TOPIC:

ive been doing some modifications to my 400 and im just wondering what everyone thinks.
my freinds think i should leave it stock but i think stock is boring.

heres what it used to look like.

and heres what it looks like now.



i removed the fenders,highway bars,exaust baffles,

replaced sidecovers, made a sidemount plate bracket, a taillight bracket,and bought and modified a tailpiece from a "78 kz650" (thats what it was listed as. if someone knows the correct year please let me know.)


thanks;)
joe
Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/15 14:46

Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/15 15:00

damnit....

I think you bike looks great!

Removing the back fender is one of the first things I did. I like the look much better. The front fender adds support and bracing to the front end, so you'll probably want to add some sort of fork brace or a cut down version of your front fender. Also helpful if you ride in the rain at all.

I would remove the highway bars as well as they stick out sooo much.

The tailpiece looks like a 650s. It seems a little longer than mine but I think thats due to more of mine being under the seat.

Give us another full side view.

Looks nice. I would change the bars to drag bars and get rid of the mirrors. Then put some smaller turn signals on front and back. I am doing something very similar to a CB350 i have. I even have the same duck tail to play with. I am doing lots of black wrinkle powder coating and playing with a bunch of other ideas. I am tearing it down today and then I will figure out what is next.

thanx guys, heres another profile.

i thought the front end would weaken if i took the fender off so i left the fender mount on (1.)
the only piece that i removed that tied anything together was the fender support (2.) and i dont think that was really doin that much to begin with.
i do plan on using a fender but the stock fender throws everything that ive just done way off.
im looking for a smaller fender and i dont have the tools to cut the stock down.any suggestions??

with the tasilpiece you can deffinatly tell it doesnt belong but i think it looks decent.
i have eye hooks holding it on right now but im undecided between those or a hoodpin type setup (3.)


the sidemount plate is temp untill i get my catseye.
should be here in a few days.
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SKULL-Catseye-Ta...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

as far as signals go i was thinking flushmount or close to it.
maybe something like this.
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/4-Arrow-Chrome-S...598QQitemZ4604279753

maybe led...???????

Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/15 17:18

If it was me, I'd leave it stock. Looks like 10 gazillion times better. Boring is not all bad, not at all.

I'd say leave it stock too, but of course that's just my 2 cents worth. As there's not that many KZ400's still on the road, well I haven't seen that many around here at least. I hope you didn't destroy your exhaust system when you took the baffles out. If sound was what you required then you could done what my bike's previous owner had done which was put on a set of shorty slashcut mufflers. Needless to say they were loud. Mine is now mostly stock, with a few updates. I do like the paint job though, what color of green is that?
Tony

I feel strongly both ways. Actually, I like the stock look better.

stock. I like the duck tail vs steel fender on a 650, but it doesn't look right on the 400. too long. I think it looks sweet stock...

ORRRR you could build the whole bike around that duck tail... make a dragbike out of it. Stretch the swingarm to make it look right, slam it, drag bars, sidewinder exhaust. THAT would be unique (I think)...

Looks good!
Be sure and keep up posted w/pics when you get it done.

Of course, in the case of some of us guys, "done" usually means "until the next mods" or "project in process".

That's a sweet looking ride man! I like it better with the new fender you put on it. There seems to be some what of an unnatural gap between the seat and the fender though. I wonder if you could put a different seat on it though to fill that gap. I don't like baffles either...baffles make a bike look and sound too tamed in my opinion. I think it would look better if you could mount the plate on the rear rather than the side as well.

Post edited by: sakiguy, at: 2006/01/16 17:11