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Well here goes with a modest build thread. I say modest for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is the displacement on this bike! Before I hear the static from some of you, I'll admit all the things that I did wrong up front:
1. I chose to make a cafe racer out of a 200.
2. I didn't get the thing running before I started.
3. I didn't start this thread earlier, so I'm well on my way to reassembling.
So the story is that I have a bone stock '72 CL450 that I purchased from the original owner that I don't really want to modify. I received this '77 KZ200 from a friend for free. Knowing that these things aren't really worth much restored, I figured this was as good a bike as any to modify. I haven't found very many similar threads for this bike (go figure), so I thought I'd post my build to try to help any one else just starting out with a small bike like this and limited funds.
I am not seeing anything wrong with your choice. There is a CB125 on here somewhere. It may have been a better idea to see if it runs and how it runs before you took it out. Coulda saved you a few bucks on tearing it down.
Rims, forks, and shocks were all just cleaned up by hand. I used rubbing compound and NevrDull for those and they came up pretty good. The first major clean up was the engine. It was complete, and I didn't plan to spend anything rebuilding it - I just decided to take a gamble.
I used duplicolor engine enamel after cleaning it up. I didn't remove the lower covers; only the valve covers and the points cover. I started with the head, then did the pot, then the bottom end.
One thing I discovered too late is that Duplicolor needs 2 hours at 300 degrees to cure. Not a great choice when you're not disassembling the engine. I believe there are engine paints out there that don't need to heat cure. I ended up putting some heat lamps on it and hoping for the best.
I had planned to powder coat the frame, but decided not to for two reasons. One was budget, and the second was that I didn't really know what I was going to chop. I figured that it would be easier to touch up paint versus powder coating. I ended up choosing Duplicolor high performance wheel paint in satin black. In fact, I did a lot of the black parts with this stuff. It goes on really nice and dries very fast. Obviously, it's not as durable as powder coat, but it seems tough so far.
As far as the frame goes, I decided not to chop the shock brace out. I just cut off the signal light mounts flush with the shock brace and planned to find a seat that would fit over the stock brace.
I spent around 3 hours on the carb. It was pretty gummed up, but it turned out well using carb cleaner on the inside and Nevrdull on the outside. I do have a question though. I'm running a pod filter and an aftermarket pipe, so expect that I'll need to re-jet, but I don't know exactly what type of jets I need. The manual says it's a Keihin PW26, but the carb is stamped P61B. Is this a PB style Keihin? I guess I can just take the jet to the store to match it up, but it would be nice to be able to order things online. The stock main jet is a 105, so I'm going to try a 110 and a 115. Does this sound reasonable? Thanks.
Harry, I think we're in the same boat. My friends laugh because it's such a small bike, but I'm pretty excited to run around town on this thing. I think they look great.
Parts are starting to come in the mail.
The headlight is a generic affair. It's actually 6.5" across the mounts instead of 7", but I'll put some rubber spacers in.
The filter is only a 35mm ID. When it arrived in the mail, my wife said "oh, that's cute". Wrong answer....
I chose a drag bars instead of clip-ons. I'm not prepared for any fabrication work just yet, only defabrication! So no rear sets or clip-ons for now. The grips are Jackhammers which I think look cool, but bear in mind that you'll need to modify the stock throttle because these are just straight grips and won't cover all the plastic on the throttle. Installed with hairspray...
It's a tip I got from a guy at work. He says he's never used anything else to install grips, so I thought why not. I shot the grips full of hairspray and they slid right on. Once the hairspray dried, they seem to be very tight. I'll let you know once I start putting miles on, but they seem good.
Gee, I dont know if I'd trust that personally.. Much rather buy the grip glue stuff specifically for installing grips. Hate to see you have an accident if a grip came off while banking around a corner.
My seat came in and I'm very happy with it. It was a little tough to find a small seat in the shape I wanted, but this one is very close.
I had to trim the front down and shape it around the tank
My next job is to figure out the mounting. I have two polyethylene blocks made up to clamp around the frame at the rear. In the front though, they would stick out too much, so I'm thinking of going the gear clamp / rubber stopper method. I'll post pics of the setup soon.
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