1980 KZ550 Kawasaki "Nadene" build

steveinwa

Been Around the Block
Bought this bike a week ago for $475, it runs so thats a good start, it's in pretty ugly shape but I soon have it just about all apart and found most of the hidden challenges.
Going to do a Brat/Cafe mix, we will see where it goes.
A question on frame color, anyone have opinions on Powder blacks, so many choices, don't want it too shiny or too matt, something not too hard to clean.
My current bike is a 07 Virago 250 I did cafe style-ish bought it for $600 not running and only 1,500 miles so now I want something older and more aluminum shiny not chrome.
Steve
 

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Polished up the side case a bit just to get me fired up about it. Mostly in pieces now, finish up the detab and send it off to powder coat some shade of black, was going to do coffee color but I will wait till the next bike.
 

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i like 80% gloss powder. its pretty shiny and easy to clean, and it looks custom instead of a satin which tends to look stock. The 550 is a great motor.
 
Thanks Doc, I am going to do the wheels too so hope to get a good price for powder coating them all
 
Removed the wheel bearings with a couple stainless steel bolts, worked great, the lag bolts were too small.
 

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detabbed frame, just need a final sanding before painting, did a test paint on the kickstand and it came out great using ACE Epoxy Enamel in black and it came out great.
Worked on some bling, from ugly black to POW polished aluminum and careful to keep the original color writing.
320 > 500 > 1500 > red compound > white
 

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Bead breaking with a Land Rover, worked really well actually, flip and repeat.
 

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Frame, swing arm and bottom triple painted, now just have to wait 5 days to start assembly.
NEWBIE ALERT!!!! I should have figured out my seat arrangement before I chopped off the back, so left it for now till I get everything aligned, didn't powder coat since I know I will be making changes.
 

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Chopped off one of the instrument attach points of the top triple bracket, smoothed the whole thing and now polishing, lots of sandpaper experiments, kept one pod since itis rubber isolated and when I mount the minis that make make them a little more stable than a hard point bracket.
Sanding 220>320>600>1200>red compound, did some wire brushing but it really leaves some deep gouges so got a smaller brush wire and that helpped a lot but still a lot of work but so worth it. Need to find a power 220 & 320 flap wheel, the finer paper isn't as much work as the other too.
 

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For sure Carver, divorced and grown kids so I do have a lot of time :) and this rainy weather here in Washington, just need to find some power sanding methods to get the Aluminum down for 600 grit, those first grits take a beating on the hands and fingers. I have most of my lower stuff, wheel bearings, steering bearing, gaitors, tires etc so I can get it to stand, then I can do the fork lowering, seat size, whatever I cowl the back with, then do the final chop on the rear, should have done all that before disassembling it it's exciting to see it going along, going to leave the Enkei wheels bare aluminum for now, can always paint later but they look pretty cool with the rim polished and the cast in the middle.
Need to play with how much is bare metal and what is painted so it looks in balance.
 

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Did my first fork Yesterday, took 3 hours but it came out amazing (did the exhaust/rearset mount at the same time so both). Did 220>320>mini wire brush for crevasses>400>800>1200>red compound and a touch of white. Worth every painful moment of wet sanding in the cold.
 

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Spending a lot of time with the hardware, degreasing, wire brush, then vinegar for a few hours, comes out looking great, want to replace some stuff with Hex but will do that later once it's together. Playing with stripe options, going to do a first phase black distressed stripes, think I like the dual wide stripe look, like aShelby Cobra (remove the thin stripe). Also received my Boshield spray from (never thought they would be cheap) West Marine online, stuff seems legit to keep bare metal protected from rust, we will see. Red bike tank is the distressed look I want but in black.
 

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Thought I posted this, guess I didn't, layed out the tires and rims, rear isn't finished but still looks good in the pic, 2 inch drop on the forks, I know the fork is backward but close, liking the bare metal look, just have to keep a balance, we will see when the motor is finished.
 

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johnd900 said:
Nadene is looking fine. I had a Nadene once...
Thanks, my Grandma used to take us camping and motorcycle riding every weekend, she drove a little black MG, she was a great one, gave me my love of motorcycles.
 
Strips after painting, then after destressing, have to add a little brown wash to the tank to make it look a little more worn.
 

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Put the front wheel on temporary to look at ride height, looking cool and started working on the rear hub.
 

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Started working on her again my Kawasaki KZ550 Nadene.
Powder coated the wheels 20% black
Started re-assembly
Painted and polished the motor and put back in the bike
Bought new shocks, have to give them a try for $100 bucks but need to build bottom mount.
 

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Don't those shocks come with an alternative bottom mount? They're made to fit everything, after all.
 
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