81 kz550. first time builder

heres the seat after i trimmed it up and did a quick mock up. still some trimming to go then i'll lay down some bondo. but as for mounting, i haven't figured out a way yet. i'm thinking about making mold of the original seat pan. so my inside of my tail doesn't get dirty and to protect the wiring. bolting the rubber mounts on it so the fiberglass doesnt crack from the vibration of the motor or just say fuck it and mount it straight to the frame. but those turn signals aren't staying there.
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here are the few spots i need to bondo. i'll post pics of the bondoed phase tomorrow.
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i swapped out the swing arm, old drum brake and put on disc brake. also new kz1000 shocks
i also may not end up using that light i have another light i could use
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Looks cool so far. I am also building up a KZ550 so its nice to see another one here. Keep up the good work, ill hopefully have something worth posting soon but I have to organize the random pics I have first.
 
thanks. making a seat for these things suck because the frame angles up at at about 20 degrees but its good times. good luck. i hope to see and read about it. not too many kawi's
 
Hey wargo522 - its looking good. I've been building a 82' GPZ 550 Unitrack custom for a year and a bit now, - I dig Kawa's from the 80's. Engineered like steam locomotives.

Just an idea regarding the flow of your seat mock-up - if you follow some of the lines from the tank, it will give a more visually pleasing and consistent look for the bike, making a visual flow work throughout from front to back - just my 2c...



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That's money, Dale.

Wargo I was just going to ask if that was your beetle. I suppose it's better than a Prius though.
 
Dale said:
Hey wargo522 - its looking good. I've been building a 82' GPZ 550 Unitrack custom for a year and a bit now, - I dig Kawa's from the 80's. Engineered like steam locomotives.

Just an idea regarding the flow of your seat mock-up - if you follow some of the lines from the tank, it will give a more visually pleasing and consistent look for the bike, making a visual flow work throughout from front to back - just my 2c...



kksylx1p_dale.jpg
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i know i'll probably end up fiberglassing the back of the tank. i dont like that hump. but it was my first time using glass but i now know what not to do.
 
dp9 said:
you said you swapped the swingarm out. what bike did the new one come off of?
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750. the bolt from a 750 won't fit but you can just take the spacer out of your 550 swingarm and slide it into the 750 and use your original bolt.

i'll take pictures and post them for you if you haven't a clue what i'm talking about
 
I get what you're saying. is the 750 swinger any longer or wider? why did you swap it out?
 
dp9 said:
I get what you're saying. is the 750 swinger any longer or wider? why did you swap it out?
Click to expand...

no its the same. i needed a bracket that is welded to the swing arm that attaches the brake caliber bracket to it via a brace. i only paid 20 bucks for it on ebay
 
had about a 8 hour day on the bike today. did finishing up the take with a bit more bondo, and few layers of primer. attempted to adjust the valve clearance but no shims. and broke a cam cap bolt. good times. worked on the seat pan a little bit. still lots of work left. keep it posted
 
Hell yeah! Another 550!!! I haven't really searched on here until today and I am very happy I did! I'm also building one. I'll keep my eye on this build. Keep up the good work man.
 
i really haven't had a chance to work on it lately but last time i was attempting to adjust the valve clearance and snapped a cam bolt. tried to extract it but it wouldn't come out. so i tried to drill it out and went crooked. i may be able to tap it and use a larger bolt or say screw it and try running it with only 3 caps or jbweld it (not serious). any suggestions on what i should do about it?
 
How far below the surface is it? My dad told me to drill a slot in it and use a flathead screwdriver if you can. Works every time it's flush or just about flush (since the round dremel disc will go a little lower than flush stuff. Take a picture so we can see the damage maybe?
 
i've already drilled it out . i'll just be running 3 caps instead of 4 on my exhaust cam. untill i get the money to buy a new head, and rebuild the motor
 
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