KZ problem developing! DAMNIT!

Well, USPS fucked up again. My replacement gasket that was supposed to be here yesterday ain't. There's no tracking past the day after it was shipped. Messed my day totally up, I didn't even feel like going for a ride. I've been in funk a bit lately and this didn't help.

I just made myself a Newcastle and Irish boilermaker. I'll see how I feel in the morning and maybe go on a ride.

My brother took his new tank over to his buddy that he's had since high school and has been doing body work for longer than I've been alive. Hes going to get the small amount of rust out of the inside and outside then put a basic finish on it then my brother is going to paint it . I think we're going to go with a art deco/ art nouvaeu theme. It would be perfect for the angular tank shape.

I ordered caliper piston seals from z1 E... same thing

OK, I'm seriously having doubts. I feel like cutting bait and parting this one out. I'm not sure what to do I've done alot to try and get this going and the engine still isn't put back together. I have a nagging feeling that there is a frame issue. I might have been overly optimistic when I saw the fin damage on the engine and bent handle bars, I've found a big dent on the bottom of the frame tube and I remember a tendency for it to flop hard to the right when I turned the bars slightly when riding at neighborhood speed.

I haven't had time in ages to even think about doing any work on this bike and the list seems endless. From rrsmsw9999's wreck on his KZ1000E2 and other problems others have had with their MKIIs and Shafties I don't know if I'll have the patience.

I found a listing for a KZ1100A2 that looks really nice that's having charging issues. I now know enough about charging issues that I think I could probably work that out pretty fast.

That is too bad, I always liked the tough guy look of the ST (looks like a MKii, my favorite style of the early Z's). I hope you change your mind about scrapping it, provided the frame isn't tweaked...

I really am torn.

I was pretty sure that the turning problem was because of the crappy old, under inflated tire on the front. However, once I discovered the big dent on the frame hidden behind the pipes I'm afraid I've bitten off more than I can chew.

It's not like my GPz, it's been running fairly consistently well pretty much the whole time I've had it and am planning some decent mods including a franken engine.

The only way I know I'll get close to what I've spent so far is to part it out. At least I know the parts will be going on a decent, roadworthy bike and i wont be throwing good money after bad.

I was hoping to have this bike on the road almost a year ago and it's now just a pile of parts.

Before quiting on it, let's see a couple good photos of this frame rail dent...
You aren't high speed road racing this thing, it's a street/road bike and it might be less severe then you think.
Adding:
Handling weirdness
Anytime I've dropped a bike hard enough to bend the bars, it also knocked the triple tree clamps and upper tubes out of alignment and if dropped really hard, tweaked a fork tube enough to warrant replacement.
Triple tree alignment is rather easy to do. Replacing a fork tube is easy too.

I have a couple dents on one of my down tubes. I bought the frame from Mike but didn't notice it for 6 months until I was well enough to start putting the bike together after the wreck. It also isn't a 75 frame as he said it was plus he lied to me about not having a salvage title. He wouldn't give me my money back and lost his business soon after. He is a crook and I have and will get him every time I have the chance. The bike runs true but one day I hope to find another 75 not running so I can switch parts and have my 75 titled bike back and a bike I can mod until the cows come home. :woohoo:
Steve

It's not so much that it has a dent in the frame tubes but that it's an indication of what other damage might have occurred at the same time that I can't necessarily see like the steering head possibly being bent. I've tried to determine if it is but I can't really tell.

I think the biggest thing for me is that this has turned out to be a bigger project than I expected. I wanted a runner that just needed a little TLC to get it on the road like my 750. Since it was licensed when I got it I figured that was the case. Since it had low compression and the fins were busted on the cylinders and head i figured I'd replace them. That's where the project stopped. I've also been stalled in getting replacement exhaust.

I wanted to able to ride this bike by now, More importantly have my brother riding it for a while. After this season it was also supposed to be a back up for my 750 so I could do some more thorough work on it. Having not ridden the 750 for almost 2 weeks due to charging issues has kind of exacerbated the problem.

I put up a trial ad locally and have had some decent interest in both complete and in parts.

We'll see what happens.

you could get your frame straightened. I had a guy do it locally for me for about $350

GPzMOD750 wrote: It's not like my GPz, it's been running fairly consistently well pretty much the whole time I've had it and am planning some decent mods including a franken engine.

Off topic slightly, but if your stock GPz750 engine is good, I suggest picking up another 750 engine locally as the start to build your new high performance version, and keep you old motor safely stored the way it is. Used 750 engines are relatively inexpensive, and you can keep riding until the new one is ready to swap in...

DoctoRot wrote: you could get your frame straightened. I had a guy do it locally for me for about $350

I'm sure it's possible but not something I was planning on. I'd rather not have to deal with it and move on. I was looking at a KZ1100A2 today that could very well work for not much more than I have in this.

Kray-Z wrote: Off topic slightly, but if your stock GPz750 engine is good, I suggest picking up another 750 engine locally as the start to build your new high performance version, and keep you old motor safely stored the way it is. Used 750 engines are relatively inexpensive, and you can keep riding until the new one is ready to swap in...

I was planning on using a different KZ750R1 crank case that I know of with a 6 speed gear set and a ZR7 top end with GPz750 or equivalent, or better, cams. I might have to take a few things off the existing engine but it would be left pretty much intact. Not that it runs perfectly, it was still down a bit on compression on a couple of cylinders last time I checked.