kz440 front brake upgrade

hello,
I have been lurking on this board for awhile and finally decided to register.

I am new to the 2 wheeled world, driving and working on mostly forced induction japanese 4 cylinders. This bike basically fell in my lap and so I had a vision and created a blog about it. If you want to read about how it started and where it is now, check it out: www.sakibobber.blogspot.com

Anyways, my question is concerning the front brakes. The bike in question is a 1980 kz440B with drum brakes front and rear. The front cable is seized up and I cannot find a replacement cable new or used anywhere.

My next logical solution was to upgrade the front brakes from drum to discs for many very obvious reasons. I haven't been able to find a damn thing on anyone actually doing this though - is it a taller task than I am thinking? I really don't want to swap out the entire front end.

My front forks look like they would accept a caliper, but I'm guessing that I would need a new wheel with the rotor setup? See image below. Any help is much appreciated. Thank you

theimbalance wrote:

...1980 kz440B with drum brakes front and rear. The front cable is seized up and I cannot find a replacement cable new or used anywhere....

WELCOME to KZR! We're glad you're here!

If not already done, could inquire of MotionPro about a custom cable.

Good Fortune!

Don't be too ready to change to disc. I've got a '72 BMW that drums front and rear. You've just got to plan your stops in advance!

Seriously though, have you had the drum apart and the pads et al are in good nick? If you're sure its the cable, sometimes lubing it will revive it. Disconnect it from both ends, make a cardboard funnel, tape it to one end and pour in some motor oil. Hang the cable up and let the oil percolate though. Have something to catch the drips and once its sat overnight, see if the cable frees up. When putting it back, make sure there's no kinks or binding.

the catch is check both ends of your cable first, if there's any fraying - even one strand - ditch it and go for the new one.

Patton, thanks for the warm welcome!
Samwell - thank you I will absolutely try that and report back on my results! I didn't see any frayed cable it was just not moving inside the housing at all.
Thank you!

looks like a cool little ride,i was wondering how well those shocks work at that angle?

the shocks probably won't work well at all, but considering I was originally going to go rigid to begin with I'm not worried. Naive of me, yes probably, but I just want to get the thing running and see how it goes from there. Thanks again!

Anyone have a clue if freeing up the brake cable doesn't work how hard a disc brake conversion would be?

can you get the front brakes to move without the cable?

yes, the "arm" that moves back and forth on the drum assembly to engage the brake still moves back and forth freely. It's hard to tell without being able to put any sizable amount of pressure on it to see if it actually still works though.

I only decided it was the cable because when the cable was still hooked up, the front wheel was very hard to move. I disconnected it and now it spins freely.

I'm not sure, but think an upgrade here to a disc would require a complete front wheel assembly along with the handle bar master cylinder and brake handle assembly.

The wheel parts would need to come from a 1978-1979 KZ400(B1-B2) since that's the only models I'm aware of which had a spoked wheel with disc brakes. The master cylinder and brake handle assembly could come from any disc-equipped bike, including many other brands.

Looks like it would just bolt right on, though.

See: www.kz400.com/KZ400440%20ads%20bilder/KZ400B/400B-1.jpg
And: www.kz400.com/Model%20history%20bilder/21.jpg