'78 Z650 "Watchamacallit"

Hey,

First post here... So hey to everyone!

Finally decided to do a complete rebuild of my "old lady"; a 1978 Kawasaki Z650 C2 (KZ650 to the rest of the world)...
Being my first bike (bought 9 years ago, from a guy who gave up on the project), she of course has a special place with me, and therefore I never could sell her! Other bikes have come and gone, but she stayed.

So, what to do?!?

Restoring it to original condition was out of the picture, as she has been "Frankenstein'ed" together from various parts and sources.

- Bob? Due to the regulations here (Luxembourg) frame modifications are very difficult to get registered, as it requires all sorts of testing (for stability, etc).
- Chop? See above
- Fighter? I dont think so!!!
- Scrambler/ Tracker? Interesting.
- Cafe? Sounds about right...

I think the final product I am looking for is some sort of Street-Tracker, Cafe-Scrambler, or as the title suggest "watchamacallit"... Really, I dont know what is going to be the result of this one, but if anyone is interested, I will try to keep people on here posted. (also,

Bear in mind that it is prolly gonna be a slow build, but I will do my best to entertain in the meantime.

Here are some (crappy cell-phone, sorry) pics, to show what I have to work with... Including the first minor works of de-tabbing.

As soon as I have some changes, I will see to make some more posts.

Until then!

J.

If you need any help I have built three KZ650's this summer. I built one Cafe racer out of a 1978 KZ650DSR and a Street Fighter out of a 1977 KZ650. I also did a resto mode on a 1981 KZ750.

You can go to my website at silverbullit.net to see the builds.


Bullit

Any updates.
Curious to see whats been done.
8)

Hi,

Actually yes, I just really suck at remembering to bring my camera to the garage...
So far, what I have been tinkering with;

- Finishing detabbing of the frame.
- Building of an electrics/ battery-box, so I can get rid of the original along with the side-covers.
- Modifying the brake-link, as I had to change the original rear brake master-cylinder, with a new shiny one from a Z1000 (with a remote reservoir).
- Starting to build a new rear fender.

Also, the wife was nice to me and get me a good old box of spares for X-mas (including new front springs, 4x K&N pod filters, a new brake light and a couple of other goodies...)

All in all, this is, as promised, a very slow build, but still, I am hoping to be more or less done for summer.

I will get the camera-issue fixed asap...

Jesper