First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project (FINISHED)

Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

I will email you those pics of my front end today!


Good to see you're making some progress. The first cut into the frame gives you that "should I really be doing this?!?!" type of feeling for a few minutes and then.... its GAME ON!
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

Let the fun BEGIN!!!! Now that you've jumped in doesn't it feel good!?? ;D
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

Its been a slow week of work on the bike, only was able to get in a few hours of polishing the engine last night (forgot my camera), its been a busy week of school and work. All i want to do is spend my time working on this. I've decided on gauges I'm going to use and a few other things that will complete the bike. Basically the rest of it will come from dime city cycles.
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

So not a lot of visible progress has been made lately, or any progress for that matter. Its finals week and been working weekends. I did find some time to work on the bike for a few hours though.


IMG_2555resized.jpg




I have the engine as cleaned and polished as its going to get for this year. When I do the complete tear down next winter it will get a more complete finish.


worked on the template for the seat pan some more.


Any inputs on the shape of the tail section? I'm thinking it might be dangerous being pointy like it is, but then again it doesn't stick out farther than the rear wheel.
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Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

Liking the engine man! As for your question on the tail section....I'm wondering what kind of lights you have thought about putting in there. (I didn't go back and read through this thread to see if you said what you were going to use)
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

MotorbikeBruno said:
Liking the engine man! As for your question on the tail section....I'm wondering what kind of lights you have thought about putting in there. (I didn't go back and read through this thread to see if you said what you were going to use)
Click to expand...


I'm going to fit two taillights off a '59 caddy under there
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

29 palms said:
I'm going to fit two taillights off a '59 caddy under there
Click to expand...

Good to see you're making some progress! Are you going to fibreglass over the metal shell?

The 2 Caddy lights will look like demon eyes under your seat... should look bitchin'!
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

I'll be trying out my metal hammering skills pretty soon. I have a piece of 16 gauge steel (might be 18g idk). So no itchy fiberglass for me, I deal with that enough at work.
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

OH ya, I remember now. And I agree on the demon eyes look! That will be cool with the angles and the shape of the tail you've got there. Good luck with the metal shaping...16 Gauge is pretty heavy! heh
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

I picked up the rest of the rubber hoses I needed for the carbs, and put those on.
IMG_2563resized.jpg

I also put the header on but had a problem. The Vance and Hines header came with the bike and is used but in good shape. I'm not sure if it it is missing the rest of the pieces to seal the header to the block. The stock "shims" are to short to put any pressure on the header against the block. Anybody know if and where I can get the parts I need to get the header to seal.
The stock shims are in my hand.
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Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

I've got a KZ550 and my shims are almost twice that size... I should have a set from either another KZ550, or a KZ750 Laying around if you need them. I'll post a pic up if you want. Whats the diameter on that header where they will be fitted?
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

MotorbikeBruno said:
P1014977.JPG
Here's what I have.
Click to expand...


Those are the size I need, I was able to take some measurements today. The header diameter is 1 3/8th inches.
 
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

Thanks, don't worry about finding the set you have I just ordered a set on ebay.
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

Perfect! I did a ton of exhaust stuff today so I know how they come in handy! haha
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

IMG_2569resized.jpg

Put a large dent in the work today, I just have to make the other side match. I also got my learners permit at the dmv. I'm waiting on some parts that are on backorder at DCC, so I'll be working on the seat/tail section till then. Something has been bugging me about the shape of the tail for a while and I've figured out what it was. It needs to be more of a compound curve and not so much of a bent piece of metal. Ill try to take some pictures to explain what I'm looking for, and create a new template.
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project


Got out the ol' bucket of hammers the other day. I only used three hammers though for what I did.
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Pretty much have the dents in the tank all shaped out. It was a lot easier to match up both sides than I had thought.
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Shot a quick (shitty) coat of white gloss on the tank just to see the shape better.
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Also i got the new shims, and polished the collars up.

IMG_2571.jpg
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

Nice work man! Tank looks good, and those collars look a heck of a lot better than how you got them!
 
Re: First bike, kawasaki kz650 Cafe project

Ok so the headlight bucket came. I'm working on wiring the bike. The dash is in mock up right now, just have to make it out of aluminum (no pics yet sorry).
I caught a few snags on the build. I need to find shorter throttle cables, a shorter front brake line, and shorter clutch cable now. I looked on the Z1 site and the shorter ones they recommend are still longer than I need.
Also I'm looking for a more round gas cap that would fit this tank (it is a hinged locking type), any ideas?
 
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