"Tangerine Dream" / Glemseck - KZ750

lchris21 said:
Hey Beach, nice to see you back working on some projects, just been checking out this build. Some great work, I'll be keeping an eye on progress. Hope you're all good, its been a few years since I picked up that TR1 haul, and since I've been on here......
Im looking forward to seeing the finished article :D

Thanx for the kind words Chris. I'm feeling pretty well back to normal [ ? ], apart from tiredness and fatigue I have no side effects from the Kidney problem. Meds are doing their job ! Everything at Honeybourne is pretty much as it was when you had the TR1 stuff !!! I think there are now THREE abandoned TR1 / Virago projects. One was going along the lines of "Vincent'esque", but then I became ill and Adrian lost interest without me being there as he got very busy with the car replicas. The KZ is progressing along the lines I had in mind for a Sixties homage Cafe Racer ........... nice tank cover BTW !!!
 
Managed to get quite a bit ticked off the lists today.

The position of the footrests / plates is now finalised and we'll make wooden templates up before getting the 9mm alloy plate water jet cut.

Once they footrest position was established [ along with clip-ons ] we were able to offer the fairing up and get it positioned. Dead chuffed with the way it fits / looks. I wasn't really sure as I've always favoured naked bikes.

The brackets were mocked up and those will be made next week.

We got the back wheel in with the new spacers. That will allow us to finalise the position for the brake operating cable and cut the torque rod to length. We also fitted the new Red springs - just for a "whatif". Still have the option of Black or Chrome.

The seat base is now off and having the final prep for paint, then it's off to the upholsterer. When it comes back it will be ready for paint ... when the colour is decided!

Then it's back to fettling the belly pan ready for paint.
 

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Just done a deal with Andy over on the Lonesome Twin [ KZ750 ] site for the new engine parts I needed for the engine rebuild this winter.

I've got gudgeon pins [ wrist pins ] and locks, valves. collets [ keepers ], valve caps. Also 2 new valve springs to use as samples to get a price from my tame spring man. I'll probably have to order 100 springs but the price comes right down as that' his bread and butter product. I'll go for slightly uprated so they can also be used on a road bike.

I've already got NOS pistons and rings, gaskets. Once the engine is stripped I will check the bearings etc.

I'm getting a second twin plug head done - this time with 10mm centre plugs, then it's down to mild porting and blueprinting.

If anyone needs NOS KZ 750 Twin stuff .... Andy's yer man. 8)

I'm still undecided on engine colour vs. raw alloy, with a bit of polished bling here and there ?
 
The engine has been jet washed and ready for dis-assembly, I'll soda blast all the exterior parts [ and some interior ] and then make a decision on possible painting vs raw.

Now my polisher guy has committed to doing odd jobs [ he's officially retired ], I'll get some of the internals polished as well [ con-rods etc ].

He will be doing my K100 [ Cafe Racer ] alloy tank and side panels in the next few weeks or so before he's off on his travels again.
 
I have always liked a well painted engine vs raw. Gloss black and alloy fin edges is the bomb.

Paint might give you an opportunity to break up the colours from the frame and body work a bit.
 
I finally got to discuss the upholstery requirements with my old trimmer [ replica cars ].

We have decided on Black perforated Jag Connolly leather [ which I have ] with a 1 1/2" pleat for the base and a separate backpad - without pleats. He's going to make up millboard patterns to attach the finished upholstery to and then use "fir tree" panel clips so it can be simply fitted to the painted seat. If ever the upholstery needs to come off, it's simply a matter of grinding / cutting the plastic clips from underneath.

The absolutely fantastic news is that in recognition of all the work I have had him do - and others I have recommended, he's doing it as a no cost "thankyou".

He'll be finished with the seat base next week so I can have it back to do the final surfacing and get it into final primer. I have to decide on a colour and get it painted before the upholstery can be fitted.
 
Yay...upholstery means the build is nearing completion.....and there's no substitute for pro stitching. Even your 'freebie' is an investment IMO.
 
Yay...upholstery means the build is nearing completion.....and there's no substitute for pro stitching. Even your 'freebie' is an investment IMO.

Yep, getting down to the last few jobs on the rolling chassis .... well I say few !!!!!!

At least all the design / prototyping has been done. A bit more work on the belly pan surfacing and prep for paint - ditto fairing. I'm waiting for my man to get the footrest plates water jet cut - just too much work with jigsaw and files !

The side panel pattern making is complete and they will be cut and fettled in the next week or two.

Then brake cables back and front, brake torque arms front and rear and throttle cable.

Then it's a final proving out of the whole assembly before strippng down to paint the main frame. YES, it's been powder coated, but we've hacked off so many brackets and fuggly bits it will be easier to paint the whole frame rather than touch it in.

Once the seat is back I can finalise the fuel deliver system as the filler is in the hump of the tailpiece.

We are again slowed down due to ill health ... this time my pal Brian and his Wife are both very poorly so I'm restricted as to how often I can go to his garage to work on the bike.

I really am hoping that the rolling chassis will be completed by early Spring and I'll be stripping the engine down in January. Fingers crossed there's no major machining required. The second twin plug head is being done the week after Christmas.

Hmmmm - actually quite a bit !!!!
 
TJ - Im getting some custom 86mm pistons made along with sleeves. Cost will probably be around $800 USD- less per unit if more parties are interested. PM me if you're interested in a set
thanks, Vic
 
Had a call today - the pattern is completed for the upholstery and they are really pleased with the way it came out. I was toying with the idea of using the new "Bentley Double Diamond" stitch .... but decided it would look out of place on a 60's homage !

Ignore the colour ! That was just an odd piece of Alcantara substitute that I'm thinking of using on the car projects I'm working on. It's 60% cheaper than Alcantara and reputed to be more durable.
 

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Weird .... Alcantara is a fake suede .... and this stuff is a fake of that !!!!! My trimmer says it wears much better than Alcantara and keeps the "pile" intact.

I'm currently working on two car projects - one with my German pal and another with my UK buddy.

One [ German ] will be totally off the wall - in terms of style and motive power and we'll no doubt go for a totally Bentley Double Diamond stitched interior and the other will be more "classic" and I'm looking at doing the middle seat inserts in that style with the rest done in leather.
 
Something along these lines .................................
 

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Well, I was a bit previous with that !! The message came to me 3rd hand.

Actually, the upholstery base pattern has been completed and the stitching chalked out on the perforated Leather.

The trimmer wanted me to OK that before proceeding. Absolutely spot on and he's even found a Red thread to match the frame paint.

Also meant he is finished with the seat base so I could bring that back to complete the pattern making and final prep for paint.

In all probability after the Christmas break now - be a late Christmas present to myself !!
 
The seat is now fully fettled and shaped - a final wipe of filler, flat off and into primer. I've short listed two "Silver" shades and the 1/2 litre test pots should be here next week.

At least I feel I have achieved something over the Christmas period !
 

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Called in to see my old paint suppliers today - got just the right Metallic Silver off the shelf - and in cellulose.

Well, we'll see if it's the right colour when it's on a panel !!
 
Final skim of filler on the seat now. I'll get it rubbed out and flat the whole seat off with 600 paper prior to heavy primer filler coats.

Then I can give it a coat of the Silver Metallic I scored the other day.

I mocked up the megga as well ...... doesn't look right. SO .... back to my original plan, I'll duck the pipe inside the frame from the collector and create an underseat exhaust. Means I'll have to re-locate some of the squitter from under the seat but there's plenty of options now with the belly pan and 1/2 fairing to "lose" stuff.

I just need to double check clearance against the fuel filler pipes, but essentially looks like a goer.
 

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Looking good, TJ. Personal taste is personal taste and you've gotta build your bike the way you like it, but for what it's worth, I think the system you have pictured there looks really killer! If it were mine I don't think I'd change a thing. I've always been a sucker for the high scrambler pipes like that anyway, but in my opinion doing an under seat exit is moving things into a different design era. Build on, brother!
 
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