Your bike looks awesome!! This is exactly what I plan to do with my KZ900.....only more factory paint scheme. How hard was it to adapt ZRX swingarm and GSXR fork? I've read many posts here and seems relatively straight forward but any advice would be greatly appreciated.
AGAIN.......nice bike!!

Lined up great. I used the 440 swing arm so things were not to out of whack. And this was last summers project. So it's done.

The swing arm should bolt on ok, the B and C models use the same swing arm shaft. Your B model should have bushings rather than bearings in the swing arm pivot, so when buying, be sure to check that the C arm has the same (it should). You should plan on replacing the bushings while you have things pulled apart. Also, be sure the swing arm comes with all the parts including the torque link - it is different that the one on the B model.

Keep in mind you will need to make a bracket or get one from a C model and have some welding done to attach the rear master cylinder to the frame. Ed

So, as I explained in my introduction thread here , I recently got a non-running 1981 KZ750 LTD with the intention to restore it and give me a goal to get in shape. This thread will document the process,and hopefully become a resource for pictures and tips as progress is made. I would appreciate any input, suggestions, ideas, comments, etc.

My goal is not to make it showroom-perfect but to make it safe to ride, reliable and decent looking. Money is a factor - I want to be smart about how I spend my money and try to fix existing parts as much as possible instead of replacing them. However, I have identified a few parts that I will absolutely buy new because of safety or practical reasons.

I can turn the engine by hand so at least it´s not frozen. According to the odometer, it has 12,800 miles. It would seem that the last time it ran was in 2008 based on the tags. My impression is that it saw light use until then, and sat in storage after. There were some pretty poor repairs done to it, so it may have had issues that were not properly fixed and it finally stopped running after being neglected for a while.

So, here we go:

First order of business was to wash it to get a better idea of what was the general condition of the bike. The carbs were not connected to anything and the engine was exposed, so I covered the intakes with plastic, removed the tank, the carbs and the airbox and washed it carefully.

The tank had some rust inside, not too bad. The frame is pretty clean with minor rust at a couple of spots where the paint has peeled off. The swing arm has some rust but it doesn't seem terrible

After cleaning, I hooked it up to a battery to see if the starter worked. No such luck, but at least the lamps, turn signals and horn work. There is some corrosion on the battery box but I can fix that easily. Wiring seems mostly complete.

How I'm planning to tackle the project is as follows:

Phase 1 - Ordered initial supplies, Evapo Rust for the tank and assorted bolts and parts, safety supplies, etc. I also ordered a set of JIS screwdrivers. I can't believe I just found out about this a few weeks ago.

Phase 2 - Fuel and air. When this is done, I'll try to get the engine to fire up to identify anything else that may need fixing

Phase 3 - Electric

Phase 4 - Brakes. Will definitely buy a new front master cylinder as the existing one is in terrible shape, and rebuild the calipers and rear cylinder and resurface the rotors.

Phase 5 - Suspension. Rebuild the forks, replace the seals, rebuild or replace the rear shocks (are they even rebuildable?)

Phase 6 - Cosmetic - I hate the current seat and will rebuild it or replace it. Repaint tank and side covers.


I ordered carb rebuild kits as I want to make sure all gaskets and o-rings are fresh and eliminate that as a potential source of trouble. I'll replace all the hoses, the PO made a mess of the hoses and had some creative vacuum hose routing anyway. The airbox lid is missing, I've been keeping an eye on auction sites and there's a lot of airboxes missing the cap. I discovered that the lid from a Del Monte grapefruit container fits perfectly, so I may just fabricate a new lid. We'll worry about that later.

I sealed the tank and put some Evapo Rust on it. The tank has a few dings and dents but is in pretty good condition overall. It was poorly repainted at some point, so I don't feel bad about sanding it down and refinishing it. I will need to replace the rubber cap seal, and I think there are a couple small rubber O rings missing from the gas cap screws.

I thought this bike had Mikuni carbs, turns out they are Keihin CVK34. Parts are a little bit more difficult or expensive to find, but it should be fine. Some screws are missing so I've ordered them as well.



The diaphragm covers were painted by the PO and a couple are in good shape, the other two had significant corrosion and look pretty ugly. I will clean them up and polish the bare metal and clear coat it for protection. The Evapo Rust worked wonders here.

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Thankfully, the diaphragms are in good shape. I'm expecting the carb rebuild kits tomorrow or Friday, so I will be doing that this weekend. I don't really have any experience with carbs so I've been studying and will be extra careful. Hope it's not too difficult.

The petcock had been fixed with some sort of RTV sealant, so I'm also going to take that apart and use a proper rebuild kit.


The fuel level switch is in pretty ugly shape, but it may be cosmetic. I need to test it and get a new gasket, the PO had also used RTV sealant around it and I can't imagine that worked too well.


I will post more after this weekend.

plan is to use the RF 900 mono shock mounts as it had a steel frame ....should make things a bit easier :pinch:

I'm gonna slice and dice the old frame shock mounts........ :ohmy:

Well, a lot of work has been done over the past couple of months. First start to come today. What we have so far.... 1980 kz750 doner bike, 02 zx7 forks and front wheel, 04 gsxr600 swingarm, rear wheel, and brake set up, 06 cbr600rr taillight and front fender, vrod headlight, 2011 gsxr rear seat cowl with fabricated undertail, and a 1973 honda cb350F petrol tank. That's just the basics. I plan to work out the kinks then tear it back down to complete body work. If anyone is interested in the details I can start a new topic.

When I got back from vacation this week I tackled a few more things.

Got the shock mounts welded on the swingarm.

Got the base coat done on the body parts and finished the first color layer of the base on the wheels. It's urethane across the board on all items. It's my first time using the gun and overall I'm quite happy with the results. Also VERY happy with the 2k primer. The 2k primer was super smooth, I'm quite stocked for the 2k clear now.

Decided to paint the rear sprocket too (etching primer in the pick)..lol. Might as well, need some green contrast in the rear too.

Some more work happening this weekend as well.

I should have trusted my own instincts. The machine shop I was using at the time said I needed a single piston MotoX style caliper because of the wheels. The cleaner Brembo style caliper I wanted needs to be spaced out a but but for some reason I went with their suggestion - they were just lazy I guess.

Anyway - this calliper is now going on a way more minimal and discrete hanger. Stronger, lighter and way cooler looking. The waste of time and money for the other thing stings but I need this to be just right. Besides, maybe its worth something to someone along with the swing arm.






Like this but right side obviously.

Tweek1 wrote: ...looking for a GS1100 swing arm with no luck....

Could post wanted items in KZr's Classifieds forum.
And also check the items for sale.

Good Fortune!

What chain are you guys runnig 630 or 530? Did you have to use an off set front sproket?