Wow!, sorry work overnights so responses might be diffrent time zones etc.

Yes I said Rescue, meant it.

I asked about why they did the swing arm changes etc. dose not mean I am going to.
Just wondering why.

I have always had Harley's and they ride completely diffrent and over the years I have rode this one many times before he put that god awful darting on it. After he did he stopped riding it also and said he wished he never did.

Not looking to chop this up , destroy it etc. I have been around classic cars and bikes for years this is just the first one I have built.
On the bike side that's not H D.

Wider back tire, sure as wide as I can get on it now. I know there are diehards on both sides of the fence. Stay stock!! Chopp it !!
But the reality is I want to make it a good Dailly bike something I can enjoy and still runs good etc.

It is not a Rex. The icon I use as a aviator is actually the bike.

So in all its glory. But he and I had talked about diffrent things he liked the 1000 tail section the fiberglass duck bill more then the blocky one that is there now.
So if I can bolt it on I will if I have to do a whole frame mod most likely I won't.
The biggest thing now is to get it back to running and looking good again.
The org. Color I believe was Black in this but could be wrong trying to remember when u was 10 and this was still a newer bike on the market.
But I know he wanted candy apple red and the body shop screwed the color up and refused to fix it. So he hated what it become.
So I'll make sure I paint it what he wanted.
But it and pegs, handle bars , headlight will prolly be the biggest change at first

Hey all, been a while. But I'm finally in a place where I can go rescue my dads old bike. So the end of next month I'll be making the 1300 mile round trip. For it.

SO,
This leads me to the questions I have been pondering since the last time we talked.

I have already chose to do the tail section off a 1000. The box tail light needs to go and this allows me to up grade to the LED lights and make it more my taste.

I have seen where some have done the forks and down tubes for the GXR.
Why? What are the being its of this?

Also
Swing arms. Trying to decide if it is better to change it out or to streach it or to leave well enough alone ?

In the end I want it to be low,and mean looking.
Will be changed to have a 4-1 headder of some type.

I know the color will be red he always wanted candie apple red on it so I figure I'll do this as a nod to him.
But the faring must go! Lol can't do those things.

Also due to it being out side for so long any ideas of things to reall watch out for would be great.
Plan to get it here and clean it real good and tear it down and see about replacing berrings and races. And rebuild shocks and tubes. Or change if needed.

Tires are toast at this point so I know they are being replaced. But would like a wider rear tire on it.

Also where do y'all find coil packs etc? Are they still made for the 80 KZ 750's?

Any pit falls y'all have had you can warn me about would be help full.

Thanks again and happy to be back

Ok, time to try and get some photos actually uploaded. The bike is in pretty rough shape, but some basic detailing is already showing results. The chrome is all pitted, at least somewhat. The seat has a split, but i have vinyl repair guy that should be able to fix it. The tank looks to have been repainted, and the emblems shaved. The repaint looks nearly stock in color. The bike is mostly complete, and has a number of period mods. Tommaseli headlight ears, dyna ignition and coils, a dresda swingarm, mag wheels (are they Lesters or stock from a later Kaw?). The tank still has gas in it (from 1997) but the carbs were removed and drained, and look good inside. Some mysteries too; it only has a single disc brake, but is on the right, as opposed to the left as most are.

Next steps:
- buy an ignition switch and key
- drain gas and hope for the best
- change oil
- change plugs
- buy a battery

After almost three years I thought it was time for an update. This project for pushed aside a couple of years...

I started off with a front end rebuild. New set of fork tubes to replace the rusted originals. A forum member set me up with a nice used set. New seals, progressive springs, and tapered head bearings. Painted the lower tubes and triple tree.





New left switchgear, headlight bracket, and front master cylinder, all universal parts off eBay. You knw what the say about universal part, they fit every bike equally poorley.

Removed swinarm to paint and install new bearings. Found it to be cracked. I used a cut off wheel to open up the crack and welded it back. Its a temporary fiix. I have a gpz swingarm for a possible future wide tire conversion, but I'm considering a gs1100 so I can keep the wheel and brake stock for now if anyone has one for sale, let me know.





I cleaned up the hacked wiring harness, added turn signals, converted to blade style fuses.

Replaced JIS engine screws with stainless Allen bolts. Added engine guards. Thought I could find a cheap used set, but as common as they once were they best deal I could find was a new blemished set.

I "un-cafed" by ditching the clubman's and flipped footrest for superbike bars and stock controls.

"So Bob about your fork set up - you say you run the stock fork uppers with the 650 fork lowers?" Yes.

"I am guessing that the kz650 fork uppers must be shorter than the 900?" Don't know because I just purchased the KZ650 lowers from a junk yard separately from the uppers.

So Bob about your fork set up - you say you run the stock fork uppers with the 650 fork lowers? I am guessing that the kz650 fork uppers must be shorter than the 900? I found a set of 650 forks that look much nicer than my kz900 forks- once I took off the dirt bike style accordion fork protectors that were protecting all of the pitted chrome underneath! I haven't been able to find the total length of the two models to see if it would be worth the trouble or if I'm just opening another can of worms....

I took a last look before I put my old arm back on. Had to go into town for supplies. I didn't put the boxes on. I could feel the loss of drag in the high winds today. I'll put them back on anyway.


I was hoping to get a better shpt of the chain run. It lines up well.


Awful damn close.





Bossie without the bags/boxes.





Steve

Slowly but surely something is taking place...............ok really slowly but we now have rear wheel bearings that have the correct centres to take the ZZR1100 axle. Funnily enough the bearings are standard rear wheel bearings that I had as a spare for my KZP. Bearings had a spell next to the peas to contract a bit and in we go with the new crush tube. Job's done! We now have a rolling chasis! I won't finish fitting the rear wheel with spacers and brake caliper bracket until the engine is in so I can line the sprockets up correctly. With the rolling chasis done we can tick off new forks, clamps, front calipers, swingarm, shock, and rear wheel as fitted which means I can now pull it all to bits again and get the rims, frame, suspension parts coated/painted.

Got it on. Nice and tight, no slop. Trouble is, the bike will be lower and there is no room left on the adjuster. I'll have to spread the muffler mounts or cut off the mount eyes to lower it. I'm ordering a 98 link chain. STILL NO SPROCKET.












Looks like the new arm is about 2 1/2 " longer. I hate to cut things off and it was said I could spread the mounts. Anyone have suggestions on how to do it? I took some clips but there's a smudge on the lense. Sorry about that.
Steve

Greetings,

I too am going with the front end GSXR conversion from CognitoMoto. They offer the completely assembled hub/spoke/rim package for this conversion, guaranteed to be compatible. There stuff is definitely pricey, but I'd say its all quality. I'm going 18x2.75 to replace the stock 19" front. That's the same size rim they used on their Fox CB350 build.

I also had CognitoMoto do a new custom Sun rear rim on my stock drum brake hub (with their hub service and anodizing, installed new AB bearing & seal kit while their at it). Its a matching 18x2.75 rim; both front and rear tire diameter is 4.00x18. Remember to confirm that any new tire diameter on the rear will clear your swing arm and tail/fender/license plate or whatever you have back there. But if you're going to a new swing arm then you have lots of options. There are charts out there for recommended tire size to rim size compatibility; check the Avon Tyre website, for example.

And when purchasing stuff from CognitoMoto be certain to select all options you want i.e. additional charge/item for rim color anodizing; speaking from experience on this one :blush: