Hello and/or Howdy

[guitargeek]

I stumbled across this site today, thought I should pop in and introduce myself. Some of you might know me from KZRider or perhaps the UTMC.

I've been riding for 32 years now, had a variety of bikes. My current ride is a 1980 KZ750 that I traded a shitty $50 Peavey guitar amp for, then I had to dig the bike out of a sand dune and drag it to the truck because the wheel bearings were rusted solid. That was about ten years ago (sadly, I have no "before" photos), here's what it looks like now:

I made my own rearsets, switched to Mikuni BS34 carbs, K&N dual flange pods, Kerker pipe, the fork from a GPz750, did the 530 chain conversion, and recently switched from a superbike handlebar to clip-ons.

Here it is in action, just a quick little run up the hill and back:
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI4iQ-QuzNc[/youtube]

For my next trick, I'd like to strip my bike down and paint the frame, freshen up the top end (I've never had to get into the motor!) plus I've been working on a tank & seat combo. The tank is from a 1982 GPz750, the seat is a fiberglass unit from Airtech Streamlining. The tank was in really, really bad shape and took a lot of brazing and bondo, the seat has been raced and crashed, so it's going to take a lot of work, too.

 

[78kz]

Good to see you here as well guitargeek.
Been following your mods over the years.
Keep us posted on your progress.

 

[coolatula]

I have a soft spot for KZs as my brother-in-laws 1981 KZ750LTD was the first big bike I rode when I started riding street bikes.
back then they could hold their own stop light to stop light.
He bought it from my neighbor and from day one the bike had a Kerker,jet kit and pods on it. My neighbor had all that done at the dealers before he even rode it home after he bought it new.

I put a lot of miles on that bike and a friend of mine still has it and it still runs strong even to this day with close to 50,000mi on the clock.
It is STILL one of the best & meanest sounding street bike engines out there even if by todays standards it's bark is meaner than it's bite! ;D

My friends brother has a standard 80-81 KZ750 with 4,600 ORIGINAL miles on it. Still has the factory brake pads and Dunlop Gold Seal tires and he'll probably fix it up to ride next summer to get some miles on it.
Another friend has a wire wheeled KZ650 which I would love to find one like that someday.

I,myself have enough parts off of two KZ550LTDs to build one decent bike as soon as I can get a nice standard KZ550 or GPZ frame w/title.
That may be hard to find as most are LTD frames.

 

[locOleoN]

Welcome to the site!!... Im totally amazed with what you did on the tank!!...

 

[guitargeek]

Welcome to the site!!... Im totally amazed with what you did on the tank!!...

Thanks man! Yeah, beware the $21.50 GPz tank. I wanted to get it down to the bare metal so I could see what I had to work with, so I removed black paint, primer, bondo, more bondo, more bondo, the original red paint and primer, brazed up several pinholes along the bottom seam, then started stuffing fresh bondo into the dents (it took at least a pint).

I have a soft spot for KZs as my brother-in-laws 1981 KZ750LTD was the first big bike I rode when I started riding street bikes.
back then they could hold their own stop light to stop light.
He bought it from my neighbor and from day one the bike had a Kerker,jet kit and pods on it. My neighbor had all that done at the dealers before he even rode it home after he bought it new.

I put a lot of miles on that bike and a friend of mine still has it and it still runs strong even to this day with close to 50,000mi on the clock.
It is STILL one of the best & meanest sounding street bike engines out there even if by todays standards it's bark is meaner than it's bite! ;D

My friends brother has a standard 80-81 KZ750 with 4,600 ORIGINAL miles on it. Still has the factory brake pads and Dunlop Gold Seal tires and he'll probably fix it up to ride next summer to get some miles on it.
Another friend has a wire wheeled KZ650 which I would love to find one like that someday.

I,myself have enough parts off of two KZ550LTDs to build one decent bike as soon as I can get a nice standard KZ550 or GPZ frame w/title.
That may be hard to find as most are LTD frames.

My bike started out as a 1980 LTD750, and it mostly still is. I gave it a Kerker, pods, and a superbike bar years before I got it running, hahahaha! I'd like to swap the 16" back wheel for a proper 18" wheel, but I just put a Metzeler ME880 on and it'll be quite some time before that wears out...

 

[coolatula]

Yeah,that's the only problem with the LTDs is starting with a 16" and the tank shape when trying to convert them into a standard style bike. I can even live with the tank shape as long as the seat pan/seat is done well.

My buddy's standard KZ750 is already a sport model(just not up to GPZ standards) has the RIGHT parts(18" rear wheel,square tank,flatter seat,fiberglass/plastic tail section)from the factory.

Not that you can't convert an LTD into a nice looking standard style/cafe bike(obviously you can),but it just takes some extra/different parts and more effort/ca$h that you don't have to contend with if you already start with a standard KZ/GPZ.

 

[Drewski]

I'm amazed at what you guys can do with an LTD! I agree that a STD would be an easier starting place, but you have a really cool and unique ride! Very cool indeed! I'm inspired!

 

[guitargeek]

I'm amazed at what you guys can do with an LTD! I agree that a STD would be an easier starting place, but you have a really cool and unique ride! Very cool indeed! I'm inspired!

Thanks, man!

Yeah,that's the only problem with the LTDs is starting with a 16" and the tank shape when trying to convert them into a standard style bike. I can even live with the tank shape as long as the seat pan/seat is done well.

My buddy's standard KZ750 is already a sport model(just not up to GPZ standards) has the RIGHT parts(18" rear wheel,square tank,flatter seat,fiberglass/plastic tail section)from the factory.

Not that you can't convert an LTD into a nice looking standard style/cafe bike(obviously you can),but it just takes some extra/different parts and more effort/ca$h that you don't have to contend with if you already start with a standard KZ/GPZ.

The 16" rear wheel isn't necessarily a deal killer, you'll notice that several of Carpy's bikes have 16" rears...