KZ400 full fairing frankenracer

After the CB900 build last year I had a yearning for a small light street bike so the search began.

I picked up a complete, titled 76 KZ400 non-runner and a couple of parts bikes in December for $350 and have dabbled at tearing it down for the last couple months of arctic chill.

The parts pile is reaching critical mass as the days get longer and warmer so I figure it's time to start documenting as the pace picks up. I want this bike on the road by May so the pace should be entertaining like last time.

The end product will be a vintage road racer style but I tend to mash together categories that I like so it will have some other style elements as well. Expect a full road race fairing, late 70s KZ900 style tail and general stripping away of extra crap. I'm stuck on the idea of adding in some old school hotrod paint with big metal flake, candy and lace. I like to see and be seen when riding at night so LED headlights and indicators will probably be in the mix. Also working on a 2 into 1 intake fashioned from carbon fiber. I have a 440 motor from an 82 that I'd like to utilize if I can find a 79 or so bottom end to use to maintain the kick starter....so....that's where my head is at for now.

Here's my pile of parts right after I brought her home.




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You had me at "full fairing". Can't wait to see the progress!

treitz said:

You had me at "full fairing". Can't wait to see the progress!

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What he said

The problem with working on a build without a build thread is that I neglect to take picture and document so I guess starting a thread should be step one for me until I get in the habit. I’ll catch you guys up with the sprinkling of poorly lit cell phone pics that I do have.

This project started with 3 bikes.

The 76 KZ400 which was very much in unmolested stock form other than the paint. Came with a new set of tires, new chain, some filters, two sets of stock carbs and a box of misc extras. Hadn’t run in a few years but it’s all there, has good compression and turned nicely once I slapped a spare battery on it.



The parts bike that came with it is a 75 kz400 with a locked up motor and no title. It did donate a nice set of wheels with front and rear drums that I’ll be refurbishing with some polishing and painting. It may donate its kick start mechanism eventually too. I had to cut the cam chain but I finally pulled the head and got the piston free with a big hammer and a block of wood. I was rusted into the cylinder but it’s hard to say if that happened before if after it was parked outside for years with no carbs or exhaust. I didn’t see any damage to valves or head?? It’s scrap for unless someone wants some free parts…



The third victim is an 81 440 LTD with no title and no wiring or controls that I picked up for $50 right after the others. The shocks, fork tubes and triples were clean and will be used (I’ll use the lowers from the 75 to match up with the front drum and axle), the exhaust(not pictured)is a nice 2-2 with crossover that I’ll use as well. The carb boots are great on this one and probably worth the $50. The swing arm on these is about and 1.5” longer than the KZ swinger and made from stiffer tubing. It bolted right up so that was cool. The extra length helped make the rear tire on the kz not looked like it’s crammed up under the rear. A buddy scavenged the stator and rotor from this one for his kz750 twin a few weeks after I got it home so that was bonus karma.

My understanding is that the jugs and pistons from this bike will fit a 79 or later kz400. I’d like to have a 440 with a kickstarter which wasn’t ever offered as a stock option as far as I know so we might see how that goes if I find the right donor. The other option might be to try to transplant the kicker gears to this 81 motor…TBD

Writing background steps is boring so here are a few teaser shots I took last night… I’ll get here eventually…









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I literally cannot wait to see this thing come together. Love the idea so much.

Re: Re: KZ400 full fairing frankenracer

treitz said:

I literally cannot wait to see this thing come together. Love the idea so much.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I gotta say that I lurked around your KZ build when figuring out where to start with this. Great platform that hasn't gotten overly popular(expensive) yet.

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Here’s some background…

I first started browsing DTT when I got fixated on building a scrambler styled bike. Naturally I spent all my time in the Specials, trackers, and Bob and Chop. I didn’t do the math and realize that the Café section has 10 times the number of threads until after that build…..Do The ton….wait……this is a café racer website….AH HA moment. I’m not much of a purist so I guess that’s why I gravitate toward this section for bikes that defy labels a bit more…or maybe I’m just indecisive….

I originally wanted to get a KZ750 twin for this project because they are bigger and make bigger power but then a good buddy of mine with similar fine taste bought one so I had to change my plans in order to be different…

At the same time I was geeking out about the tight little alloy fairing that Junior built RetroMoto built for that CB200.



So I started looking for a small twin or single. In the hunt for twins that can be had for a value, the KZ400/kz440 kept popping up on my radar. The other options I had in mind were the SR500 and GN400 singles but deals on those seem to be less frequent in my searches. YMMV

Searching for KZ info lead me to chopcult.com as well because the 440 is used as a base for hard tail conversions regularly.



…and they have lots of rad paint on bikes and helmets over there so now I’m set on some heavy flake and lace work…..





…and searching for flake and lace led me to this gold mine of ideas for wild paint…

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=257556

So there’s a bit of the inspiration for this bike…

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For a bit of inspiration detail that actually leads back to the build….

I’ve wanted to do a kz900 tail/seat like this Wrench Monkees build for a while so I knew this little kawi would be the bike for it…



I started doing a mockup in foam so I could cover it in fiberglass. I based my first try on pictures but I didn’t have my the proportions the way I wanted so I decide to buy the real deal one as a reference…..but these rare little bits of sexy plastic go for $100+ in good shape on ebay….which was way too much for my purpose so I waited around for a cheap ugly damage one to pop up and I sniped it for $20 plus $11 shipping. The seller found a crack in it that he didn’t realize was there so he offered to drop the $11 in shipping…bonus. I used some plastic bumper repair adhesive to fix the cracks and the set about filling and sanding all the many imperfections in this fender so I can make a copy in fiberglass.

The kz900 fender/tail is about an inch wider than the frame rails in the seat section so I plan to copy it, section it to the right width and then extend it all the way forward to have a complete seat pan…



Did I mention I’ve never made anything in fiberglass….

I'm liking this!

Since you've got a good part to glass over it's a really simple fiberglass job. Do a little reading and you'll be fine.

Not much going on in the garage. It’s still wintering it’s ass off here so the only moto activity I got into over the weekend was going to Supercross in Indy.



…more catch-up…

When I got the bike home and started sorting through it I was trying to decide if I should go with the single front disk or the drum brake setup. I pulled the master cylinder off and it was cruddy inside and out. I broke the piston off trying to pull it out so that made that decision easy….

It was late and I’d been drinking and my new “spare” lever looked an aweful lot like the thing that might open my next beer…. A little touch with the angle grinder and boom…Kawasaki Bottle Opener…





Another bit of ingenuity…there’s a tool called a flake buster that is used to apply dry metal flake to wet clear on cars. Then you cover the flake in clear coat and sand it smooth…add candy design and bling! For small jobs they have a thing called a mini flake buster that attaches to the front of an airbrush to accomplish the same thing.



I’m a tight ass so I made one out of a bit of tygon tubing, an old asprin bottle and some hot glue. It works like a charm and saved me $150.

I went to the thrift shop looking for some old lace curtains because new lace is like $15-$20 a yard and I’m just gonna be covering it in paint anyway. While I was there I found some lace and an old 70s Bell Star 120 size extra small helmet that I’ll use as a test piece.


I started with some old rattle cans and craft glitter while I wait for my real paint to arrive.


My base coat was junk and the clear caused it to wrinkle but the flake gun works like a champ.

I wasted a bit of glitter at first figuring out how wet it should be to have the flake stick without being so wet that it runs. By the end it was almost all sticking. Can’t wait to try it with the real stuff.


Here's a test panel that I started putting clear on top of the flake. It really catches the light once the it's buried.

That's all for now....

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nice

So a KZ440 swing arm fits on the kz frame? How much extra length does it give the bike? I could be interested in doing something like this.

firebane said:

So a KZ440 swing arm fits on the kz frame? How much extra length does it give the bike? I could be interested in doing something like this.

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The 81 LTD swinger is 1.5" longer from pivot to axle. It also goes straight back at the axle plates vs the early KZ that is angled out all the way back to the axle plates. It looks like the ltd would be easier to extend a little further. The OD of the older and newer is the same so the old one could donate the extra inches.

For others out there are some issues to consider:
The width of the LTD wheel is greater than that of the earlier KZs. Different spacers will be needed.

1.5" of extra length means you need 3" of chain.

The lower shock mounts move back as well so your shocks lean forward more and you get more wheel travel. I'm not sure how it would look if you relocated the lower shock mounts.


Here's one way to limit the rear wheel travel with new upper mounts...and the paint is rad...


I think I'm going to add another inch and add some longer shocks that I didn't use on the CB900.

Got me at post 7. DTT, the 33, and the HAMB. All three of my favorites!

I can dig it.

Can't wait to see the progress!



Side note: Where are you located LBC?

Re: Re: KZ400 full fairing frankenracer

coyote13 said:

Got me at post 7. DTT, the 33, and the HAMB. All three of my favorites!

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Word. I round it out with ADVrider for balance and life is good.
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Re: Re: KZ400 full fairing frankenracer

rattpunk said:

I can dig it.

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Still rockin the CB400?

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Re: Re: KZ400 full fairing frankenracer

mothgils said:

Can't wait to see the progress!
Side note: Where are you located LBC?

Click to expand...

Yeah... I'm impatient for progress too!

I'm in Dayton, OH....not Long Beach....

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I did a bit of work over the weekend.

I put a coat of epoxy over my intake mold to protect it from the poly resin I'll be putting on with the layer of fiberglass.


The foam mold started as a block of foam that I rough cut to shape with a hot wire foam cutter. The foam cutter is a homemade unit I made from a transformer, dimmer switch, and a guitar string. This was a much more controllable method for cutting than the first draft I carved out with a steak knife.


Final shaping to make it the proper diameter was done with foam sanding block.


In my first try a few weeks back I tried to add too much material at once so it got out of shape. I also learned that the polyester dissolves the polystyrene. (like dissolves like)

Less than stellar first attempt but a good learning experience....

At least it's hollow...


With nice weather Sunday I also finished the prep for the casting of the rear fender mold....


and laid down the first layer of glass...fingers crossed hat it releases as well as my test pieces...


Overall it seems that the fiber mat that I purchased to start with is a pain in the ass to work with. I've got some glass fabric on order in hopes that it's easier to manage.


Here's some more nice paint inspiration...