'81 KZ750 - Project for an Aspiring Greasemonkey

left hand bit good idea as far as an extractor why if you use a bit just a little bigger then screw .threaded part drill head off screw take lid off might come out with fingers.if not vice grips may tap on them to . dont think im telling you wrong. i know you have hand grips on but in the future if you want to remove a good grip, that you want to use again put your air blower on your compressor place it under edge of grip apply air and slid it off. works good.if you have one that dont want to stay on,slides off use fast dry spray paint on in side of grip and before it drys put it on let it dry. good to go.you probably already know these things sorry if i bored any one .and good luck.get her done springs not to far away .

Made some progress this weekend, although it was mostly of the tear down variety. Started out working on the stripped screws on the front master cylinder. I wasn't able to find a left hand drill bit at any of the local hardware stores, so I proceeded with trying to use a square EZ out. However, that didn't work. I seriously think the screws are fused in place or they were stripped out. I did get a nice hole drilled, and I may just see if some self-tapping screws will do the trick. If not, I will just find a replacement master cylinder.

Other work included removing the front wheel so I could get to the fender. I plan on starting on paint by later this week. Plus, I need a new front tire and it will be easy to take the entire wheel in rather than riding the bike to the shop. The hub came off pretty easily, although the bolts holding the brake calipers in place were pretty stiff.

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I also got the rear cowling removed in preparation for paint. Judging from the amount of dust, I think this may be the first time the cowling was ever removed. Having all the pieces removed is getting me excited to start sanding and prepping for paint.

How she sits as of now.


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I cleaned the exhaust with CLR in an effort to remove as much of the rust as possible. I plan on painting the exhaust with some hi-temp paint in order to make it look a little better and hide some of the rust. Not sure how well it will look, but it's worth a shot. Remember, I'm just wanting to get this road-worthy. I'm not looking to enter any competitions. :lol:

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Also unscrewed the tach cable from the engine since I have a new rubber plug coming with the gaskets, air filter and other parts on Tuesday.


Finally, I took a picture of the cam end plugs that I removed last week.

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Oh, I also think I may need a new headlight since the Yamaha piece that was retrofitted is just not looking good. Not looking for strictly OEM, but anybody have hints for decent aftermarket headlights that would be easy to install?

reproduction headlight buckets are reasonable by the time I bought a used one cleaned it up then had to paint it I could've bought a new one from Z1E

Been awhile since I've checked in here, but I have been making significant progress on the bike. The main thing I've done is the paint.





With the paint finished, I was finally able to start putting it back together to see if it would still run.

I put a new gasket on the valve cover and bolted that back down. I also got the exhaust back in place (after replacing the copper gasket in the exhaust port) along with the tank and rear cowling.

After double checking everything, I finally put about a gallon of gas and some Seafoam in the tank and fired it up. I was surprised how well it seems to run since all I've done is replace the air filter, tighten the carb boots, and replace a gasket. However, it did start to smoke a little from the exhaust port. Is this anything to worry about? Or is it just leftover degreaser burning off?



Finally, one other question. While doing some thorough cleaning before putting the exhaust back on, I noticed something strange with the rear axle. :blink:



Anyone know the proper size and grade of the cotter pin I should buy?

Hitch pin clips are a good choice, IMO.





Good Fortune!

Thanks for the tip. I considered a hitch pin, but didn't want to take a chance until I knew for sure.

Not only quicker to remove and install, and re-useable, a side benefit is that hitch pins are much less likely to draw blood when wiping down the bike.

Good Fortune!

So, it's been awhile since I've provided an update. I got everything back together and fired it up, only to discover some smoke. No worries, just give it a good washing to clean off the oil and grease and now it smokes no more. Which is nice!

I also got some new rubber for the front along with a front master cylinder just to be safe. Sorry, no pictures as I've been too busy working on the bike to stop and take photos.

There is some bad news, though. As I was rolling the bike out of the garage to take the first test ride since I've put it back together, the rear wheel was stuck. After some looking, the rear brake caliper was locked and not letting the wheel roll. So, off comes the caliper, and I can't seem to get the piston back into the caliper. I call around and find a guy that works on old bikes, so Tuesday I will take him the caliper to see if he can repair/rebuild.

I've also discovered that the chain is going to need replaced. When rolling the rear wheel, the chain "binds" in one spot before rolling freely again. After a search on this site, I've learned that's a sign that the chain is done. Since I'm going to replace it, is it worth doing a conversion to 530? How hard is it to convert?

Doing some calculations on Z1's website, it seems that my front sprocket would be 16t and the rear 40t with a 100 link chain. Does that sound right?

Again, I appreciate the help and will try to update with more pictures next time.

The conversion to 530 was easy for me on my '81 KZ750 H2. I would suggest e-mailing the guys at Z1, they were a ton of help for me. We had a bit of back and forth just to make sure I was going to order the right things. There was a question of spacers for the for the front sprocket but I think I got them.