Mooks KZ1100 Shafty. No more dip!

[mookieo2]

I know this isnt the best bike to cafe but I got it for free from my dad. I wasn`t sure what I wanted to do with it but looking aroiund here made me want to try to cafe it and keep it for a little while.

Here`s my original post on another board.

http://www.suspectsunlimited.com/forum/index.php?topic=2305.0

I`ll attach some of it here.

Wednesday I took home my fathers old `82 Kawi KZ 1100 Shafty. He had this bike for about 15 years. I remember going for a few rides with him when I was younder. It was sitting up in his shed for I would say 8 years. The last inspection was 2000. I know he had the motor rebuilt a while back and there was maybe 1k on it. The carbs were done shortly after. He had some trouble with it and hasn`t had the time to devote to it to get it road worthy. I posted about this bike in the spring as I wanted to get it running again, put new tires, battery, clean, and polish it and give it back to him for his birthday this summer but I was busy and I could barely walk in my garage.

I finally cleaned my garage where I had enough room to put a car into it or two more bikes. I had the time this weekend and he wanted to make room in his shed so Wednesday I picked it up.

Here it is in my garage all dirty after sitting for years. The brakes were stuck and it barely rolled.

On Friday I got up early and dove into the carbs. This is what I found after removing hte bowls and floats. Yuck. I`ve never seen a carb so black and varnished.

Float valve anyone?

After cleaning and trying them out, the bike wouldn`t start. the battery was dead so I grabbed the battery from my boat and some jumper cables. This way I could crank it all day and not worry. I read some more info on the carbs on the KZ forum and found a great step by steps with loads of pics. After cleaning them two times I realized I missed one passageway in the bowl that is for the priming circuit. This would make sense as to why it wouldn`t stay running. I was putting a little fuel into the spark plugs and could get it to turn over but it would die immediately. I also had some fresh fuel in a spary bottle to spray into the carbs. ( not a fan of starting fluid) After I was 100% sure I had every orifice, jet, passageway cleaned I put all four carbs back together again, sprayed some fuel into the carbs and cranked it. I got nothing. I know it had fuel, it sounded like no spark now. WTF. I checked the voltage on the coils anddid some more research. I realized I must have turned the kill switch on. The on/ off was rubbed away over the years. It is now Sat at about 5:00 I ran back into the garage, put the choke on, squeezed the clutch, and pushed the button. It immediately turned over and ran great. I warmed up the engine took the choke off and let it idle. I was so happy it ran sooo good. I ran to the phone and called my dad with excitement. He was happy it was running in such a short amount of time. Today I will be going to Walmart to get a battery.

Maybe I`ll use it for the CMR

 

[mookieo2]

Re: Mooks KZ1100 Shafty cafe attempt

Next thing up is the brakes. MC`s are loaded with crystalized fluid and the pistons are stuck. I`m hoping I can get away with a good cleaning of the MC`s and flushing/ bleeding the system.

Now what to do with the bike.

I`m definetly going to get new tires, battery, and if I can`t save `em brake pads.

I wanted to fix it and give it back to my father this summer but it`s too late. I still would like to give it back to hime because I know He would enjoy riding it and isn`t going to get another bike anytime soon since he lost job recently. I think he was a little sad to see it go even though it was sitting for a few years.

I can clean it up and try to sell it. He said I can keep the money and put it towards my wedding.

I can do something like this to it if I put a little bit of money into it.

 

[mookieo2]

Re: Mooks KZ1100 Shafty cafe attempt

Today I decided to do the front brakes. I took the Mc off drained whatever fluid was in it and disassembled it taking out all rubber and plastic parts that could get damaged by brake cleaner. Here is what looked like.

The piston looked good. The rubber was not dry and I couldn`t find any imperfections in it. It was in good shape.

Here`s the Mc after a good cleaning with brake cleaner, wire brush, rag etc. It`s just about done.

I reassembled it and put it back on the bars.

Next was the calipers. They come off quite easy and the pads looked new. After a light and quick sanding they looked great.

Everything was going good. Too good. I ended up snapping both bleeder valves off. :bang:bang: :bang:bang: :bang:bang: I soaked them yesterday and tapped them lightly. They snapped really easy. I was able to drill them out and should be able to thread the same size in. I just have to get new valves and a tap to match. Before I drilled them I connected them one by one directly to the MC, filled it with fluid and pumped for a while to pop the pistons out. I would have used the compressor but I didn`t have a fitting that could do it. ( I`ve been too lazy to get the blow gun I wanted to buy the last few days.) This was to prevent accidentaly drilling through the piston or any important seals. I will probably rebuild them as the kits are only $25 each. The clean MC seemed to be working like it should.

 

[mookieo2]

Re: Mooks KZ1100 Shafty cafe attempt

Not too much going on lately. I cut off the fairing bracket which was welded on really bad. It was probably the worst weld I have ever seen. They guy who did it even put a hole in the frame from his shitty welding. I was able to fill in the hole pretty good with my friends welder that I have in my garage. I also cut off, ground down, and sanded all of the seat hinges and unnecessary brackets in that area, plus the original tail signal brackets. I also think I found a good position for some new rear sets. Someone was nice enough to donate a set of stock 1098 rear sets to the project. ( Thanks Glantern)

Here`s me on the bike with the rearsets in the position they fit best and feal. If I keep them in this position I just have to make a support from the lower bolt hole to the other rear set bolt hole and then to the exhaust.

I also dropped the forks 25mm and put on my old monster bars upside down to get a feel of it.

Once I get the money from some stuff I sold on Ebay I plan on buying a cafe tail and some clip ons. When I get the tail, its on to moving the electronics under the seat and making a new battery box. I think I`m getting rid of the side panels. The bike is big so I think the less I have on it the better. I will remove the crash bars today.

Eventually I would like to get a different set of rear shocks and get rid of the air ones. I also would like a new set of forks where the axel is on the bottom so it will turn better, but I`m going to ride it for a bit and go from there.

 

[alakowicz]

Re: Mooks KZ1100 Shafty cafe attempt

Here is my attemp at a kz1000st Cafe

 

[alakowicz]

Re: Mooks KZ1100 Shafty cafe attempt

better pic

 

[alakowicz]

Re: Mooks KZ1100 Shafty cafe attempt

here is a link to my post if you are interested

http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=9683.0

 

[mookieo2]

Re: Mooks KZ1100 Shafty cafe attempt

Thanks Alakowicz. That bike is really nice. Great job!

I`ll use it for some inspiration. I just purchased a set of clip ons and I`m going to start my making my seat this week. I`ll post updates soon.

 

[mookieo2]

Re: Mooks KZ1100 Shafty cafe attempt

I picked up a set of clipons from Ebay. I`m pretty happy with them. The finish, and welds were very nice. Now I need to figure out what to do with the gauges and this trop triple. The gauges are HUGE. I removed the odometer, and fuel gauge. I might relocate the odometer under the seat just to still keep it going and the fuel gage maybe on the side somewhere. I will probably get rid of the tach and mount just the spedo on a new bracket. I`m not sure if there is any hope for the triple. The key switch sticks up about two inches from it. I might cut and grind off the bar mounts and make some kind of cover plate to mask the uglyness of it. If I do that I`ll put some idiot lights in there, and move the key to the side as well.

I started to mock up the seat out of some cardboard. I like the shape so far. I`m just trying to get it to line up with the tank. The frame starts low from the tank and then goes up so I`m trying to make it flow somehow. I`m looking for suggestions. Of course the finished product will be more precise.

Chopping that front fender is next.

 

[mookieo2]

Re: Mooks KZ1100 Shafty (not sure where she`s going)

Well I`m not sure what direction this build is taking lately but making some kind of progress. I got a 4 into 1 exhaust on Ebay for $10, it just needs sanding and painting. I`ll paint it when I get the bike back together so I can cure the paint. I removed the front fender and center stand. ( I`m saving it to install when I need to work on it) It looks a lot better without the old stock exhaust and I kind of like the way the shaft drive looks without anything covering it. I need to get some new shocks and get rid of the air shocks and forks. I will get new spring style shocks and forks where the axel is on the bottom and shorter tubes when I get it almost completed. I`m a little sad in the realization that the rear rim is only 16 in and the front is a 19 It would look better with closer sized rims but I`ll deal with it.

New $10 exhaust ( I may shorten it up a bit)

I was thinking on modding the rear part of the frame a little to get that dip out. I did some crappy photochop on paint. I`m still not sure what to do but I`m definately chopping about 4" off and re-welding the tube back in. Thoughts and design ideas are welcome/ wanted.


Stock frame

Just for fun

 

[CresentSon]

Re: Mooks KZ1100 Shafty (not sure where she`s going)

Looks like a great start, with a good story should you fix it up for your dad. I love seeing something done with one of the less used bikes. No reason a shafty can't make a killer cafe.

 

[mookieo2]

Re: Mooks KZ1100 Shafty (Does this look ok)

Finally cut the rear frame rails off to get rid of the dip.


I was trying to get that straight line from the tank to the rear frame rails. Its close but the back goes up on a angle. I had to remove the rubber mounts on the front of the tank and raise the back a hair. I will cut and re-weld the mounts so that it fits like before when I finish. Just wanted to know before I tack this in and start on the other side if this looks ok. If I kept the tank in the stock location I would have to cut a lot more and make new shock mounts. The shocks would then have to be smaller which I don't want and I would have to replace the shocks I recently bought with shorter ones that have less travel.


before

After

 

[mookieo2]

Re: Mooks KZ1100 Shafty . No more dip!


I actually did something on it this weekend. The rear frame is almost finished. I ended up running out of gas with just the cross brace and original rear hoop left to weld in.


Before

After

Check out those gussets. A piece of 1/8" plate on each side of the tube, capped with a piece of tube cut in half to round it out. This thing isn't going anywhere. I also tried to match the angle of the frame tube adjacent to it by the motor.

I wish my welding skills were a little better but I ground down the welds because I didn't think they looked that good, so I had to smooth it out.

I also installed some new shocks I bought on Ebay last year for this thing.
I'm pretty happy with the results. Everything is real strong, level, and within 1/16" of the original measurements I took before I started cutting it apart.


I just have to figure out rear sets, hide the wiring, paint, and make a seat. I also think I'm ditching the clip ons and getting a set of dirt tracker style bars to complete my Wrench Monkey's rip off Mook style. This thing is gonna be a bad MF when its done.

 

[roddydog]

I just rolled my buddies unwanted kz1100 into my shed last night. I told him I was going to turn it into a cafe racer and he said go for it. Thanks for the tips and inspiration man! Keep postin!!

 

[Neko]

Dead thread? How did it finally turn out?