1978 KZ400 B1 - Scramber to be

There was a thread there on single carb conversions that was full of great information. Wish it was still active.

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just curious - are those shinko's the stock size? (3.00 front and 3.50 rear?)

I had a KZ400 as my main transport for 30 years in India; well, 30 half years, I was only there in winter.
One day, the oil pump broke, so while I was waiting for a new one I bought a yamaha rd350.
When I got the KZ working again, I turned the RD into a dirt bike. They didn't have off road bikes there at all.



It worked really well; except with the front forks out and the rear fork in, the seating position was too far back.
I called it the Rice Burner; what Americans called Jap bikes back then, and I used to burn through [dry off season] rice fields with it.
Front end from a Honda 550, rear shocks from an xt500, everything else custom fabricated.

mark in Portugal wrote: I had a KZ400 as my main transport for 30 years in India; well, 30 half years, I was only there in winter.
One day, the oil pump broke, so while I was waiting for a new one I bought a yamaha rd350.
When I got the KZ working again, I turned the RD into a dirt bike. They didn't have off road bikes there at all.

I think you will like this: it is a Maico 490 (two-stroke dirt bike) engine in a Honda Dream (?) frame.

That does look funny;
I once saw a flat 4 water cooled motorbike in Boston; I asked the guy what the hell is that thing?
Subaru motor in a BMW he told me.

Kzbrat wrote: just curious - are those shinko's the stock size? (3.00 front and 3.50 rear?)

Yes, Shinko 244 Dual sport tires. 3.00-18 front, 3.50-18 rear.

mark in Portugal wrote: That does look funny;
I once saw a flat 4 water cooled motorbike in Boston; I asked the guy what the hell is that thing?
Subaru motor in a BMW he told me.

and some folks go the other way....

www.speedhunters.com/2015/01/kiwi-flavou...-jun-synergy-brz-v8/

Hmm, yes, well...

I drive a turbocharged Jap car.




Turbodiesel.
grumble.... moan...

I got to assembling the head on Sunday and found that I was missing the 6 cam cover bolts, several bolts of different sizes for the valve cover and one of the 4 bolts for the breather cap. The kid (previous owner) did a pretty good job of bagging everything but it appears he misplaced a few things. Went looking on Ebay for OEM Kawasaki parts and I'm not paying $14.50 for a single M8x55 bolt that will mismatch the existing ones. So I put together an order for Bolt Depot and Z1 Enterprises for anything I was missing and while I was at it took a look around the bike for anything that was too rusty, tarnished or damaged and ordered replacements for them too. Replacements will be in this week and I hope to finally get that top end together.

Top end back together and working on a skid plate

Skid plate finished up, case guards on, getting the wiring harness in place and re-assembling various bits as I go. Side covers are just one to get an idea of how things fit for now.

Building an electronics/battery tray. I started by drawing it up in Google Sketchup. This let me visualize it and provided all the dimensions to allow me to create a cardboard mockup to check fitment. The cardboard mockup is then flattened to give me a template to cut from light sheet steel.











Next up is to cut out, bend up, paint and install the electronics tray. Then comes tearing apart and cleaning up the front caliper, getting that painted and installed, brake likes, etc. And after that I'll be on to the handlebar controls, clutch, throttle, etc. I don't know yet if I'm going to sink time into cleaning up and fixing the old handlebar controls or buy newer replacements. For about $65 for a brand new set with brand new wiring and switches I may be better off spending money then sinking hours into trying to fix up the new ones. Same for the old master cylinder.