87 ZX750F Cafe Layer Cake

[Das1slickninja]

Hey guys,
It has been waaay too long since I posted in the member introductions. But I've finally bitten the bullet and am putting up a build thread.
I had been looking for a bike to do my modern cafe vision with and I think this is a good candidate for what I'm looking to do. It's a forgotten part of Kawasaki's 750 history; I bet most would consider it a footnote to the ZX7R or an afterthought of the GPZ.
My vision is to bring the suspension forward to more modern specs, and the styling in the other direction towards its cafe roots.

For those who aren't familiar with the best 750 tourer of its time; here's what it would look like in the glory of its late 80's plastic.

This isn't how I got it - the plastic were almost all broken and it had a significant amount of dirt and grime on it (forgot to take a pic).
Here's when I got it running (after sorting out some electrical gremlins and giving the carbs a quick rebuild).

Once I knew the motor wasn't junk I began to tear down some more.

One issue with the engine did rear its ugly head:

The water jacket has some rust issues. I bought some Evaporust and put it in there before I left for a 2 week trip to Europe (which has since been extended). Fingers crossed that it really works miracles, but I'm skeptical. If it doesn't, I'll have to do some electrolysis cleaning.

I've also started collecting some parts:

As you can see I've got a plan for a substantial overhaul. I also have a 89 ZX7R rear rim 90 FZR1000 swinger, CB400 Supersport tank, ZX7R calipers, SS lines and I think that's about it for now. I'll post more pics as I download them from my phone in the coming days. But I'm still away from my shop, so aside from collecting parts on ebay and mental planning I won't be able to DW for a while.

Comments and criticism welcome!

Have a good one

 

[canyoncarver]

I love the old ninja's. I'm onboard. Look like it will be a cool build!

 

[Das1slickninja]

Thanks for the support Canyon!

Here's my next update of sorts; it's all work that was completed a couple weeks ago and not much has happened since then. But it does give you an idea of the direction I'm headed in.

Here's the CB400 tank I got for 20 bucks. It had a massive dent in the side and a really crappy fiberglass "fix" on the bottom.

No matter, it's going to undergo major surgery anyway (Thanks for the new hammers Dad!).

I'll be widening it to fit my frame anyway. I'll also have to build a new bottom and possibly lengthen it as well, depending on how the dimensions look to me. I'm currently also considering which direction to go on the gas cap. It would be cheapest to re-use the Honda cap, but F that.
I'm considering a pop-up one in the middle (which is kind of expensive), or an offset small cap like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/300697602659?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2648

Any thought guys?


I also did a little work on getting the FZR1000 swinger mounted. The original swinger and the FZR swinger were almost exactly the same width at the pivot (one of the reasons I decided to go with this swinger).

Buuuut... there was this part of the engine that wouldn't let the swinger slide into the frame:

This led me to go a little to far in grinding down the pivot point on the inside of the frame - making the frame wider than the swinger. To fix my fuckup I'm using the original FZR dustcaps, which is probably ultimately a good thing for the bearings - but its more work.

Here's just a couple mm's of clearance:

Anyway, here's what the end result will look like:

 

[LaynDoor]

subscribed... looks like its going to be a fun build.

 

[VonYinzer]

Pretty effin' cool already. Signed up.

 

[DreadRock]

Always loved the ZX7s ill watch !