1980 KZ750

Hello all, just bought a kz750. It's in pretty bad shape, but I've been looking for a project bike to work on. This will be my first two cylinder. After sorting through the previous posts I have been cleaned the carbs, changed motor oil and switched out to new plugs. Without a manual things have been kind of slow. But the most pressing matter seems to be that there is a cable coming from the left side of the motor that does not attach anywhere. The bike came like this so I do not know where this cable goes. I am wondering if this is the speedo cable or something but some help would be useful.
I tried using the electric starter but nothing happened. I am almost wondering if the starter us burnt, or is this common? I haven't tried using the kick start as of yet, I figure after cleaning out the fuel lines I will try again.

is that cable coming of the front of the engine if it is it will be the tach cable as far as the starte not working check to make sure you have proper 12 volts or better in the battery and make sure the battery grounds are attached to the engine cases.by the way welcome

thanks much friend, the battery is giving about 13 volts, and the leads are good. The lights work, so I'm assuming the grounds are fine. Where is the starter motor located? I might have to see if it has gone bad. I'm not too familiar with older motorcycles so I'm not sure how to know if the starter is not working.

Clutch cable?

And I would guess that your bike has a clutch switch, so the lever has to be pulled in to start the bike.

Is that true regardless if the Bike is in neutral or not?

Bek82 wrote:

...just bought a kz750...my first two cylinder...Without a manual things have been kind of slow...tried using the electric starter but nothing happened. I am almost wondering if the starter us burnt, or is this common?....

Here's a link (hopefully) to KZR's on-site downloadable wiring diagram.

Click here > 1980 KZ750-G1 (Twin) wiring diagram

Don't know if there's a downloadable manual on KZR or any other web-site covering 1980 KZ750-G1 twin.

Am guessing a manual would appear sooner or later on ebay.

If not already familar with kawasaki.com, may find there the parts diagrams and part numbers, cross-referenced part numbers, and other info, all helpful when dealing with the bike. Let us know of any difficulty finding stuff on kawasaki.com.
Babbits.com has similar info.

Good Luck!

Bek82 wrote:

Is that true regardless if the Bike is in neutral or not?

Yes. I just checked the diagrams for your bike at Kawasaki.com. The clutch switch is part of the starter circuit - it doesn't care nor does it know what gear you're in - it acts like an on/off switch - when you pull in the clutch lever the switch is activated & completes that part of the starter circuit.

Thanks JMKZHI, I am currently in the middle of cleaning out the fuel tank because the inside is rusted and full of bad oil. I saw a writeup done about using tile and grout cleaner which is phosphorous based and it seems to have done a good job. One question I had was that the tank emblem's screws were stripped so I ended up drilling them out. My question is that there is a metal band behind the emblem, is this welded onto the gas tank or is it removable? The tank is so rusted I can't tell what is the original and what is not. The paint on the tank is pretty much all gone, and I will be sanding it down when the tank is clean inside.

The metal plaste is welded onto the tank.
Just in case.... don't drill thru the tank... that mistake has been made a number of times.

Thanks for the tip. I will keep that in mind when I'm trying to get rid of the rust surrounding the plate. Anybody happen to know if rear shocks are interchangeable between the KZ750s? I have the 1980 KZZ750G and I was thinking of picking up new rear shocks.