For the best bang for your buck There are no swingarm swaps as easy and cheap than the GS1100E aluminum one. It's light weight very stout and easy to find.

So I built the whole back half of my kz750, custom swing arm and seat and all. But I ran out of room to put things, so I can no longer fit a regular sized battery without making big changes. I wanna put a small lithium 6 or 8 cell battery just under the seat. Does anyone recomend this and if so do I need a different voltage regulator to run it?

progress so far. its turned into the kawa parts bin special!! KZ 1000 police forks,clocks,wheels and swing arm. GPZ 500 front brake and clutch lever assy. 636 rearsets. ER6 switch gear and late Z1000 indicators St1000 tank and tail unit i think the front mudguard is LTD or CSR but not sure.inner rear mudguard is KZ400 and so are the seat fittings

They have no part number. Kayaba shocks that used in Zephyr 550-750-1100 all have rod diameter 12.5mm . So any bumps that fit 12.5mm rod would do.

Like these:

www.enduroklassiker.at/en/shocks-and-rea...7-anschlaggummi.html
vintageroost.com/products/ohlins-shock-bumb-rubber-set-of-2
www.racingsuspensionproducts.com/wearparts.html

Or just search through google or ebay "shock bumper" and choose suitable rubbers.

However trick is not to find those rubber but replace it. There is a rebounding adjuster in lower end of Kayaba shocks. Mark "1"on adjuster correspond the largest hole in adjusting rod (see attached pictures) . So you may end messing up rebound adjuster.

Here is my version of rebuild tutorial for Zephyr 550 shocks. It would be mostly same with 750 shocks except of spring preload adjusters.

www.gazzz-garage.com/2016/06/30/zephyr-k...repairrepack-part-1/
www.gazzz-garage.com/2016/07/12/zephyr-k...repairrepack-part-2/

Hey Everyone, just took off the swing arm for the 750B and I can't get the sleeve out. Does anyone know how to get the sleeve out so that you can get to the needle bearings? I'm just not sure if it is able to be removed and I don't want to damage it. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

While building motorcycle with custom chassis one has to keep in his mind two essential things:

• Front and rear wheels must be positioned inline and centered to longitudinal axis of frame.
• Front and rear sprocket must be in one plane.

For Kawasaki KZ650 cafe-racer I’ve built custom spoked wheels based on Honda CBX550 hubs; I used Kawasaki Zephyr 550 swingarm and 41mm Kawasaki Ninja fork in Zephyr 750 triples. That means the whole chassis setup, including rear sprocket’ hub differs hugely from original. However, I managed to get new wheels aligned with frame longitudinal axis and rear sprocket is located soundly in same plane with its front sister.

It took some time to solve both questions for KZ650 project. However, when one get used for solving such tasks it becomes a matter of thinking and calculation. The crucial point is how to check the result after all parts are ready and all necessary modifications done.

Personally I use Profi-CAT Laser for this purpose. This small tool has flat contact base milled from aluminum and laser leveled with that contact base.



However, firstly I have to assemble rear hub, packing it with new bearing and seal. Then to install sprocket studs and rear sprocket itself:





Now is time for tool. As its counterpart I use old eraser.



It has a flat sides and by blind chance Profi-CAT Laser beam points exactly on edge of white strip that separate halves of eraser with the edge of red point slightly on white. The thickness of white strip is 1.5mm; it makes this eraser very useful in measuring sprockets alignment as it is quite easy to observe any deviation of red laser point from “norm” on eraser.



Thus, the only thing I have to do for checking sprockets alignment is to put Laser tool on rear sprocket and aim its laser beam on front sprocket with eraser placed on its side.



For doing so I used old front sprocket from my supplies (for 525 chain and sure of same thickness as rear sprocket) and old KZ650 front sprocket nut and washer. So just don’t mind the appearance of them, but mind where the point of laser beam is. As you may see, it’s exactly where it should be.

I don't know. Somebody else might know. I pm'd the swing arm width of my 81 650-CSR >> compare your measurement >> measure from the center of the chain adjuster bolts. If that measurement is the same, then a 550 wheel will probably work but guessing. you would want one that includes the sprocket carrier & shock damper. The brake panels are the same. You should compare other stuff >> axle & axle diameter, bearings, etc.

hello all. i picked up a 79 KZ400 project consisting of a bare frame and 6 tubs of parts last september, with clymer's and a bunch of new parts. the frame was de-tabbed, custom tracker seat fab'd, and then the project stalled which is when i picked it up. i usually refresh a late-sixties / early seventies japanese bike or two each winter as a hobby. sometimes i'll keep the finished bike for awhile and sometimes i sell it in the spring. top-end work is not a problem, however the engine on this bike has been fully disassaembled down to the crank. the previous owner tells me all the bike needed was a good cleaning and polish, carb clean, and new points plate, but he got the "tracker" bug, detabbed the frame and kept going. parts are bagged and tagged, and i got a zip drive with lots of disass pics. i have found a few unlabled small parts so i'll need some help there, along with assistance w/the trans. progress is good so far, with the frame and swingarm sanded/painted, new tapered roller head bearings along with front and rear brakes and wheels fully disassembled and serviced. next up is assembling the engine. : )
bob p

The Bassani exhaust system was a trial in patience to restore. As shown in my previous posts, I did cut the exhaust and added more upsweep and more importantly had to move the muffler outboard a bit in order to clear the swingarm. After the fabrication was done, it left huge spots of the original plasma coating missing and it looked really weird. So I had to have the entire system blasted with a very aggressive media to strip the remaining plasma coating off to give it an even finish after paint.

I had to use a blind-hole puller and tons of heat to get the spigots off the header.



Some of the header pipes were dented from someone hammering on them to try to remove the header while it was on a bike. So I found a soft steel ball in the same size as the inner diameter as the pipes and attached it to a steel rod and pounded it down the tubes to push out the dents.



I then had to fabricate a new exhaust hanger to support it all. I used the two bosses on the frame that originally held the rear foorpeg/rear brake bracket. I am very glad I decided not to shave those bosses off the frame as I initially wanted too.




I then made a replica baffle out of stainless steel using miscellanies muffler parts and pieces from the internet. The factory baffle for the gs1100 is 2.25” ID and my new one is 2.00” ID. The baffle that came with the destroyed gpz750 Bassani muffler was only 1.5” in diameter, so that what I have to go on as far as the tuning Bassani did to the match the exhaust to the gpz750 .
I wanted to make it 1.5” but I couldn’t find the correct components to make it happen. I now work next to a motorcycle shop that has a dyno, so I plan to use that to rejet the carbs now that the new baffle is completed but when the weather is warmer.

Factory baffle compared to replica. I have since repainted the new baffle since this picture.



I also acquired a vintage Bassani emblem/plate as well. It has embossed lettering which is neat, but it was drilled for screws to attach it to the muffler. I do not like the idea of drilling holes, so I added faux rivets to the emblem and used high heat silicone to affix it instead of screws. I decided not to polish the plate and am just leaving it with its scratches and dings intact.

Thanks for the tips and advice guys.

Just to give a brief update: after a bit of trial and error, I haven't removed the spindle but I now know exactly where I stand. It isn't sensible to apply tremendous force to dislodge the spindle, as this risks frame damage. The spindle is galvanically corroded to the inner sleeve/spacer, which means that penetrant and rust remover (whether vinegar or other) wouldn't be effective. However, I know how to remove it. Because of one of the washer-spacers being missing on one side, the swingarm can be shifted slightly to the right or left, and this is just enough room to fit a hand-held mini jigsaw. I started to saw through the spindle and inner spacer, but then reconsidered. If I cut away the spindle, knock out the remains from either side, I can then procure another spindle, and a set of swingarm bearings and dust seals, and be done. However, where's the fun in that? It's a bit too chequebook-restoration for me. Besides, I could have bought a complete original bike if that's what I wanted, and have saved money. I started to lose enthusiasm when sawing, and figured, I may as well make this the hardtail bobber that's been on my mind for some time now, so that's the plan now. The spindle is going to stay in place.