1976 Z400 Project

First time writer, long time enthusiast! I have managed to get hold of a Z400 for the bargain price of £350. It has been kept in a garage for 20-ish years and I stumbled across it while looking for a cafe racer project. After inspecting it a bit more throughly, dropping the oil and making a start on cleaning out the disgrace of a tank, I was wondering about restoring it.

Restoration: It would be a shame to not restore it, I don't think there are many around any more, but it isn't my style of bike and so I would be looking to sell it after it is finished which means it would make money
Cafe racer: Preffered style, more fabrication (a naive positive for me) and a project of my own to keep. Would mean permanent changes that couldn't be altered back to the Z400.

Does this conundrum sound familiar to anyone and is there any advice from builders / restorers out there?

Thanks

Please post a picture of the bike.

If it is good original condition I believe it would be better to sell it for a decent price and use the funds to buy a bike that has already been modded. You could then change that bike into something you like using the funds from the sale of the 1st bike.

If the Z400 you bought is not in good original condition (paint, seat, exhaust, etc.) then modding it to suit your taste might make sense. Ed

Thanks for the prompt response Ed, here are a few pictures for you. To be honest, I am not sure what the extent of the work needed is, but there is a small tear in the seat, no brake fluid and the tank is a mess inside (slosh tank liner to be done). Everything looks good on the bike like the rubber boots on the air intake to the carb which I expected to have perished, but they look in good order. The pitting on the chrome is superficial. Ben

To good of a bike to cutup.
Sell it or restore it. Many other bikes out there to cut up.


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It's in much better shape than the $200 KZ400 I dragged home and could not bring myself to cut up.
I got it running and changed the bars and mirrors. It's a great bike and rarer than you would think.
I bought an ugly-as-sin XS650 Special to cafe' instead.
That being said the KZ400 can make a beautiful café bike.

The bike looks too nice to cafe. I would either sell it as is for a profit or restore it and sell it, but I would not cut it or modify it. Ed

Depending on how extensive you want to get, there are ways to cafe a bike without permanent modifications. Some time with Google and tape measure and you can figure out a seat that will work with or hide the rear frame, and the rest can probably be done with bolt-on bits. Set the stock parts aside, and when you go to sell, swap them back on. Nice find, by the way; those are pretty little bikes.

Before i would touch any saw or angle grinde to go into cafe racer mania, i would do a big maintenance to the engine and chassis.
Every cut you do before this is like a one way street and can not undo easily or is out of your skills.

also, look at the rear fender, and compare it to something like a CB350. You don't get very many nice looking fenders like that. The flip at the end is worth saving. If you cut, cut the leading edge and rotate the fender forward. There might be some examples like that on the internet, preferably the U.S. version.

Actually, looking closer at the rear fender on your photo, it seems like there is light coming through it. Has it already been cut?

If you are getting rid of the mufflers, I would be interested. I have a 76 400 d3 Im working on that I could use them on. There is a thread on the forum here about that build. Not cafeing it, but restoring it back to original. The top end of the motor is jacked up, but we did powder the frame a few days ago. Ill be following your build, good luck!

Thanks for the comments, they have been helpful. While I'm waiting for the tank to get sorted I'll use a donor tank and see if I can get some work done and fire it up. That should give me a starting point and let me know whats ahead of me. Ben

I'm trying to undo the damage of a badly done tank liner myself right now. Let me know if I can be of any help.