Interchangeable seats & Tails for KZ750 LTD

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the forum but not new to motorcycles. I have a 2010 Triumph Bonneville which is my daily rider but I just had a 1980 KZ750 LTD come into my possession to satisfy my ADHD as a project.

Unfortunately I find the seat/tail on the LTD to be hideous and I Want to change it to a sleeker tail end and seat, closer to the look of the KZ1000. It doesn't have to be exactly the KZ1000 tail but something close that looks better than what it has. Does anyone have any suggestions as to the interchangeable seats of the KZ750 series and the tails?

I used the search function but couldn't come up with anything.

Thanks for any help

Welcome to the forum. Unfortunately nothing is going to bolt on to your 750. If you have the means or the money you can make anything fit but it will be custom for sure. The easiest way to clean up the seat area is to remove your seat cover shave down the foam and make a new cover for it. Not many people are modding the LTDs but i do recall someone making a new seat for their kz750 four LTD.

The 650-csr has the same frame as your Ltd & I've seen a couple of them with a ducktail added.
I think what they did was cut, carve & drill the tail cover to make it work.

On most if not all of the ducktail models, the seat is shaped around the tail. To do it that way, the most likely option for the 750H Ltd is to get the seat & tail cover from a 750E Standard, then do some fabbing & finagling to fit the tail. If you don't like the squat look of the 750E tail, you could try one from a 77-80 650, but the E tail cover will probably be a better fit. The750 E seat might be a direct bolt-on as the frame is very similar to the H. If possible, I would compare the frames. eebbaayy or wherever you can find good photos of the E frame n stuff.

The H and E frame are different.

I went through this with my bike CSR1000 Project. The seat was the first thing to go (and the handlebars). I bought a repro fiberglass ducktail off ebay. It was too narrow to fit over the frame rails so I cut it down the middle and fiberglassed it back together.
I covered the whole process in my build thread (link below in my signature). and the link to the ebay seller is in there somewhere as well.
It was my first time fiberglassing and it was a lot of work but it wasnt difficult and it came out very well ( I think ).I was very happy with it.
I made new foam as well and my girlfriend is in the process of making a cover (not finished yet though).

DoctoRot wrote: The H and E frame are different.

There are some similarities. the 750E stuff is the closest match. the tanks & side covers attach the same and they share some other stuff. the primary differences would be the angle of the steering head & the rear section of the frame, as the Ltd doesn't have the attachment points for the tail. I put a 750E exhaust system on my 81 650-csr --- it was a direct bolt-on. just so the op doesn't get too discouraged. hee.

Thanks for the responses! I actually found another route I may go. Would either of you know how I could shave down my seat to give it this sort of look?

That is exactly what i had in mind when i suggested you shave your existing seat foam down. Pull your seat cover off and shave your existing foam down with either a grinder with a sanding disk or an electric carving knife. Making seat covers is tricky, if you think you are up to it give it a try but an upholstery shop could make you a cover quite easily if you provide the seat. It will be a relatively inexpensive and easy mod that will make the bike look WAY better.

Thanks Doctorot, I think this is the route I will end up going.

A couple of the engineers I work with had similar suggestions for cutting the foam but my question is will it come out jagged and if so how much of a difference will it make if there are flaws in the cut?

if you use the sander right it can be pretty smooth but it makes a big mess. If a layer if 1/4" "sew foam" is sewn to the vinyl cover it will hide some pretty big defects in the base.

I made a side mount for my license plate, and I unbolted the fender and rolled it forward so it doesn't hang down as far.