78 KZ650B - The Parts Bike Project

sbruton said:
Here is a quick update from the weekend. I finished off the seat ( 4 layers of foam), completed the clamps and, welded on a bracket for the rear fender and fastened/ trimmed the fender. I've also marked on the front fender with black marker where I'm tentatively planning to cut it, so any thoughts on that would be welcome.

Sorry for the poor picture quality...




I see no clearance for an exhaust system.

.
 
Thanks for the comments Nebr_Rex. Where do you think there will be a conflict? I assume you're refering to the space between the front of the frame and the fender? I've cropped the fender and plan to use the stock exhaust. The only other change I made to the "stock" geometry is lowered the front end...

Does this look better?

 
The exhaust pipes sit in front of the down tubes. There will not be enough room
for front wheel travel when encountering a bump in the pavement. Install your
engine and pipes and you will see you have. I've dented exhaust pipes with
stock length forks.

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Nebr_Rex said:
Install your engine and pipes and you will see you have. I've dented exhaust pipes with
stock length forks.

Yeah I understand what you're refering to now. Thanks for the heads up. I'll have a closer look once I get it back together. Here is the bike with engine and exhaust installed. The only change I have made is shortened the forks (internally) which follows the normal path of travel for the forks just less travel now. It's funny now that you mention it, even the second picture below appears to be very close yet I've ridden these bikes for several years without an issue. As you mentioned above... I will assemble it and take the springs out of the forks so I can move the wheel easily and see if it clashes with the pipes. Better safe than sorry...

Thanks again.



 
Just trying to save you from a head ache. And they don't turn to
good with the front wheel jammed up against the exhaust.

.
 
Hi all,

I finally made some progress on the bike that last few weeks and thought its about time I posted an update. I decided some time ago that I wanted to tackle re-wiring the entire bike. The stock harness worked, but I wanted to simplify things and wanted to take on the challenge. I started off modifying the stock wiring diagram and ended up with this:



While I was creating the wiring diagram, I ordered a bunch of parts and pieces to keep me busy for a few weeks and bent up an electrical pan to fit under the seat. It will be welded directly to the frame and then painted black with the rest of the frame.

The start of the electrical pan



LED Signal Lights



Tail light



Head light



Vintage Connections terminal kit and crimp pliers



Digital Flasher for LED signals

 
Once I rec'd all the parts, tools and electrical components I started to figure out the wiring to all the switches and lights. It took a bit of time, but I sketched out all the circuits so I was sure of what went where. During this process I realized that the switch I wanted to use for my kill switch was opposite to what I actually needed. It's a "normally open" switch and when pressed completed the circuit, whereas I needed a "normally closed" switch that opened the circuit when the button was pushed (so I could kill the engine). After looking around and not being able to get another switch that will work I chatted with a dude at work and he suggested I use a relay. I found one a the local automotive store that is normally closed and appears that it will do the trick! It is normally closed and when you energize the relay it breaks the circuit...its a bit more wiring and somewhat complicates the harness, but I was able to make it work.

1302825776-RC-400112-NN.jpg


I also picked up a Shorai 9aH LiFePo battery that fits perfectly under the seat and should work well.



I mounted up the lights and switches so I could get started on the wiring harness. Here are a few pics of the lights. I was orginally planning to mount my rear signals on the tabs on the rear fender but there isnt' enough clearance. I think I will now mount them to the shock bolts or weld some tabs on the frame.

Tail light mounted



Not enough clearance and a goofy angle Do you like that rear tire? It's hard to believe that somebody actually rode this bike with that thing. It's so worn flat that I bet I can stand the bike up without a side stand! :iconcrazy:



Head light mounted



Front signals mounted in the reflector mounting locations

 
Then I started to work on the wiring. It took quite a while to figure out where I wanted connectors and how this was all going to come together but once I got moving it all seemed to come together.

First of all, I had to make sure that I had all the appropriate tools and PPE in place LOL







Then I started laying out the wires and figuring out "what goes where"... This was the end of day 1. Main fuse, main disconnect and conductors run up to the right hand switch (lights on/off and kill switch).



End of the second session. The second fuse in place, kill switch relay, regulator/ rectifier in place and more wire!



The start of wiring up the left hand switches. Signal lights, hi/lo beam, horn and LOTS more wires as well as wired up the head light...The braided loom on the right side is just sitting there for now



And... the end of today! Power to all the lights, signals, horn and all the switches are functioning correctly! :D and a helluva big mess of wires to tidy up. The next steps will be to pull it all apart now, install braided loom to protect the harness and figure out where I want to route all the wires.





 
Build looks awesome so far, great work! Can I ask where you got those switches from? they're very cool and clean.
Thanks and keep up the good work.
 
Thanks guys! I've been slowly picking away at it and have made some progress. I will post some pics of the finished harness, tires and a few other bits this week.

The switches are from Highway Dirtbikes:

http://www.highwaydirtbikes.com/HDB_Shop/

They aren't cheap but are very tidy.
 
Re: 78 KZ650B - The Parts Bike Project - Painting and assembling

Just a quick update. My wiring harness is complete, but I just realized that I don't have pics of it. I'll take some tonight and post them up. I have all the replacement parts required to complete the build (for this year...).

Checked and adjusted valves.

I was able to shuffle a few shims around and only needed a few new shims.





A quick "refresh" of the frame and cover up the bare metal. The intent this year is to get it on the road with the focus on mechanical and safety items. Perhaps next winter I'll spend more time on the lipstick fit and finish details.

Priming the frame



Wire wheeled and clear coated fork legs



New boots!

Dunlop K70's



Setting the engine back in the frame

I just laid the engine on the blanket on it's side and carefully placed the frame over it and turned it upright.




This is how it sits as of last night

 
Hi all,

I just wanted to provide a short update that I finished up the harness and installed it on the bike. All the aux components are functioning correctly but I still need to wire in the coils and the reg/rectifier. I'm hoping to get that done tonight. Below are some pics of the finished product.









 
Just a brief progress update! It's getting soooooo close... a few more evenings of work and I should be able to attempt to start it. The anticipation is killing me!!

The last couple of nights new sprockets, rear brake linings and front brake pads installed, braided brake line installed, brake system blead and and wheels mounted! It took a VERY long time to get the brake system blead and pushing clean fluid through. There was only a bit of the old fluid in the master cylinder and caliper but I think I pushed about 10 full master cylinders full of new fluid through the system before I got clean fluid coming out!

I'm going to use the stock exhaust, however it is in poor shape so I painted it with black high temp engine paint... we'll see how it looks on the bike in a couple of days.

I took a couple of pics last night with the seat and tank just sitting on the bike so I could see the stance and get a good visual of what the finished product will look like.

Anyway... here's how it's lookin' so far:

 
Amazing skills man. Nice tail loop installation and the top triple clamp came up mint!

Do you have any photos of how you lowered the forks?
 
Thanks man, however I can't take any credit for the welding or machining. A buddy of mine is a very talented welder and my brother did the machining. I'm the "good idea fairy" and they do the work for me. ;D

Here are some of the pics I took for the forks. I just followed the "standard" method you can find online and put in a 2" spacer. It's very straight forward, however does dramatically change the fork performance and how the bike handles... Some folks will trim (shorten) the main spring the same length as the spacer in an effort to maintain similar ride characteristics to stock and reduce the pre-load. It really depends on whether you're going for the "look" or performance. I'm NOT a suspension tuner by any stretch of the imagination, so I would search around or talk to someone in the business to see what will work best for you.





 
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