1975 KZ400D - restore project

CMSnl has a bunch of the front caliper parts. Mine was frozen and it took several days of soaking in the parts cleaner and a lot of care to remove the piston. But its back together and Im quite sure it will work again!

Just spoke w my buddy's over at the shop, and they said that in the manual we have that the carbs are in fact a CVB 36. Can anyone confirm whether or not this was a typo in the original manual or has anyone came across this in the past with carb rebuilds? I would like to order the proper rebuild kits. Thanks for any info!

Jack_Mills wrote: Just spoke w my buddy's over at the shop, and they said that in the manual we have that the carbs are in fact a CVB 36. Can anyone confirm whether or not this was a typo in the original manual or has anyone came across this in the past with carb rebuilds? I would like to order the proper rebuild kits. Thanks for any info!

Go to kz400.com , click on technical data on the left side and scroll down just a little. Odd Ivar who built the site wrote that it was indeed a missprint by Kawasaki and the carbs are CVB36..

Odd Ivar was a regular contributor here and had tremendous knowledge of the 400 and 440s and it was sad when he passed away some years ago.

Ah! Thanks JR! Makes sense now, I was like wtf is going on. Know the site, didnt think about searching it for that info.

Originally Ive ordered the CVB36 rebuild kit. Its noted that the float needle seat is too big, all jets are wrong size, main jet needle is too big, and the only thing that fits are the gaskets. Could this be that in fact my bike has the 32 carbs on it, and not the 36?

Jack_Mills wrote: CMSnl has a bunch of the front caliper parts. Mine was frozen and it took several days of soaking in the parts cleaner and a lot of care to remove the piston. But its back together and Im quite sure it will work again!

Not for the 1976D3. I need the piston seals and those have been unobtainable for years. I have a line on a guy who is trying to have them made but it is not cheap.

I got the gauges mounted and such on the bike yesterday. Bought a LED headlight, but its a bit small, and wont fit the stock housing properly. Does anyone know of a specific brand or model number for a housing for the standard HD LED type light 7 inch? I seen alot of housings but most mount at the bottom, not on the sides. Trying to keep the stock look, with an updated headlight, behind the fairing.

Had the Vin sticker redone, it looks great! Things are moving right along, should have the rest of the front end done over the weekend.

Also, wanted to say Thank You and Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours. I am thankful for all the valuable info this forum from members across the globe.

There may be bulb available for the 400 but I never found one that fit the stock bucket. I ended up getting a new Emgo chrome housing with an h4 style bulb.

ThatGPzGuy wrote: There may be bulb available for the 400 but I never found one that fit the stock bucket. I ended up getting a new Emgo chrome housing with an h4 style bulb.

I went with the SpeedMotoCo version: H4 bulb with a black bucket and chrome ring, using the stock mounting brackets, on my '79 400. I did need to shim the mounting bolts a bit, so I alternated flat washers with rubber washers to make up the width (and maybe to reduce vibration).

Jack_Mills wrote: I got the gauges mounted and such on the bike yesterday. Bought a LED headlight, but its a bit small, and wont fit the stock housing properly. Does anyone know of a specific brand or model number for a housing for the standard HD LED type light 7 inch? .

There is [ or was ] a headlight available for a small Honda that is a direct replacement for the KZ400/440 with an H4 bulb.
The KZ400/440 uses a 6 1/4 in. headlight assembly.


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Today was a productive day working on the bike. Polished and cleaned the carbs. The first rebuild kit I bought on Ebay claimed to be for my bike, but was in fact not. Thanks to the guys over at Z1, who got me the proper rebuild kit (minus the main jet). Also cut the old spokes off and started media blasting the hubs in prep for powder. The replacement 3 ohm coil I got from Z1 didnt really fit the way I wanted, so the owner of the shop, Tim, bent the mount and we got it sitting pretty nice. Also, much thanks to the guys here who gave me great info about restoring the switches on the handlebars. The 77 Cadaver has the exact same switches, so Ill be taking a few parts from those and making two restored ones. The carbs should be rebuild and back together tomorrow evening, super excited! Oh I also sanded the headlight bucket...weirdest thing ever, the base coat paint was this purplish/brown color, that Ive never seen on the 75...perhaps it was replaced at some point before I bought it, no clue. I started working on the seat, and the entire time I've owned both bikes, I never knew about the paperwork compartment. Check the pics, I was hella surprised on the condition of the manuals!

Your project looks like it's going along nicely!

I'm down here in Washington, pretty close to you - I have a pretty rough '81 440 I've been playing with for almost two years now.