78 KZ650 Mono Rear Shock Cafe/Brat Style

Well the weather forecast was not good so I decided to take matters in to my own hands.



It was a great idea as it allowed me to work on the wiring in the dry all day.

I spent several hours rewiring the loom and putting new connectors on. It was a real pain to do, but quite rewarding.

There is still more sleeving to do, but I ran out of my loom harness tape. So it will need to be finished when the new order arrives.

I did get a chance to wire it all in and test things like the new speedo.



I also tested the new headlamp, but discovered a problem. The side light ring was working, but not the main or dipped beam arggggh!!! I was hoping what I had done already would have fixed that, but no.

I started attacking the loom with a multimeter to try trace the issue back to it's source. I ended up back at the fuse box and this seemed to be where the issue was. However the fuse was fine which confused me. It took me a moment to work out that the issue was actually the connectors being old and rusty.

So I decided to replace the fuse box and see if that solved the issues.





That would be a big fat yes!



I was so relieved as I've been trying to sort that issue out for some time. I even considered getting someone else to look at it, but I was determined that I could find out the issue.

So there is not much more I need to do before getting it MOT'd and back on the road:
1. Finish the loom wiring
2. Setup the speedo and finish the wiring of that.
3. Get the tank back on and filled with fuel.
4. Get her started!

With some good weather and orders arriving swiftly I hope to get that done in the next week or two.

Fantastic! Good job getting the wiring sorted out. Hope the rest of it stays on track for you.

Well bad day today and yesterday, I took the bike in for it's MOT test and it failed on many many things. Some which are petty bs like reflectors need to be on the center line of the bike, others that I don't understand.

The main ones are:
Rear suspension has a modification which reduces the strength of a load bearing member or its supporting structure.
Rear shock absorber has inadequate damping effect
Front mudguard can easily contact the tyre
Rear position lamp does not illuminate immediately when its switched on.
Brake lever has inadequate reverse travel.
Brake reaction bracket insecure.

Loads of the other bits are just tightening and adjusting, but those ones are a pain as some of them have passed mot's in the past so I don't get it. I cannot alter the suspension myself as I don't have the tools.

I'm going to see the guy the did the test tomorrow to see what he thinks needs to be done.

dammit!


leon

What a load of shit! The swing arm and suspension obviously passed MOT before.... that sucks man.

You have more negotiating to do ( as opposed to fixing) to get your bike on the road.

Nice work so far, good luck.

Great looking bike....really like the Green and gold

Tyler wrote: What a load of shit! The swing arm and suspension obviously passed MOT before.... that sucks man.
You have more negotiating to do ( as opposed to fixing) to get your bike on the road.

That's exactly my point, the original conversion was done 10years ago ffs.

spdygon wrote: Great looking bike....really like the Green and gold

Thanks

531blackbanshee wrote: dammit!
leon

Indeed!

such a bummer when you finally get road ready, and something stupid stops all your hard work!!!

i just got my first kz a month ago,shes semi brat style herself, and have yet to get her on the road either... starter clutch issue....

really like your KZ and will be looking at your progress and ideas for inspiration!!!

i hope your on the road soon!

Well after the disaster of the MOT test I had lots to deal with. Most of it was minor, but some required thought and planning. The key issues are as follows:

1. The Rear shock linkage is terrible and needs doing correctly
2. The shock itself is old and knackered
3. The front mudguard is not one for this bike and isn't secured correctly.
4. The rear light is playing up.
5. The brake torque arm is attached by a bolt not giving it movement
6. Footrest are insecure.

Just a few jobs then. I've got to work on these in turn.

1. The shock linkage was replaced at some point with sheet metal instead of the correct dogbones. I've got a second hand shock linkage from eBay which will need fitting. You can see the issue below. I didn't catch it as I didn't look under the bike right there. It's passed mot's before which is worrying!



2. The shock is very old now and finding a better alternative was the best plan. I've search around to find a suitable second hand alternative, without decent success. So I bit the bullet and ordered a new shock. Its a YSS one and was well priced. They are making it for me now. Once it's arrived I can fit it and the dogbones.



3. The mudguard was easy. It can pass the mot without one. So I removed it. I've ordered a replacement from Skidmarx. That will arrive in a couple of weeks. In the meantime it looks much cooler without the mudguard!



4. The rear light was an odd one, I swore it was working, but I was wrong. It's not lighting up properly. I tried loads of things, but I worked out in the end that the light had broken. Very annoying. I thought about getting a replacement, but my faith in that lasting wasn't good. So I looked for alternatives. In the end I found a combined indicators/brake/rear light system that is in a tiny cnc strip.



The seller was in Australia and it arrived in less than a week! I was amazed. I started testing it to make sure it worked.


As this light sticks to the number plate I also needed a number plate light. I found a tiny cnc number plate light on ebay and had to have it.



With both of these changes I had to remake the number plate bracket. I've spent the last couple of days knocking this up, It needs the light mounting to the number plate, but it's close to being done.


5. The bolt was a right bodge job and needed me to source the proper torque bushing. I managed to find a new one which was good. I need to fit it tomorrow.

6. The footrests were using too small a bolt as the eyes of my cnc footpegs were smaller than the originals. I drilled out the the holes and fixed a larger bolt in place. You can also see the new oil cap I found going cheap on ebay.

Well ,It looks like the MOT tester actually did you a favour. These things are pretty important points for your safe being and not nitpicking.

davido wrote: Well ,It looks like the MOT tester actually did you a favour. These things are pretty important points for your safe being and not nitpicking.

I totally agree, I was amazed when he showed me. I had not checked out some of things as it had a valid mot when I bought it. As soon as we went through them together I concurred with him completely. He was amazed that it had passed 18months before with these faults.

I will be taking it back there again once I fixed things as I know I will get a good level of service.

Ok so I've mainly been waiting for parts to arrive. The main ones are the rear shock and the front mudguard. They both had to be custom ordered and manufactured which took a few weeks.

While I was waiting I made a new bracket for the number plate and rear lights.





I then fitted it to the bike



I was really happy with it. I may paint it in the future, but for the meantime I will leave it as bare aluminium.

Next I took delivery of the new mudguard. It's from skidmarx and was reasonably priced. I tried finding one on ebay, but they were either the wrong colour or damaged.