'81 KZ440 LTD Cafe/brat

[shooter janes]

OK, so I waited for FOREVER to go ahead and post this up, because I'm sort of embarrassed at how slowly this project is going, but I really want to record it for posterity's sake, plus I LOVE this forum, so here we go!

It's an '81 KZ440 ltd A I picked up from a guy here in OKC. I traded him my $150 pistol for it, so I don't have much in it. It has 7500 original miles on it, and it's been sitting in a garage for 15 years. the PO was going to bob it so he cut the loop off the back of the frame and threw the original seat away. I'm going to have a bike shop straighten out the drop seat and weld a hoop on the back.

My plan is to put a flat, bratstyle seat on it because my wife wants to ride with me. However, I love the cafe look, so I'm going to build a fiberglass cowl that I can easily attach on the back whenever I want to cover up the back half of the seat & make it look like a more traditional cafe racer. It's getting clipons and open filters. I know the old cv carbs are a real pain to tune with pods, but honestly, I don't care. I think they're worth the hassle! lol

So with no further ado, here it is.

Sitting in the bed of my truck, ready to go home

Here you can see the chopped drop seat frame

A few more shots of it in the garage, after I've started the tear down

 

[Heyst]

Great bike to start! I wish I could find one for that price! I'd go cafe with my next kz.

I ran open stacks on my carbs, no pods. Only issues I have is monkeying around with the choke. Usually have half choke on riding here.

 

[3DogNate]

My first real bike was a KZ440... fun bikes...

 

[AdrianVall]

Sweeeeeeeeet! Should be a fun build. Can't wait to see what seat you come up with.

 

[biker_reject]

Cool, another KZ'er! Welcome. Looking forward to the seat build, as well.

 

[slkshuz1981]

Great bike to start! I wish I could find one for that price! I'd go cafe with my next kz.

I ran open stacks on my carbs, no pods. Only issues I have is monkeying around with the choke. Usually have half choke on riding here.

Your bike is sitting in this picture about the same as mine as we speak. are you going to cafe this bike or are you bobbing it? what are the plans for the seat area. i just need ideas for mine. i want a cafe seat on mine just not sure how to do so.

 

[shooter janes]

I'm actually going to go cafe/brat with it. I'm going to pay a guy at a bike shop here in OK to take the drop seat out of the frame and straighten it out, then he's going to weld a hoop onto the back.

Next step will be a flat seat, bratstyle. I need it to be 2 up so my wife can ride; she'll be pissed if she can't! 8)

Finally, I'm going to fab a cafe style tail section out of fiberglass that will connect with some simple bolts & cotter pins, and it'll cover up the back half of the flat seat when it bolts on. I want it to go on and off easy, so when I'm riding by myself I can have a cafe style bike, and I can take it off quickly when my wife's riding along. I won't get to REALLY start into it hardcore until this winter, but I'll post pictures as soon as I start into it!

 

[Heyst]

Can't wait to see the kz progress!

 

[SoyBoySigh]

Yeah, I'm doing one too so I'll be VERY interested to see how it goes for you. More pics please!

-S.

 

[shooter janes]

Thanks for the interest guys; I haven't had a chance to do anything else to it. I'm finishing up my degree TONIGHT, and once I have that out of the way I should have some time to work on it this winter. I'll definitely be posting up some pictures while I'm tearing down/modifying/reassembling. ;D

 

[KZsAll]

KZer's unite. lol. Im working on mine as well. I'll be following this one to see what you come up with. Very interested in what others are doing with these babies. If you want to see what one looks like without the drop frame check out my thread. I have already done that mod. http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=43691.0 Have fun and looking forward to your updates.