My 79 KZ650 Two-Up Project

[cafematty]

So this weekend I picked up a tasty new bike. She's a 79 KZ 650. I actually traded a few things for her on the Craigslist. She's a four-banger with a little bit of pep.

She's got some idling issues and the battery was deader than a doornail. (I think it might have been the original battery (seriously)). The old girl only had 6700 miles on her. Everything on the bike is in pristine condition.


All stickers are in tact and clean.

The original tool kit is in place and unscratched.

Inside the gas tank was practically spotless.

It even has the break-in sticker still on the tach.

kzpokey and I even rode it to mysta2's house to hack on LoudBike. (about 15 miles round trip). No real issues other than the idling thing.


Now what to do with it..?


Honestly, given its nearly flawless condition, I just don't feel right about chopping and grinding away at it. For this reason, I want to keep the changes very minimal. I will definitely be adding some clubmans and probably custom building a new tail for it that hangs past the stock seat (bolt-on, of course). May remove the rear fender. Will definitely be switching out the turn signals. Just a few changes to enhance her classic beauty. I'm pretty excited about this bike as it will make a perfect two-up scooter for my wife and me.

 

[YogiBear]

Beautiful KZ. I love a clean bike like that.

 

[beard]

i got a red 79 7k miles then caff'd it.

if your plastics are nice.. i sold my side covers and tail piece for $300..
u could probably get $600 for the set and tank on ebay..

exhaust i got 100..


end of the day.. bought the bike for 700.. sold the pieces i wasnt going to use and made an easy 500

i have a build on here called painters tape


those highway pegs are wild!! how is the riding stance with ur feet on those babies

 

[Bozz]

Those are great middleweight bikes, and that is a prime example!

With that few miles, it is probably just the carbs.

I find that for a 2-up bike, a shoulders over the hips riding position helps a ton.

Every time I carry a passenger on my cafe my wrists get a workout every time I decelerate...

And 2 great resources for that bike:
z1 enterprises
americanclassix.com

 

[beard]

not sure how much u know about these..
but just understand your "choke" is actually fuel enrichment..

ull see plungers and rubber hats that will move on the front side of the carbs when u adjust the choke.. give those a solid once over and cleaning.

also check the voltage getting to the coils.. it can be low on these back from bad connectors over the years.
alot of people do a new direct feed to the coils with a relay.

def hit www.kzrider.com tons of info and helpful people there.

 

[cafematty]

Oh man, great info guys!

if your plastics are nice.. i sold my side covers and tail piece for $300..

I suspected I could sell off the plastics. I actually have about 3 sets of CB / CL 360 plastics I've been meaning to sell, too. Again, my main concern is the condition the bike is in. Maybe I'm a bit hokey... I would just feel weird castrating the plastics and not keeping them around so I can say it's still got all the original bits. Iono.. I'll probably change my tune when the dead presidents come a singin'.... Haha...

those highway pegs are wild!! how is the riding stance with ur feet on those babies

I actually have them posted for sale (for free) in the chopper section.. I threw my feet up on them once... Not a fan. I've used the ones on my buddy's Harley before (he let me borrow it for like 5 months while I worked on the Beemer). Just made me feel even more uncomfortable, in less control, and my pants were blowing up over my boot tops. Meh...

With that few miles, it is probably just the carbs.

Yeah. I think it might be an air leak. The only way to get it started is to crank the choke.. er.. uh.. fuel enrichment lever. It will rev to about 5k rpms and then sloooooowly come back down. By this point I can usually drop the choke back down to slightly open. If I close it completely it will eventually drop down to a sputter and die. The book says it should idle at around 950 to 1050 (which seems a tad low). The bike won't idle at anything below 2k.

Sounds an awful lot like an air leak to me. Thoughts?

Of course the best way to find out is to tear into them. Which I plan to do probably this weekend. Just need to order a rebuild kit... and now that I know where to go, should be sorted soon..

Thanks fellas!

 

[AWDimprezal]

Its a plugged pilot jet(s) no doubt in my mind.

 

[Bozz]

Well, the stock carb boots do tend to crack with age, but I'd look long and hard at the carbs before I spent money on new boots.
(unless you can see the cracks already, that is)

A can of carb cleaner is much cheaper than new boots, and may be all you need.

If that motor is really that fresh, you might want to check your valve clearances eventually, as they creep a little during break-in.

I'd say a full carb clean, then compression check, then valve adjustment and re-synch the carbs if necessary.

Oh, and some BMW's have the same size valve shims as that kz iirc...

 

[HerrDeacon]

Wow, that is one clean KZ, nice find!

 

[treitz]

Can't believe how clean that thing is. Great find!

Before you tear into the carbs, start the bike and spray some wd40 on the carb boots while it's idling. If the idle rises, you have a leak. If it doesn't, your boots are fine.

Sorry if you already know that test or have tried it. Just something that was suggested to me when I was having the same issue. Does sound like a pilot jet issue though.

 

[IndieSol]

Great bike. I can't wait to see what your bolt on seat solution looks like. I know a couple guys just tearing into theirs.

 

[cafematty]

Great bike. I can't wait to see what your bolt on seat solution looks like. I know a couple guys just tearing into theirs.

Ha. Thanks.. Me too.. lol

I scored some clubmans for her today. I'll try and get those on tonight and do the ol' WD trick on the carbs. I'll post results as soon as I have some. Weeeeeee!!!!

 

[cafematty]

Well the WD test went without result. So I guess the carb boots are good. I'll be tearing into it soon to diagnose further.

I got the clubmans on and took it for a spin. Completely different feel... mega tasty.

I sure don't like that master cylinder reservoir being all cocked up like that. I'll just have to watch the fluid level closely. No big I guess...

 

[treitz]

Gotta love the freaking huge gauges. They look alright with clubman's, but when I switched to clip-on's they looked horrible.

Clubman's look great BTW!

 

[cafematty]

So not too much going on with it. I managed to pull the carbs off and give them a look.. Haven't cracked them open but they sure do seem to work smoothly... I don't know.. Got to be some nastied up squirters... (my fav kind). I will say this tho.. Pulling the carbs + airbox out wore me out. Then I got distracted helping my neighbor with his old four-wheeler.

Additionally. After staring at it a bit more. I'm starting to feel less nostalgic about the bike and all it's completeness. Give me a few weeks longer and it will probably be feeling the grinder. Haha

Sorry I know these slow threads are a drag. Anyone know any good jokes?