77 kz650 hint of mod

waktaylor

New Member
Picked up this bike about a month ago. PO said had battery drain but I’m pretty sure main issue was dead R/R.
Out with all the old chopped up wiring. Minimized custom harness (not yet come complete)
New ricks lithium R/R
Antigravity 8 cell lithium battery
ZXR shocks
New Firestone champions (free from PO)
Put the rear frame support back on from where PO cut it off for flat seat.
Modified stock tail
Stock seat will be recovered
Morimoto 5Stop LED brakelight
Turn signals from Rossa Engineering to be installed later
Upright handlebars instead of clip ons
Flushed and bled the front brake
Delkvic stainless exhaust
Cleaned carbs and a few new parts
Unipods
PO tossed the tach so I gotta get one. I hate not knowing engine speed plus need to fine tune carbs
 

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I'd be really interested to hear some first-person feedback about these tires. They definitely split the jury! Are they really that squiffy on the road?
 
not really.. they are designed for a certain look and not for performance or handling or grip or anything else you might want in a bike tire.
 
I will report back later this weekend. The PO included them in the sale. I’m building 17s to swap on later.

Thanks for the compliments. I’m digging this bike
 
You really did improve it over the before. Glad you are putting real tires on, those firestones will suck, careful not to bin the thing before you get proper tires on it. Those tires were designed for bikes that had 5 hp and went 20 MPH 100 years ago.
 
These tires have modern rubber but look old. I’ve pushed them a little on the cold dry and they were fine. I’m too chicken in the wet to find out much.
 
For sure, the almost stock look is a great improvement. It looks a little high at the rear, so it might be a good idea to measure rake and trail to be sure it's within normal parameters.
 
teazer said:
For sure, the almost stock look is a great improvement. It looks a little high at the rear, so it might be a good idea to measure rake and trail to be sure it's within normal parameters.

These old bikes start out pretty lazy imo it feels great but I agree about measuring. The smaller wheels will affect it even more. I have a set of hagons on the shelf just in case.
 
The bike rides great. The Firestones are good too. I did notice they follow groves in the road a little but not a worrisome thing.

I pushed these tires in the cold wet and dry with zero complaints. Still building a set of 17s tho 8)
 
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