77' kz650

C

Coopacoopacoopa

Active Member
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Hey all, figured I'd do a quick introduction. My name is Cooper, and I just picked up my first motorcycle. I know I know, amateur hour. Anyways. It's a 77 kz650. Bought it on the cheap a couple nights ago. To be blunt, condition is utter shite. The tank is all dented. Previous owner didn't seem to know what he was doing. The motor was gone over with silver spray paint, turn indicators were all hacked off, rear brake light was replaced with some skull light thing..(facepalm) the wiring harness is chopped to shreds. Air box, front caliper, a couple engine covers etc. Major stuff appears to be there. Goal with the bike is make it extremely simple, give it a distinct and clean look, and keep it on a tight budget. This will by no means be a pricy build. My automobile obsession already eats up the funds. Knowledge-wise I've never worked on a motorcycle before. I do have very extensive knowledge in vw/audi's and bicycles.

I wanted to give it a fresh start, so I promptly pulled it apart. It's basically down to the motor and fork right now. The wiring harness is basically non existent, if someone could point me in the direction of a extremely basic, simplified wiring harness for a 77 kz that'd be great. Thanks!
 
Welcome, looks like you got a great base to start with. Lot of great members with a lot of knowledge on here to help us amateurs.
 
Welcome to DTT man. Everyone was a new guy once, dont sweat it. A couple words of advice...

1. DO NOT start cutting until you have an absolutly set in stone plan of attack.
2. Realize that every set in stone plan will change. ;)
3. Keep cold beer on hand in the shop. Cold beer equals free/cheap labor from friends.
4. You get what you pay for with free/cheap labor. Do the really important stuff yourself if your friends have the same (or lower) skill level that you do.
5. Always remember that no matter how cool or pretty your bike looks, if it runs like shit, you'll always get laughed at. Learing how to make it run right, and keep it running right is 10x more important than any other skill.
6. Dont ignore the little things. The little things are what will leave you broken down at one a.m., three miles from home 99% of the time.
7. Have as much fun as you can. If it starts to feel like work or it becomes overly frustrating, walk away. Remember that above all this is a hobby or past time. This isnt your job. If you dont finish it today, nobody will reprimand you. Take your time and do it right, but always HAVE FUN.
8. RIDE RIDE RIDE RIDE. Once polishing, cleaning and worrying about scratched paint start becoming priorities over riding, you should sell the bike. Ride every day if you can. Again, it doesnt matter how nice the bike looks, if you cant control it and you dont understand its and your limitations, its will bit you in the ass. RIDE!
9. Opinions are just that. Opinions. Not facts. Build the bike that makes YOU happy. Asking what others think is natural and cool, but in the end its YOUR bike. Fuck everyones elses OPINIONS.
10. Listen to those who KNOW what theyre talking about. If a guy whos been building/racing/wrenching/riding for twenty years tells you that youre doing something unsafe, LISTEN. If you kill yourself it wont effect him in the least bit. He respected you enough to offer assistance, respect him enough to LISTEN.

Looking forward to seeing your progress with the bike man. Keep the updates coming!

Oh, and let us know where you are. Its likely that theres someone near you who can be of assistance.

-Mike
 
Coopacoopacoopa said:
This is feels like the motorcycle version of vwvortex haha. I couldn't agree with you more.

Everyone has different standards and opinions. If people like what I'm doing with it, more power to me I guess. I'm pretty confident in my work, but it's always nice to have someone with more experience to give insight. "Measure twice+cut once" I'm building this bike solely for me. I'm the one that will see it every time I ride it. And it will be ridden as much as I can. I live in Longmont Colorado and commute to Boulder everyday, the route I take everyday is what convinced me to buy a bike.
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Welcome! Im also a transplant from the Vortex...LOL Gonna watch your build since I also have a KZ650 8)
 
Good luck with build man!

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Them KZ's are cool bikes ;)
 
Coopacoopacoopa said:
Mk1 owner! I used to have a mk2 jetta. It was a love hate relationship, I regret getting rid of it. Currently driving a b5 a4 avant. My true love haha. I'm looking around at all my spare car parts wondering what can swap over to the bike..hmmmmmm. ;)
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Ain't that the truth. Also my bike has a square headlight, Im wondering if that was a factory option???
 
Welcome to the forum man

heres a link that might help or itleast give you some motivation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYXdiFJkFU0&feature=fvsr
 
Re: 77' kz650

Don't let pinholes stop you. I braised mine and then sealed from the inside.
Have a look at my build thread if you want details.

Cool looking bike by the way.

But VOLVO FTW.......:)):)):))>:D
 
Coopacoopacoopa said:
I'd drive an 80's volvo 2 door no problem!

dare I say it...quick metal over the pinholes? Beats buying a tank! ;)
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Not sure about quick metal? I don't see why it wouldn't work. I've also heard that solder can work well.
 
Good luck with your build. I also have the kz650 and VW combo. I have two 1978 KZ650B's, an '07 3.6 Passat and an '06 GTI. I'm about half way through my winter build which is kind of a bratstyle deal. I haven't posted anything on here yet. Mainly just reading and getting inspiration. I encourage you to check out the http://kz650.info forum too for specifics on our bikes.
Good luck and have fun!
 
77' kz650

Welcome! Rolling an '82 KZ750 myself. Racked up 100ish miles today!

Simple wire harness? Take a look at this basic drawing I'll be redoing mine based on.

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Hey man,

I don't have any experience with battery eliminators, but if you're getting rid of your e-start and looking to save space what I did was used a 5aH gel battery... it's quite small, keeps charged and ensures you have good power to fire up with the kicker.

Just a thought!
 
Coils: The Yellow with red stripe are POWER + in. And the Green and Black wires on the coils go to the electronic ignition you have (lucky) makes kick starts hell of a lot easier! DOUBLE CHECK ME ON THIS, but I think the yellow wire coming out of your Electronic Ignition is power to it, and black/green go to each coil like I said before. Assembly is grounded by the screws that hold it on and the green and black are the signal wires from the ignition plate. The KZ650's I had hated low batteries and took 20 kicks to start, put a new battery in, changed to 2-3 kicks. But mine were both piles of crap too, so not too sure on that. So the main thing I see missing, is the POWER TO THE "POINTS" in your diagram, which is actually electronic ignition you lucky dog you. (the REG/REC is also missing)

If I'm not mistaken, the two yellows from the stator go into your Reg/rec unit there, black is ground, and the white with red stripe is power OUT to the battery.
 
Coopacoopacoopa said:
*edited my diagram.


I'm not planning on having an electric start at all. Kick only. Ignition switch would be start/stop button? I thought it was bare enough already. What else can I get rid of? And what is the blue wire coming out from underneath the points??

I already have a PE-12VO.8Ah battery that I'd like to use. Minimalistic is an understatement.
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You missed one thing still. (added it for ya) + to electronic ignition (you are calling this "points" although you don't have points anymore) E-start is different than E-ignition, not sure if you were thinking I was talking about that?

As for your "ignition switch" all you are doing is energizing the coils, and allowing electricity to get to your other components (headlight etc). It can be as simple as a start/stop button, but make sure it's not a momentary button as it's a tad hard to ride with your finger holding down the button the whole time! I've used toggle switches, cheap car "ignition" units, really all it needs to do is start and stop the flow of electrons my friend. Also, don't forget fuses...a 10 amp inline just before the headlight switch for sure (commonly blown) and 20/30 (not sure) between ignition and battery at the very least. And I'm not 100% sure if it matters, but the wire from the reg/rec I would attach right to the + battery post, but that's a personal opinion.
 

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77' kz650

Well, what is it about VW-guys, buying a A4 Avant and then a Z650?

Had quite a few VW's myself (two Polo's mk3 Golf, mk3 Jetta, mk4 Jetta) and now a '00 A4 1,8T, which is the greatest car I ever owned. Then this spring I bought a '79 Z650.

Sad to see that you're not happy 'bout the project though - looked like you had good ideas for it.. Good luck with the GPZ though!
 
Agreed. I wouldn't if I was you, but that's because I'd be worried about how the frame would hold up over time with more holes in it.... :eek: Just find places you can hide them. You'd be surprised how well the tank/seat will hide things, just be aware of pinch points etc.
 
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