That @#$%^&!!! KZ650!

It's ALIVE!!!!!!



So, this is the start/restart.

One thing I've learned from all the grief I've had with her is, I just wanna ride.

I don't want it all shiny and pretty. I actually think rat bikes are cooler. I'm not going to beat it up on purpose, though. I guess a "survivor" best describes what I want.

The weather is beautiful right now, and the bike is running great, so I'm not going to do anything to it for now. I'm gonna ride.

I used to be a cold weather commuter. I'd ride my bike to work in the winter. Coldest day I rode it was -8 (also known as "Summertime" to our friends in Canada). It's too much of a pain in the ass. My commute to work is 15-20 minutes, but it takes me a good 10 minutes to gear up, and my locker at work is too small to store all that gear. It's also just not that fun for me to ride when it's really cold.

I figure I'm gonna quit commuting on the bike for the year when it starts to consistently get below 50 on my rides home at 2am. I have to wear these polyester uniform pants at work, and the wind cuts right through them.

For pleasure riding, I'll probably cut it off at around 40, or so. We'll see.

Then, the projects start. Here's the order for this year.

The first is going to be to do something about the seat. It is amazingly uncomfortable.



I saw where Mark Wing put a ZX12 seat on his KZ650 seat pan. It looked super cool, and I sat on a ZX12 and I liked the way the seat felt. I picked up a ZX12 seat for 25 bucks, so that will be this winter's first project.



Next is wider handlebars. I have Superbike bars on it now, and really like them. The one thing I don't like is what that does to the mirrors. I'm 6'5", 280, and all I see is my shoulders! I don't like bar-end mirrors, so I've put 2" mirror extenders on it.



They work well, but for some reason, they make me think of the multi-colored streamers little girls used to put on their bicycle handlebars. I want bars with the Superbike bend, but 2" wider, per side.

Next is a way to mount my phone on the handlebars. I have a ProClup in my Jeep.

www.proclipusa.com/phone-holders/device/...cmsv?p_leftorright=0

I really like it, but I don't like their handlebar mounts.

I also want to do something about the charging meter I have. With all of the electrical problems I've had, I definitely want a voltmeter. I have one now, but it still reads yellow when it's charging at 13.5 volts, and the leds are supposed to dim at night, but almost always don't.



I've been thinking about getting a handlebar power port like this: www.amazon.com/KapscoMoto-Motorcycle-Han...andlebar+power&psc=1

And then just stick a cheap voltmeter in it like this: www.amazon.com/Battery-Electric-Cigarett...T92DT80YTJ3JB50MSFJS

Simpler, and gives me a power port.

My ultimate project is to mount a KZ100P rear wheel with at least a 150 tire on it. Maybe on a Zephyr swingarm. That's way beyond my skillset, but Leon (532BlackBanshee) is in Skiatook, and he does amazing work. I just put a new rear tire on her, though, so I don't think I'll be doing the KZ1000P wheel this winter.

Right now, though, I just wanna ride!

Good for you, ride the piss out of it. :woohoo:
Steve

swest wrote: Good for you, ride the piss out of it. :woohoo:
Steve

So, right after I posted this, my buddy calls and asks if I want to go to lunch. It's a beautiful day, and I had a few hours before I had to start getting ready for work, so I quickly agreed, and jumped on the bike.

I got about halfway there when the bike suddenly started running like crap, losing power and sputtering. It would only run with the choke all the way on. So, here she is again, in her natural position.



That @#$%^&!!! KZ650!

Clogged vent or strainer?
Steve

swest wrote: Clogged vent or strainer?
Steve

+1

I think I have to get new filters for mine. Riding up to my daughters place for my B day I was riding along side a Victory full dresser above 90+. All was good for a few miles but then the bike started acting like it was running out of gas. Petcock was clear, vent too. Ran great unless I stayed on it for long stretches. They're cheap for two. $10 Makes no sense trying to clean them at that price.
Steve

Looks like you have a busy winter planned. By the way, I'm pretty sure that is not a ZX12 seat. Looks like it came from a ZRX1100/1200. A pretty cushy seat nonetheless.

swest wrote: I think I have to get new filters for mine. Riding up to my daughters place for my B day I was riding along side a Victory full dresser above 90+. All was good for a few miles but then the bike started acting like it was running out of gas. Petcock was clear, vent too. Ran great unless I stayed on it for long stretches. They're cheap for two. $10 Makes no sense trying to clean them at that price.
Steve

Brand new inline fuel filter; looks exactly like that one. Aside from the tank strainer, what other filters are there?

Had something similar, but not nearly as severe happen on Friday. Opened the drain screws in the fuel bowls ... they had water. Drained each bowl till the water was gone, and put 1/4 bottle of HEET in the tank. Ran perfectly last night. Ran perfectly this morning when I started it up and ran if for 15 minutes or so before I made the video. Ran perfectly during the video.

I had it wide open for about a mile. It sounded perfect, but I noticed it wouldn't get over 80mph at 7,000 rpm in high gear. I was about to downshift and see if that helped when it began to lose power and rpms.

There should be a breather in the tank cap, I'm not as familiar with these bikes but, in the old 750 Honda's this is a common problem, if the tank can't breathe properly then it starves the carbs of fuel... If its not fully blocked it will not rev out properly under load, and if its completely blocked, or close to, you'll get a few miles down the road and stop, what confuses most people is that, after waiting for a few minutes, it will run again, but do the same thing, eventually running out of fuel each time...

750 R1 wrote: There should be a breather in the tank cap, I'm not as familiar with these bikes but, in the old 750 Honda's this is a common problem, if the tank can't breathe properly then it starves the carbs of fuel... If its not fully blocked it will not rev out properly under load, and if its completely blocked, or close to, you'll get a few miles down the road and stop, what confuses most people is that, after waiting for a few minutes, it will run again, but do the same thing, eventually running out of fuel each time...

So, would a test for that be to open the cap when it's running horribly?

Yes, you could try that....

TexasKZ wrote: Looks like you have a busy winter planned. By the way, I'm pretty sure that is not a ZX12 seat. Looks like it came from a ZRX1100/1200. A pretty cushy seat nonetheless.

My mistake, Here's the thread on the seat: forums.kz650.info/index.php?topic=8188.0

He refers to it as a "ZRX seat".

It looks just like the one I have.