kz750e Resto-Mod

Yeah, that bike is pretty much perfect! The Kerker on my 750fx is low and tucked under the peg too. The one on the 550 that I built (avatar pic) sweeps upward quite a bit. I want to buy a set of those wheels just to have them. I like the PMC Dymag copies. I'm thinking of doing a GPz1100 project, and I'll use them if I do. Too many ideas for too many projects....

Found this one somewhere too.....
If you look closely, you'll notice that it's a modded Zephyr 750 rep of a Z750fx. Seems to be common in Japan.

I'm enjoying watching this build. Your family may not understand your need to tinker but your friends here (like me) can!

I've recently completed my KZ750E rebuild so I can relate to a few of the things you are doing here. I can also relate to the frustration in getting the needed parts.

Noticed this comment and would like to learn more...
" zr-7 sprag style starter clutch and secondary shaft"

Is this a direct bolt on? The starter clutch on my bike works fine, for now, but it sound funny so I'm not so sure about the durability.

On my bike the damper rubbers in the secondary drive cush hub were shrunk so there was extra lash in the gear. I struggled to get a new set of dampers but eventually got them (and a spare set to - long story). Replacing these parts really tightened up the system. Another worthwhile update was replacing the damper rubbers in the clutch hub. The hub had a lot of lash in the stock dampers as well and there are a couple different sources for aftermarket dampers that tighten those up as well. A very worthwhile mod.

mjg15- I have also seen the mkII clone kit for the Japanese market Zephyrs. I think they are Doremi Collection FX1 kits. server44.joeswebhosting.net/~do21762/sho...age=index&cPath=2_76
I have seen them them for the Zephyr 400, 750 and 1100. (the 400 version looks absolutely terrible.) I have a picture of a zephyr with the body kit on my computer that I was using as inspiration for what I wanted my bike to look like when it was done. I frankly google images of the Japanese market bikes, because there are so many cool products and ideas to see.
Especially if you use Japanese search terms like ゼファー４００, ゼファー750, or ゼファー1100

Nessism- I read your thread for your kz750e restoration twice. I read about your issues with getting the secondary shaft rubber blocks and so I decided to try to revitalize my rubber blocks before I tried to order new ones. My rubber blocks were rock hard and shrunk as well causing quite a bit of play in the primary hub, so i first soaked the rubbers in Pine-Sol for a month and then in Marvel Mystery Oil for another month ( its supposed to have wintergreen oil in it.) Ofter the two months of soaking I took them out and they had gained maybe .25 of a MM per block and they were soft enough to bend. So when I put the primary gear back together, all of the slop was gone. So I left the blocks out in a zip lock for another two months and when it came time to make my massive part order from Partzilla I took the rubbers out and assembled the primary drive and still no slop. So they didn't shrink back or get hard again. (engine heat will probably do it though) I tried this with the ones from a zr-7 primary gear and they showed severe cracking when I flexed them after soaking. The rubber blocks from the zr-7 are identical to the kz750 ones except they were twenty years newer with 10 thousand less miles and they were in worse shape.

Among the multitude of other improvements Kawasaki made to the zr-7 motor, they replaced the three roller starter clutch with the sprag style that has 20+ contact points that virtually eliminates slipping issues. I only started my kz750 a handful of times before I tore it apart, so I don't know if my starter clutch was going out, but everyone recommends rebuilding it if you have the engine apart. So when I got the zr-7 higher volume oil pump, because the pump is wider it's drive gear will run on the very very edge of the secondary shaft gears. So I bought a used zr-7 secondary shaft off the internet and it came with the started clutch and primary gear already on it. It is a 100% bolt on upgrade. The zr-7 clutch will slide right onto the kz750 secondary shaft with no modifications needed. The gear that is turned by starter clutch needs to be the sprag type, but everything is exactly the same as the kz750 including the bearing the clutch rides on. The zr-7 secondary shaft is only different as the gears that runs the oil pump are wider on the shaft. The primary gear has the same amount of teeth so the primary gear ratio is unaffected.

I also saw that you replaced your clutch rubbers and that prompted me to do the same. I plan to do a whole right up on it, but I need to get better pictures and it is all boxed up, so I will wait until I start assembling the motor to document it in more detail. But I got new Viton rubbers from a guy on the turbo 750 site and I bolted my clutch plate back together instead of welding. (not because its better, but I have a crap welder....but more on that later.)

Also if money was no object, I would be getting these Galespeed Type-N wheels.

Drool....

Another favorite, although I generally prefer the square bodied bikes....

I have the same bike in my "Inspirational Ideas for Project Bikes" folder on my computer.

Nice! That's a better pic than I found. I have to finish getting this 750fx roadworthy, then finish up the GSXr750 powered GS550 that I started last year. After that we'll see whether to restore a stock bike ( I have an ELR and low mile GPz550 waiting), or get inspired by some of these pictures (or by your build), and do another project build.

Here is the gs/gsxr that I started last year. I moved, so that put me off track on getting it done:

I wish life would allow me to have so many projects to choose from. So many cool bikes, so little time.
I'm still holding onto the dream of getting a gs750es and making a clone of this. I saw this picture years ago and instantly fell in love with it.

So, I had a look at this thread about a week ago......

It just so happens that I have a "new" tank coming for my '79 shaft.

What to do with the "old" one?

Fit it to my GPz maybe?

You have really got me thinking. I know where there is a 82 GPz750 crankcase. I could throw in the KZ550 gears and put on a ZR7 top end and a 650 kick start just for fun. How cool would that be?

I say go for it! The more of us who try the 6-speed conversion the better.
Making the gear set fit is super simple, it's the clutch hub that has to be modified to fit. Only time will tell if the modifications I made to my clutch will stand up to the test of time. The more people who try, the better chance of one of us coming up with the definitive procedure to make it a reliable mod.
The Zr-7 head will work just fine, but it has no advantages over the kz750 or gpz heads other than they are plentiful eBay. It's mostly the gpz cams and carbs that provide the oomph.

Daftrusty wrote: I say go for it! The more of us who try the 6-speed conversion the better.
Making the gear set fit is super simple, it's the clutch hub that has to be modified to fit. Only time will tell if the modifications I made to my clutch will stand up to the test of time. The more people who try, the better chance of one of us coming up with the definitive procedure to make it a reliable mod.
The Zr-7 head will work just fine, but it has no advantages over the kz750 or gpz heads other than they are plentiful eBay. It's mostly the gpz cams and carbs that provide the oomph.

Parts availability is the only reasons for the ZR7 top end. Might as well do a 810 overbore while I'm at it.

I think I have my winter project.

Awesome project, you are doing a mint job.