up the winter build up and the thought hit me... Why not find a good parts bike instead of buying piece by piece. One of the upgrades I wanted to make was adding the 650 kick start to the 750 as I have seen others do on the forum. Long story short, I came acrossed a pair of 1978 650's for sale. The bikes are a few hours away, so I dont want to waste my time driving down and back for nothing. One of the things I need for example is a new oil pan... Will the 78 650 pan work on my 81? Furthermore will any 650 pan work on my 750? Same go's for exhaust system? From what I understand the difference in the bikes is the stroke and size of the pistons.
Check the parts fishe and look up the parts in question, each part has a "where used" notation.
www.partzilla.com/
For the oil pan, you can check to see if the gasket is the same.
From the cross-reference at Partzilla, all of the air cooled KZ/ZR/ZN/ZX 650/700/750s had the same oil pan gasket. I think the 70s oil pan is the same as the Ltd, but the later 750 pans can vary. some have provisions for an oil cooler &/or large oil level sensor. also, some have a mounting point for the muffler system manifold, typically models that have clamped-on mufflers.
Mufflers. Any muffler system from those same models I mentioned above will fit the exhaust ports, but you may have to fab muffler brackets & center stand clearance might be an issue for a non-stock system. I don't think the early 650s had a recess on the LH muffler. I put a 750E muffler system on my 81 650 which has the same frame & mufflers as the 750H Ltd. It was a direct bolt-on. Andy-the-gringo put a set of 2000-or-so ZR750 mufflers on his 70s 650.
I wouldn't buy a 70s 650 parts bike expecting to use much on a 750-4. The oil pan is probably the same, but the 650 engine has a roller cam chain, while the 750 has a HyVo. the ignition system is different & maybe the charging system. and the frame, body parts & wheels are different.
Thats a very good point. I can't seem to locate an 80's 650 thats all. How about an 80's 750 twin? I mean other than the obvious... Can I use the kickstarter on my 750-4? I could still harvest body parts as needed.
I overlooked the 650 kickstarter, so a cheap parts bike might be worth the trouble to get that. You'd need the clutch cover & kick starter stuff from the 650. I believe you have to split the crankcase to install it.
I wouldn't get a 750-Twin for pretty much the same reasons as the 650, but I think the 82-on have the same fenders & the meters are similar. But the engine, frame, tank & etc are different. I don't know if the kick starter is the same as the 650's or not. I never checked.
