Z650 frame oddity

OK, it's so much clearer now - thanks!

If it's alright with you, I'll use this picture to explain the whole concept to my fellow French-speaking Z riders (on our 'local' forum.)
This place is fantastic!

Geo

Geo Z wrote:

This place is fantastic!

Geo

sure is

I've seen Kawasaki nos cable-lock sets on ebbaayy from time to time. In reference to the photo, the other end of the cable has a barb on it.

Ok, so once it's in there you just can't remove it, right?
I love to have original parts on my bike, but in that case I'll probably give it a pass...
Still, I'm learning a lot of interesting things here!

I don't know if it can be removed afterwards or not.
The barbed end seemed kinda odd to me. My neighbor's 82 650-CSR manual mentions the cable lock but doesn't have anything specific about it.

Ok, so once it's in there you just can't remove it, right?
I love to have original parts on my bike, but in that case I'll probably give it a pass...
Still, I'm learning a lot of interesting things here!

I put one on my Dad's KZ1000J way back in 1981. Once in the frame, the lock cable is in there for good and not coming out, trust me.

OK, I'll elaborate. Once we cut the stub off, we ran into having to cut the cable (because of course it won't come out with that barb!). Well, trying to cut the cable close enough is impossible w/o further notching the frame tube. In the end we were able to stuff the ends of the cable up into the frame tube and weld in a section of tube to cover the "wound". Like I said, it was a nightmare. Made necessary only because the chrome was ugly.

Again, enjoy your project. That's what they're for.

What a strange piece of equipment :silly:
There's a Kawasaki engineer somewhere who should give this saying a good thinking : "The road to hell is paved with good intentions"!

"Cable lock" for what?

Meaning a point to lock a chain through the rim or something....

it was meant to go thru a wheel or around a tree or what ever was handy. nice idea that really didn't work so well in practice and just added a bunch of extra weight to the bike.

Rumor has it the cable tended to rust and freeze inside the frame. Have nothing to back this up. Perhaps frequent deployment and keeping well-lubed would avoid such issues, but at the expense of being real nasty-messy when using.

Don't recall the length of the cable. Perhaps 3~4 feet?

Good Luck!