To start off I'd like to say thanks for the add! I'm a new rider and new working on motorcycles in general. I recently purchased a 1977 KZ650C1 Custom, to my knowledge the bike is stock.
So currently I have 2 problems that I need help on:
1. The brake stabilizer (torque link) is not correctly mounted and has been modified to fit
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The PO "moved" the torque link to the outside of the clevis to fit because the coil seems to be too large in overall dia. to fit without rubbing. Now after searching for the last week I seem to be the only person who has encountered this problem. The PO bent the torque link to fit and also took a grinder to the inside wall so it would not rub against the tire, except is does still rub ever so slightly. The swing arm looks to be stock and does not show any signs of being from a different model or bent in any way form a wreck or small fender bender. Also the PO installed the brake line upside down for some reason, it clears everything like it should so... thats also a bit of a mystery.
2. The shock absorbers interfere with the torque link
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Along with my research into the torque link I also spent the same amount of time looking into the shock absorbers as well. From what I could find, which was rather difficult because the dimensions I was trying find are not always listed for shocks, was that the shocks on my bike are stock or close to stock size. Now if I am able to find a smaller OD dia. coil spring then I should be able to install a new torque link and we should be all good, only problem there is that I'm having a hard time find smaller OD dia. shock absorbers. Even so, my main question is why is there interference between those 2 parts at all? I've looked at 1000's of pictures and videos of these bike online and yet they all look like they have no issues.
If anyone could help me out with this I'd be grateful, my over all plan for this bike is to turn it into a scrambler over time, I'm not looking to do this in a year. I want to take my time and learn everything I can about the bike mechanically first then start modifying it to suit my taste. Thanks for any help, this site seems like its full of a lot of knowledgable people that I can gain a lot to learn from.