75 kawasaki kz400d cafe conversion (australia)

[STRETCH-CB]

hi all first i guess i should introduce myself, my names tom and i live in melbourne, australia. to the bike... i purchased this tidy kz400 last year just before chistmas,

earlier in the year i bought a 74 honda cb 200 but that is a ruffy and needs more time and i want to ride something right away. so the kz is in great condition, has 32,000 on the clock and starts first kick even after sitting for weeks, past roadworthy after only having to replace the neutral globe haha. the cam chain is a bit noisy so first off i bought new guides new chains for both the cam and balancer and got some rings as i thought may aswell since im opening her up anyway. will rebuild motor once it gets a bit more wintery...

ive also ordered alot of parts, pod filters, headlight brackets, rearsets, grips, clip ons, indicators and a few other engine bits, i am anxiously waiting for them to arrive.

heres what ive got so far.

my buddy also gave me a set of old clubmans he had, took them to work and sprayed them up after removing all the rust.

here they are on the bike.

ive also been working on making a seat as well,

am waiting for the fibreglass to set as i type now, so more pics soon. will keep you updated. thanks for the look.

tom

 

[STRETCH-CB]

just finished some glass on the seat. swill sand it all up and get it smooth and put the final glass layer on hopefully tomorrow.

 

[STRETCH-CB]

this is my cb200 for anyone interested, its completely pulled apart now though.

 

[STRETCH-CB]

Find some gel seat pad rubber on Ebay to put on the plank.Pain is good but you can get too much of a good thing.

thanks, haha. i was going to get something trimmed up but i will definitely use that in the meantime.

 

[Erskine]

That is such clean Z. Are you going to keep it so it can be returned to standard?
Bit of future classic there. I think it looks great just with the ace bars and stock seat.

 

[CafeRacer650]

I agree there. That is a beautiful KZ. It would look great in its original form.

 

[STRETCH-CB]

yeah, it does look nice and original but i want something to play with, i will keep everything i take off and not do anything i cant undo, so if i ever do decide to take it back to original it will be pretty easy. if you think it looks so nice you can save it if you swap me an xs650 for it if you like haha

 

[STRETCH-CB]

put another layer of glass on the seat.

sanded in down smooth with 80grit

skimmed a nice layer of body filler over the whole thing

then sanded that all smooth

almost ready to prime, just have to put a bit more filler here and there and get the shape of the back a little bit better, pretty happy with how it turned up though.

 

[treitz]

Great looking KZ!

Are you going to keep that two-up seat that is on it, or sell it?

Not sure it would mount up to my bike, because mine is a 79, but it is the exact style of seat I want.

 

[STRETCH-CB]

no sorry, i am keeping everything just incase i ever want/need to change it back to original.

 

[Erskine]

no sorry, i am keeping everything just incase i ever want/need to change it back to original.

GOOD PLAN

 

[modifiedamerican]

looking good!

 

[STRETCH-CB]

looking good!

thanks man. got my new lid today

will hopefully do the last of the filler work on my seat tomorrow, also will try to cut the inside of the hump out, make it all hollow, more pics soon.

 

[STRETCH-CB]

got my bubble visor today,

also got my clip on's as soon as my headlight brackets come that front end is gong to look really differant.

also i cut out the back of my seat today at work

and used a wicked bad block to get it all rounded, is definetly getting there tomorrow i will pick up all the low spots and hopefully have it primed.

 

[STRETCH-CB]

so an update, seat is finished now, well almost. heres some pics
all primed

wet rubbed and ready to paint

matched the color from one of the side covers

i also stripped the anodised brown of the clip ons and painted the clamps silver

photo's are pretty crappy, ill take some more soon, also the front end is almost put together just got to do the final adjustments, more pics to come.

 

[cafecustom720]

Looking good

 

[STRETCH-CB]

Thanks man, will do some stripes in on it next week to mimic the tank.

 

[marla_do]

how did you make the underside of the seat solid or did you kept the wood base?

 

[STRETCH-CB]

how did you make the underside of the seat solid or did you kept the wood base?

ive kept the wood bad but have cut the back out and left a border, now the plan is to use a router and take most of the wood out from under the seat but leave a brace, its got a fair bit of glass on the seat area though so it should take the weight.

took some pics today, got my front end together, have a bit of playing around still, a few things are a bit to snug.

 

[STRETCH-CB]

painted my headlight bucket today, did some stripes on it, now i think i might repaint the tank and seat to match this.

or i was really thinking of doing it all in a green metal flake with some sort of similar lines, its quite easy for me to just sand back and paint it all a million times anyway hahaha, perks of being a spray painter, also if any one is in melbourne, id be willing to help anyone out with painting also.

any thoughts for paint??