Resurecting Len's neglected 77 KZ650C1!

This one is a "semi" restoration - a.k.a. get it running again and looking passable for as cheap as possible.

It belongs to a local car racing engine builder. It was left for dead outside in all kinds of weather, including snow, many years ago. Rust, decay, filth, and spotty / questionable repairs done over the years. I got it with green and white fuzz growing in the carb bowls, wiring not fit for hanging a picture frame, and layers of dirt and grime over rust and corrosion. I didn't take many pics in it's original state, just some where the bike is in the background (the one with the blue tail section and rusted chrome headers):





First job was to clean and rebuild the carbs, then get it "running" with temporary wiring patched together, fresh oil and filter (the old filter had been installed incorrectly with the spring missing - the oil had been bypassing the filter since no-one knows how long...)



In this pic, you can see the condition of the instrument cluster - dents, huge scratches, rusty bezels and headlamp bucket, a rat's nest of crimped together wiring, even a trailer light plug spliced in...


After confirming the engine would still start and run, I pulled the valve cover to check the cams and valve clearances. Amazingly, all was well...bullet-proof Kawasaki engines!

Bike was partially stripped down to the basic chassis, spray soaked with diesel fuel for days, scrubbed with brushes, scraped clean around the chain run, then $22 at the coin-op car wash in the back of my truck, it was ready to be completely stripped down...

Next...
How to quickly deal with rust?








Sandblast!!!!






Then rattle can on the chassis parts and time for re-assembly to begin...



Meanwhile - days of cleaning and polishing parts back to shiny. Not a full restoration, so color sand what is left of the paint, polishing compounds, and tons of elbow grease...








Believe it or not, this is the rectifier the bike has on it. I tested the charging system, and it works (how, I don't know), so Len wanted me to leave it in there...


The wiring harnesses were gone through, cleaned, repaired with new connectors, soldered and heat shrink splices, a new ATC fuse box and fuses, loomed and taped, tested, and properly routed on the chassis. A new signal flasher, and bulbs everywhere. Then the front end was re-installed with new dust seals on the forks, stanchions clean and polished, rusted chrome areas lightly soda blasted and protected from rusting again with a dusting of silver paint, headset bearings cleaned, greased, and adjusted, top and bottom triples blasted and painted, chrome parts polished, and instruments cleaned, straightened, metal to metal body-filler, primer and automotive paint applied with a spray gun...


Then on to bigger problems...

I have two separate posts for the hard to solve problems I encountered. First, Len's rear wheel could move side to side almost 1/4" when I got the bike. How he had been riding it like that, I can't figure out...

Removed the worn out swing arm bushings, but the hard steel sleeve was worn out too, and it is obsolete. With an NOS sleeve from evil-bay and replacement bushing, parts would have been about $275 Canadian dollars! Holy S@#T!!!!!
I like using bearings in the swing arm, but no complete kit exists for this bike, but I have a lathe, so $20 in parts and a few hours later...









Now back on two wheels...



The other big problem is the 14 mm rear master cylinder. I can't find a rebuild kit for this!!! I tried honing the bore and re-assembling with the old parts, but it is still leaking...

I think I'll have to retro-fit a later model master cylinder. I have a decent Z1 (note: I refer to all the big KZ's - Z1, Z900, KZ1000's - built prior to 1981 as "Z1's") master cylinder that fits in the bike, but it is 5/8" bore. I'm going to try a late GPz1100 part and locate a remote reservoir on the bike somewhere, but until the parts arrive, the rear brakes are on "hold"....

Still, I think it looks better than when I started?

Next up, paint three of the four headers with extreme temp. stainless colored paint (I managed to save the chrome on one pipe and both Jardine silencers, so that is what Len and I agreed I would do with the rest of the exhaust), Install the carbs and a used throttle switch and cable assembly from a 2006 Honda ST1100, A new Chinese reproduction Honda Nighthawk 700 front master cylinder is on order for the front brakes, and then properly tune the carbs with new intake manifolds, a re-furbished air box, and intake air tubes softened with wintergreen oil and alcohol...

Oh, yeah, I know - the lighting in my main shop building sucks! I was supposed to get some freebie 4 foot fluorescent fixtures installed, but the dude that offered still hasn't come through yet...sometime you get what you pay for :laugh:

I don't think that is a 1978 KZ650-SR. I believe you have a 1977 KZ650-C1. Is each footpeg attached with a single bolt? If so, it's not an SR. Is the rear wheel 18"? The SR used a 16" rear wheel. Are there 3 allen bolts in the generator cover near the word KAWASAKI? That makes it a 1977. The tank is from a 1977 KZ650-C1 and the cast wheels, rear disk brake, and dual front disks rule out a KZ650-B model. Check the vin and engine numbers to be sure. Ed

Yes 650ed, you are correct, this is a 77 C1. I'm no expert in pre - 81 KZ's, except maybe the Z1R and MkII!

I should have been more careful on determining and stating the model and year. It is just that this isn't my bike (just another forgotten and neglected old Honda / Kawasaki / Suzuki / Yamaha POS passing through my garage for a quick and cheap job to get it looking o.k. and back on the road again - hey, if I don't do it, no-one else will :laugh: ). I don't have the side panels, so no model designation is apparent on the bike itself. Len (the owner) just knows it as his KZ650, and I don't think he even knows what model year it is. I haven't seen an SR or even a B model 650 since the 80's. My old high school shop teacher had a beautiful (but modified) 78 KZ650SR back in the early 80's, and this bike is very similar in appearance to it - at least in my memories of 30+ years ago! :laugh: . I had never seen nor heard of the C model here - EVER - so when I would see that designation (while attempting futile searches for parts) , I always thought it was a model that wasn't imported / sold in Canada. So I thought this must be a 78 SR....

Lesson learned - thanks!

that lathe looks pristine! What material did you use for the bushings in the bearings? it think the OEM sleeve is case hardened steel. Did you trim down the old sleeve to fit in between the bushings you turned for the swingarm? it needs a sleeve all the way through the pivot to keep the frame from pinching the swingarm when its torqued down. looking good so far, I will be following your progress.

could always bore the old master cylinder out and machine and install a sleeve.

leon

DoctoRot wrote: that lathe looks pristine! What material did you use for the bushings in the bearings? it think the OEM sleeve is case hardened steel. Did you trim down the old sleeve to fit in between the bushings you turned for the swingarm? it needs a sleeve all the way through the pivot to keep the frame from pinching the swingarm when its torqued down. looking good so far, I will be following your progress.

Thanks, I hope Len likes it, too, when it is done and he can ride it again. Funny guy, he is. One conversation we had, and I'll quote "I want a throttle that works, and maybe the electric start. I don't really care about the rest". So I asked if he wanted me to fix the lights...."Yeah, I guess it would be good if it had a headlight and maybe a taillight that works. Yeah, that would be good. Go ahead and do that." I then asked if I should fix his brakes..."Doesn't one of them kinda work already?" :ohmy:

I used a scrap piece of industrial bearing guide railing, which was hardened SAE 4140 steel, for the inner bearing races. Yes, I cut exactly the length of the new races off the inner sleeve ends and used it as a spacer. Drilling the through hole before boring took the most time (and life out of my drill bits). Both cut o.k. with carbide tools - small cuts, plenty-o cutting oil, and patience!

531blackbanshee wrote: could always bore the old master cylinder out and machine and install a sleeve.

leon

Thanks, I would consider doing that, and have done that with old CBX front and rear master cylinders, but that isn't the problem. The piston seal is leaking past the piston itself. The bore is o.k., but the seal is NFG. The GPZ1100 m/c will bolt on easily, but will need a longer brake line and a remote reservoir...
I should be getting the parts today, I hope.

Here are some more pics I had taken about a month ago, just before everything stopped when I had shoulder surgery (my 4 th one).


2006 Honda ST1100 throttle switch assembly and cables, 1986 Honda Nighthawk S front maser cylinder....





It is running nice, everything works again, except the rear brake master cylinder, damn it...still going to have to find a solution to that. I might try to fit a piston and seals from a Honda 14 mm kit I have (CBX, of course). Len is going to have the seat re-upholstered after he picks it up...

Here are some more...