TOPIC:

Wow...the more I look at your bike, the more I really appreciate all the detail work that went into it. Well done!
-KR

Absolutely nice. So many suttle mods. When I get my hands on a working camera, I will try and post some pictures of the clutch conversion. It is a little different than a regular KZ750 as the clutch cover is slightly different. When I did mine, I used the clutch master cylinder and line from a 650 nighthawk (yah, honda parts on a Kaw) because the resevior was square unlike most of the others I looked at so it matches the brake resevior. I got the whole assy of Ebay for $30. I got the slave cylinder from american classics. Not quite so cheap. The clutch assy fits the bars perfectly, and the line is maybe an inch or two too long, but the slack is easily taken up in the routing. It's nice to having a hard line to run down the frame tube as it gives it plenty of clearance from the header pipes, and it fits in the clamps that the cable is held in place with. Had to grind the inside cover down some and cut the push rod 5/8ths, but it all went fairly smooth. The levers are a little different, but I'm working on that. Have a few ideas on how to fix that. The safety switch is different as well, but can be modified for use with terminals. I just tucked mine out of the way for now. I was a bit nervous chopping up good parts knowing they are not that easy to find, but now and then you get lucky and things work first try.
By the way, where did you find that seat? I think I like it better than the one I have now.

And that mod to your side covers, why didn't I think of that. Brilliant. No more broken tabs.

I'm lucky. Road to Corbin's custom shop in Hollister, CA. Had it built to my specs. A load of folks were ahead of me, split the house later then I should...
To work with the custom shop you have to make an appointment.

Process included new foam on the stock pan. One item I was firm about was no pattern stitching. The floor boss was insisting I had to place some added stitching like flames and other junk. I was not having it. Once I started talking to the shaping tech. He told me I could have as intended. Smooth leather no funky tribal or flame patterns stitched in. The only thing they absolutely would not compromise on was placing the Corbin name on the seat. Kind of pissed me off but when asked what color for the logo thread. One word "black", bastards.

I could have spent more time with the tech shaping... I was one of the last out of the shop that day and waited 6 hours to get started. By the end of the day was getting punchy.

Also had them place felt where the seat meets the tank.

babyELR wrote:

And that mod to your side covers, why didn't I think of that. Brilliant. No more broken tabs.

Chock the handy work and suggestion to my man Derek. Worth it. My only regret with the side covers is I sanded away the contour at the bottom on one. Hard to tell but I know it's not perfect.

What did you use for the half round to reinforce the tabs? I'm thinking PVC pipe cut down?

The biggest lingering things I need to still address with mine are fixing the engine side covers. They have some chipping and scrathes that annoy me with all the work put in making the body work, wheels and frame look so good. Also second guessing the ELR style seat. Looks good, but the seat height make it a little uncomfortable for me. Need to find another seat with stock foam. I have an extra seat already, but someone had already cut that one up too. Got the brakes and front rubber changed, so all that stuff is straight.
Was looking to change my valve cover as well. I've seen a few on ebay for early 80's 750's that don't have breathers on them. Don't need the vaccuum any more as I'm running CR special carbs.

The paint on the engine is PJ1 gloss case paint. Most of my side covers are powder coat gloss black. The repair on the timing cover forced me to push the used ZR cover without powder. To make it clean I just used the PJ1 case paint while finishing the repair Derek completed.

For the seat you could use the good cover on the bike and build up new foam to fit your needs. The good old electric carving knife is a great shaping tool for the initial shape.

Corbin shop was awesome as they just fabricated a new foam brick to the pan and carved from scratch.

Since the covers on these are ABS so are the half rounds. Out here we can find ABS in many forms at Tap Plastics. I think they have an online store as well. If I remember correctly Derek picked up ABS pipe/tube and cut in half to fit.

Plastic welding is another skill I'd like to learn. But at this point don't need to do it too often

There are two cracks needing repair. One on the left tail mount and the other on the head light can.

I hope to repair them myself before going to paint again. All the scratches from my accident and dings from the parts floating on my shelves for 4 years beat up the clear.

Luckily I don't have to touch the tank... It's the one item not damaged even after landing on it's side at 40mph.

I think I'll pick up a piece of PVC tubing and play on one of my extra side covers to see if PVC glue will hold up.
I have a shop here that did my ELR seat, I'm sure I could work with them and come up with a shape that is a compromise bewtween stock and the ELR style.
Guess while I'm at it, I'll have to run by the powder coating shop down the road and price that out too. Can't do all of that at once, projects aren't supposed to ever be finished!!!!

Hi Sean,

I used ABS rod, which I bored to the correct I.D. (with the lathe). Then I cut the resultant tube in half. I shaped the ends to match the contours of the panels, made sure the panels were completely free of paint in the adjacent areas, and used ABS cement to bond them in place. This is one of the few instances where bonding is preferred to welding.

Regards,

Derek

I think I'll pick up a piece of PVC tubing and play on one of my extra side covers to see if PVC glue will hold up.

I think you'll find that ABS and PVC cement are not compatible.

Regards,

Derek