76 kz750 rims

I recently acquired a 76 kz750 twin and the tires are pretty well dry rotted. It'll probably work fine for test runs but they'll need to go before it sees any real road time. so the stock rims and tires are tubed. I'm not a fan of tubes - so I am considering perhaps some aftermarket replacement rims that would allow me to run tubeless tires. I don't know enough about motorcycles right now to even really know what I am looking for in terms of compatibility requirements. Anyone have any advice on where to look or what criteria an aftermarket wheel has to meet in order to work. Or perhaps some aftermarket wheels that people have experience with on these bikes that worked out well for you. Any information is appreciated.

period aftermarket wheels that bolt up will be rare to find and probably quite expensive. Your best bet if you want to get some mags is from a Kz1000. The front will bolt right up. The rear LTD 16" disk mag is plentiful and will probably bolt up if you have the correct spacers for it. If you want a 18" rear disk mag (kz1000 MKII) you might get lucky and find one on ebay. The KZP also had a rear 18" mag but i'm not sure if that will bolt in, it may need custom spacers. All these wheels, while mags, were intended to be run with tubes.

If you are willing spend a bunch of time and money most wheels could probably be made to fit but then you run into chain clearance issues, new rear brake, mc to match... etc. its a rabbit hole.

There is nothing wrong with tubes. BTW.... I can understand an aesthetic preference for mags though. Personally i think spoked wheels look pretty cool. I would just clean up the wheels you had and get some seat time. If you decide you like the bike enough to drop a bunch of cash on it then you can always swap later.

Thanks for the info. Kinda figured it would be one of those things that just came down to how much money I wanted to throw at it - which isnt much lol.

Slightly different question - changing tires - is it something I can manage easily enough at home without any special tools or would it be worth the money to just take the wheels in somewhere and have them do it. Which also begs another question - where do you even get that done?

Changing tires can be a bear, especially the rear. I found a guy on CL.
Is the rear wheel 16" or 18"?

wheels. For tubeless you'll probably have to get something from a 1980 or 81-on model --- the donor wheels should have Tubeless cast into them. note: some 1980 models might have the tube-type. you'll probably need the brake disks from the donor. I have no idea about the fitment of non-stock wheels on your bike or brake disk alignment.

I'm not certain what size is there. I'm assuming it's the stock size. Not sure if there were multiple options. Most of what I read says the rear should be 18 and the front 19 - I think.

I have owned a motorcycle for the past 50 years and always change my own tires. It's not too difficult if you use three 11" motorcycle tire irons (see image below) and some tire lube. You will need to use NEW tubes with the new tires, and you need to be very careful not to pinch the tubes with the tire irons. If you know someone else with a bike who changes their own tires see if you can get them to show you how to do it. Ed

Thank you for the information. Tire irons, lube, tube - aside from the tire is there anything else I need?

Another rim related question. The spokes on mine are quite rusted, but from what I can see they are not bent or anything. At what point do I have to do something with them? Are they even replaceable?

Sardonicus wrote: The spokes on mine are quite rusted, but from what I can see they are not bent or anything. At what point do I have to do something with them? Are they even replaceable?

You can easily find replacement (new) spokes on eBay. I got mine for ~$100 including shipping. Thought about cleaning my old ones then I sobered up. Theres 80 of them, in my case it looked like ~20% were going to be a bitch to unscrew the nipples. Out with the snips.

Contact these folks.....

www.buchananspokes.com/categories/spokes.asp

I've been changing my tires since I was 18. Yeah it's a PITA but you need to know how to do it. I use these.




The scoop is for working around the tire. Less chance of pinching the tube. The longer is for starting and prying the old tire off the rim.
With a little practice, you'll be a pro in no time.
Steve

Sardonicus wrote: Thank you for the information. Tire irons, lube, tube - aside from the tire is there anything else I need?

Another rim related question. The spokes on mine are quite rusted, but from what I can see they are not bent or anything. At what point do I have to do something with them? Are they even replaceable?

if the wheel is really bad and you want to save your money for other potential problems that you haven't found yet you can give the wheels a sand and paint them. That will hold up for a while and look OK.

I have been changing my own tires for a couple years now and its really not that hard. I use three 16" tire irons for maximum leverage., and a set of rim protectors. Getting the tires on is the easy part. Getting your ancient dry rotted tires off is gonna be the hard part. This tire was older than me....

Thanks again for all the info - still laughing at the picture of that tire lol.