78/79 KZ750 build

Ref the wheels / rusty spokes.

Virtually ALL my projects are done with little - certainly, not enough - cash.

I've splashed out on a set of alloy rims and a st. st spoke job for my Yam Tr1 Cafe Racer, but several of my other projects have not been so lucky.

A few years ago I had some BMW R80 Airhead alloy rimmed spoked wheels [ OEM ] - alloy rims really needed a polish and the spokes were surface rusted.

My solution - remove the bearings , block off the bearing surfaces and blast and powder coat the suckers in one piece! Of course that only works if you want them to be the same colour all over.

In this instance - I did - Gold. They looked the biz and cost almost a tenth of the price for having the wheels rebuilt.

Like I said, won't work for everything. It was a bit of an experiment as the powder coaters had never done it before. It was a total success and the PC's now offer that system as a regular service!

I'm using the same process on my Cafe Creme Boardtracker project as I want the wheels in the same colour as the tank, guards, etc.

Half close an eye, and view in a dimmed room ................ imagine the spokes Black - and there you have it.

Beach,

Good idea on those rims. I should replace the bearings with some sealed ones anyway. All blacked out rims would be nice and half the price.

mmmmmmm. this is looking really great so far.....

i'll be following this along!

my kz twin has a nitroheads seat aswell......
they look the goods!
keep it up

crackerman said:

Beach,

Good idea on those rims. I should replace the bearings with some sealed ones anyway. All blacked out rims would be nice and half the price.

Click to expand...

I'll try to find the pix.

They [ I ] were a bit concerned at first about getting an even coating - but then logic prevailed. The powder coat system is practically guaranteed to get into every nook and cranny, maybe even more so than traditionally sprayed paint.

Cost at the time was £50 the pair - against almost £500 for alloy rims, powder coat hubs, stainless spokes and labour.

So why was I lurking here ??? : Well for some time now I've fancied a big Parallel twin in my stable. I've been watching these KZ750 builds and they looked just right for me - both physically and power wise.

It's builds like this one here that have prompted me to do something about it. Initially I was going with my roots - a 60's styled Cafe Racer. But then I'm building my TR1 in that style. I've built several Flat Trackers, but never a dogs bollox version, they've all been quickie makeovers.

Until this weekend - KZ750s don't come up that often in the UK and when they do they're silly money. Especially early wire spoked wheel models. So after a weekend of oggling other people's KZ builds I just happened to look in the classified ad section in my Classic Bike Guide mag.

Boom - there amongst all the seriously overpriced "classics" was a KZ750B - "for spares or restoration".

Price £150 [ $225 ? ]. A call to the seller and he said it was "under offer" as some guy said he was "interested" 2 weeks ago. I told him I had cash and could collect within 2-4 days - and he accepted my offer.

Long story short, it arrived courtesy of my tame transport guy this evening. Far too dark to really see much but iyt's here and it's mine and it's about to start a rebirth as a Flat Tracker....... ;D

I'll be the one over on "Not so Mellow Yellow".

Keep giving me inspiration guys.

Crackerman - can you do me a favour please.

I registered on the Kawasaki Twin Owner's Forum 3 days ago - I've had acceptance of my user name [ Beachcomber ] and password - but they haven't activated it yet.

Could you give the moderator a nudge for me please ?

They say "In case of difficulties contact the moderator" - except you can't do that if you're not activated - and that's my problem :

Sure ill see what I can do.

Put some garage time in yesterday and I have all day tomorrow. Powdercoated a bunch of small pieces and broke down the wheels to get coated. Dropped the wheels off this morning, should them back next week. New wheel bearings should be on there way. Next update I'll post pictures.

Should have the wheels back tomorrow. Slapped the tank, seat and rear fender on.

Looking very nice. I can't wait to see the wheels. After reading this we're going to try the same thing for the wheels on the CB750 build we (the Cincinnati Cafe Racer club) just started that will be raffled at the June Queen City Mods and Rockers event. Reminder to myself to pull the wheel bearings.

Powdercoating came out pretty decent on the wheels. Paid $200 for blasting and coating. Worth the money. New bearings,wheel strips, and tubes for the rims. Mounted the tires today. Installed the front and just put the rear in place. Here's a shietty Ipod picture. I'll get some better pictures when I get the bike off the table.

great lines between seat and tank!

She's about 85-90% finished. Gotta do up the electrical and plan to put back on the 2 into 1 pipe. I wanted to see if she'd start, so I wired up the starter and coil. The carbs wer dumping gas out the overflow so I gotta fix that.


http://vimeo.com/57164391

I'm loving this build. It's nearly exaclty what I'm going for on my own bike.

Looks badass man!

this is really making me want to put tracker bars and mid controls back on my z750 twin...
looking really nice....
well done!

sweet build
whats your plan on the electronics/rear triangle? will you put the covers back on or make covers or leave it? im weighing those options right now...

I had the same dilemma - not to keen on the "open" look.

I've bought a pair of the later smaller side panels to see if they'll do the job - otherwise it's the big classic autoijumble in April to see what's about.

wership said:

sweet build
whats your plan on the electronics/rear triangle? will you put the covers back on or make covers or leave it? im weighing those options right now...

Click to expand...

No covers. That area will be cleaned up. I have a plate that sits under the seat that you can't really see that holds the starter relay, fuse box, directional flasher, kill switch and starter button. The rectifier is mounted under the battery box. I'm currently working on the wiring and I'll clean up that triangle area and try to hide as many wires as possible. I mounted my directionals, headlight, speedo, horn, and tail light yesterday and I'm waiting on some nice black loom to hide the wires. The only thing on the handlebars will be a directional button that I got from Dime City.

Finished up the wiring today. Everything works as it should. Still got some small stuff to do but she's getting there.