KZ650, My first motorcycle (Complete for this summer photos)

[72marinablue]

Hello all,

In February my girlfriend purchased my endorsement msf class for my birthday and ever since I have been hooked. I new I didn't want a new bike, and as much as I love old british bikes i dont like the price that comes with them, nor the price of parts. I elected to look for a vintage Japanese bike.

After seeing the rising costs of Honda's (cb 500's, 750's,) and there popularity I decided they weren't for me. After many youtube videos and hearing the wrung out sound of the kz650's engine at 7000 rpm I was hooked.

I looked for 2 months scouring the interwebs. My patience payed off. After a couple days of my wtb add being on craiglist I received an email from a gentleman saying he had one in his parents garage in pieces if I was interested. My first thoughts were "how many pieces?" Come to find the rear wheel, seat, tank and a couple other items were off the bike. I decided to drive an hour and go check it out.

To make a long story short here were a few key facts that I found out-
The bike had a clean title
It was stored in a carpenters garage full of wood, therefore it had barely any rust on it
It had been sitting there after a puncture in this gentlemen's college years for 12 years :doubletake:
It still turned over freely and was mostly complete

I purchased the bike for an absurdly low price.

I wish I had taken pictures of it disassembled but i didn't in the rush to put her back together.

After fresh fluids and plugs she started on the third kick. Didn't even have to clean out the carbs. New tires and a few other items and she was ready to go. Since then I have probably put about 600 miles on the bike, including a 350 mile round trip to the most northwestern point of the continental US. Its a blast!

Now Im on a mission to make the bike my own, adding some custom touches that suit my tastes. I will let the pictures do the talking.

Let me know what your guys think!

 

[78kz]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Looking good.
8)

 

[VonYinzer]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Nice work so far... I dig it.

 

[sbruton]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Ditto what they said! There are a few KZ650's projects on this board as well as loads of great technical information/ help over at kz650.info.

Keep up the good work and keep the updates coming!

 

[72marinablue]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Made up a fiberglass seat pan for my seat and infused some wood strips so I can stretch the vinyl around and staple from the back. I upholstered the seat and it looks really good but I think im gonna redo it as the soft bits of the foam I used are not in the right spots....owe.

I went to the WVM vintage motorcycle swap meet (200 mile ride) yesterday and scored some napoleon bar end mirrors for 10 bucks. I really like the look and the visibility is unreal compared to the ugly ones that I had before. Still need to figure out what I want to do for turn signals. Definetly need to get rid of the elephant ears on there now.

 

[72marinablue]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Made some progress on the bike within the last couple of weeks. I decided to go with bed liner because its cheap, durable, and looks good. Plus its something different than the average bike. Im still trying to figure out what I want to do with the knee dents. I want them white just not sure how I want to do them yet. Also put a new set of rear signals on. Going to do the same on the front after I lower the headlight and figure out what I want to do with the bars and guages.

 

[72marinablue]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Having a little bit of an issue tonight. Last wed I synched my carbs using a vacuum gauge. In the process I found that the air port that you hook the gauge up to on #3 was completely open, and #2 didn't look much better. So I had a serious vacuum leak. This surprised me as the bike has been running really well. Plenty of power, but I did notice more than usual backfires or pops out the exhaust on deceleration. After I synched the carbs the bike was idling much smoother but seemed to backfire even more, even while idling. I rode it home and the next day I plugged up my leaks. The bike no longer backfires or pops and sounds better.

But, and thats a big BUT, the bike now runs like crap. It falls on its face and has a considerable lack of power, way less than before. I am a little lost on what my next step should be. My logic tells me that the bike needs more air in the mixture as I have plugged the ports that were allowing more air in the mix. My b3 doesn't have the adjustment screw on the bottom of the carbs, it has the accelerator pump and the air bleed screw at about a 45 degree angle pointing to the outside of the bike. I played with the screw a little bit but seemed to get nowhere as the bike bogged down if I went more than half a turn in either direction.

The bike has a 4-1 pipe on it that came with it and im wondering if the previous owner jetted it correctly afterward. Any advice on what my next step should be?

 

[Sunflash]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Go over to kz650.info and read the carbs section of the board. They list the carb settings of a lot of guys and what they are running and should give you a heck of a good idea.

 

[72marinablue]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Thanks,

I headed over there and have ruled out any type of carb problem. Seems like I have an ignition problem at the moment. #2 and 4 are not firing and have a very weak spark. Havent had time to delve into it that much but will get my hands into it tomorrow.

 

[sbruton]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Hey man,

I had a similar issue and found a quick coil test that you can do with an Ohm meter... it works well and at least gives you an idea of your coil is shot. Like Sunflash mentioned, kz650.info is the best place for technical help on your KZ.

Also check to make sure your spark plug caps are well connected to the wires out of the coils. Mine were quite loose....

Good luck!

 

[Sunflash]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Coils for the KZ fire 1&4 as a pair and 2&3 as a pair so I would take a look at plugs, wires and connections if those are the two that have week spark. If they are not firing and you are not sure on spark check your valve cleaences. Plus carb sync is really critical on these bikes if the issue is appearing only at idle.

 

[72marinablue]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Finally got it all figured out. Continued to have firing issues on #3. Ended up taking the carb rack off 3 more times until I got it right. Also took off the emissions air injection system. Bike Runs like a freaking dream now. No popping no spitting, Super easy starts, and way more power. I need to get some new rubber intake boots for the carb to airbox and probably a new airbox as well since mine has a giant crack in it. I am very happy with how she is running now.

 

[72marinablue]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Been awhile since I have updated this thread. Made a few changes to the bike that include

-lowering the headlight

-added a set of high rised tarozzi clip on's. I got really lucky and found these on craigslist for a steal, I love them and they are very comfortable.

Most recently I started refining the bike into what I really want it to be. I decide the seat pan was longer than I liked and decided to shorten it. I have also enclosed the rear hump of the fiberglass seat and will use it for storage (tools/registration). It will be accesible by lifting the upholstery up when its done. I chopped a section out of the rear frame to accomodate moving the whole seat forward. I am also planning on narrowing the front section of the seat pan to better fit the frame of the bike and make a more flowing contour into the tank. I also modified the mac 4-1 exhaust baffle, and shortened the muffler about 4" to remove a dent from the previous owner.

I recently finished a light resto on this kz400 so I have something to ride on the nice days while I have the 650 torn apart.

 

[72marinablue]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Haven't had many comments, but I will keep posting updates. I got a little creative with my girlfriends sewing machine, some foam, and some vinyl. Im pretty happy with the results. I also lowered the front of the bike a little.

 

[gearhead231]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Looks really good man! Are you going to paint your seat? btw Love the bed liner idea.

 

[72marinablue]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Yes actually im looking at a whole new paint scheme. Havent decided yet. The bed liner worked great for one riding season but Im looking to change it before it stops raining in the nw.

 

[gearhead231]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Yeah, us jeep guys tend to bed line everything that might rust haha. Really you cant go wrong with any color. Personally I like 2 tone

 

[Wangofree]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

Man you've definitely got skills! That seat is awesome. Nice to see the evolution of your project.

 

[bowman41]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

I'm also building a KZ650. That seat looks great. Its a little thicker than I like aesthetically, but if your going to be doing long runs, I'm sure its very comfortable. I also really like the look of the Tarozzi clip ons. Keep up the good work.

 

[bowman41]

Re: KZ650, My first motorcycle

What did you use to form the seat that you just sewed?