KZ650 Barn Find!

So many times I see posts of bikes people have found in the back of a barn the owner sells them for next to nothing. I always think "Man when will I find one of those, I never catch a break."

Well I finally got my "Barn Find" a 76 ( or 77 ?) kz650. Caught a craigslist add and called the guy. He said he listed it for his Dad, needed work and not running, includes bunch of spare parts, extra engine, and a title.

I call his Dad, agree to meet. Drive 30 miles with my brother at noon today, load up the bike and all the spare parts, sign over the title and hand the seller $100 shake his hand and drive away.

My brother and the new bike...



It currently has a 750 engine in it, the origial motor had the wrong spark plugs and burned a piston. The bike is otherwise unmolested, stored inside for about 25 years. No rust, clean gas tank, even has the tool kit under the seat. Have the original engine and the parts to fix it as well.





More to follow when I get a better look at everything. I am planning on keeping this one all original as much as possible.

Congratulations, I like it!

Congrats on a great find and buy! The bike may have been built in late 1976 (look at the label on the steering neck to verify) but it is a 1977 KZ650-B1 model. The engine shown in the photo with your brother looks like a 1977 KZ650 engine, but it's a little hard to tell. If the generator cover has the 3 Allen bolts as shown below it is a 1977 motor. Also, take a look directly above that cover and you should see "652cc" marked there if the cylinders are that of a KZ650 engine. Ed

I would say find of the decade (nearly the century), $100 and shake his hand, You are a lucky guy.
I wish i had such a lucky barn find like you. Good luck with your new project bike. I will stay tuned for your progress.

I would say it is a 1977 motor

Date on the frame is 7-76. So it would be a early 77 then. It has three screws on the stator cover.

Awesome find!
Should make a great resto project.

Agree great find, I should be so lucky!!!

Nice find!

Now all you need is a gallon of Simple Green and a case of beer.

Fabulous find and deal.
Congrats and looking forward to read about your restore.
Anders

Kidkawie wrote: Nice find!

Now all you need is a gallon of Simple Green and a case of beer.

Way ahead of you with the de-greaser, a bit behind with the beer...


I washed her up today and looked her over.





She cleaned up well, Paint is poor, the clear coat is gone from the gas tank and its pretty scratched up. The gas tank appears to have been red at one time, the rest of the body work is original paint, so the tank has been replaced, or maybe the rest of the body work too.

The wheels are really nice, still some hard grease on a few spokes, but no rust. Rusty spokes just plain suck, but these are great. Front tire is probably the original continental, it's really cracked, but it does hold air. The rear tire is a Kenda and looks new, I'm not sure how old it is though. The exhaust is nice. Unfortunately on the left side there is some rust spots on the frame and the chrome on the muffler has been removed in spots, typical damage from a battery vent.



The seat is fantastic, just a few tiny pokes in the cover. Great original seat cover.



Very nice complete bike, the missing rear turn signal just needs a hollow mounting bolt and I have one of those.

Now on to the mechanical stuff...

The engine in the bike is indeed a 750 as the seller told me. Apparently he burnt up the original engine and put this one in quite some time ago. He did start it but it knocked, and he never got around to working on it again.





The cylinder head is not in the factory black like the rest of the engine, and he installed points on the 750, which would have an electronic ignition. This is a bit of a fraken-motor it seems.

Here is the original engine. the bottom end was covered up in his garage.



Here are the cylinders and pistons. Two pistons have holes burned in them and are scored badly. The bores are scored too, but not very bad at all. I will mic them out, but it looks like they can be cleaned up.

Here is the cylinder block, the head and the rest of the parts.







The engine covers are in nice shape, that's good because banged up covers take loads of work to clean up again.

Here is a bunch of miscellaneous parts and a very stylish back rest... oh the 70's...