Brat-ish build: '81 KZ-440B

[jbeebe]

**UPDATED WITH NEW PICS OF BRAT SEAT ON PAGE 7!! 11/16/13**

Hey guys, I bought the 440 a few weeks ago and have since been doing repairs just to get it running before i start mod'ing it. It has under 5k miles on it. When i bought it the carbs were never cleaned, could barely even idle not to mention lay on the throttle, dead battery, electrical issues, leaking fuel from carbs and the vacuum petcock didn't work.

When I brought it home:

Rebuilt the carbs, cleaned the brass valve seats, soldered up the overflow tubes, and polished the top caps:

Replaced the vac petcock with a manual one:

Replace the carb holders:

 

[jbeebe]

Chopped the front fender:

Did some basic cosmetic stuff before really getting into the mild modifications:

And finally, how it sits as of this morning when i put the carbs back in after welding up the overflow tubes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEsENccqhq0&feature=plcp

 

[jbeebe]

The plans:

sprockets (including a larger rear one) and chain
clubmans (yea i know, but i'm cheap and don't really want the empty clamps protruding up)
signals
fork gaiters
chopped rear fender
bigger modern tires
exhaust wrap to the muffler
slide the forks through the tree 1/2"
Black out a whole buncha' crap
cateye rear light
shave the seat down for now due to funds

 

[jbeebe]

I'm also having some trouble shifting it into 2nd gear, it just stays in neutral until i jam the shifter up a few times then it sinks in. I guess the shifter fork could be bent, but i really don't want to split the cases apart and pull the motor right now. Anything i could check first?

 

[smeyer]

I had the same problem shifting when I redid my KZ440. I had the shift lever at too high of an angle. Try rotating the foot shift lever counter-clockwise 1 spline. After I did this, it allowed me to shift up farther and this fixed the problem with shifting into 2nd. Sounds too simple, but helped me.

good luck

 

[jbeebe]

I had the same problem shifting when I redid my KZ440. I had the shift lever at too high of an angle. Try rotating the foot shift lever counter-clockwise 1 spline. After I did this, it allowed me to shift up farther and this fixed the problem with shifting into 2nd. Sounds too simple, but helped me.

good luck

man, i'm praying that it'll be that simple. I'll try it tomorrow and see how it goes.

 

[jbeebe]

So I rotated the shift lever down (counter clockwise) one spline and it seemed to have fixed it for now. It feels a little low (especially if I wear boots), but it shifts perfectly. So, for now, crisis averted! (thanks Smeyer)

This afternoon after I get back from the gym, i'll pull the engine covers and paint them gloss black. Then tomorrow i'll clear coat them and snap some pics!

 

[jbeebe]

Gaskets came off in a few pieces so i have to wait until new ones come in for the covers to go back on. I was given a full clutch kit with the bike, think i should replace the clutch now while i have the cover off? It doesn't really need it yet (only 4k miles on it), but it gives my hands something to do lol

 

[jbeebe]

Got a couple boxes in today...

I should finish painting and doing this stuff by the middle of next week, as i'm going to Pittsburgh for the weekend for a friends birthday.

 

[sinbad85]

nice start mate!

sounds like its idling a little high???

 

[jbeebe]

nice start mate!

sounds like its idling a little high???

yea it was, just a quick turn of the nob and it's back down

 

[jbeebe]

I got some goodies today: gaskets for the engine covers, now i can finally put them back on, and an EL12 flasher relay to speed up the blinkers a little. They flashed about once every 4 seconds with the stock thermo unit.

Tomorrow the engine covers will go on, i need to flush out the motor now that all the little bits of old gasket fell in from scraping, torque some things down, drop the front end a little further down the forks, then i should snap a picture for you guys.

My cateye rear light is also on it's way over the Pacific from the Peoples Republic, once that's in i'll chop the rear fender and put it on as well.

 

[jbeebe]

well i just finished:

clubmans
grips
weighted bar ends
exhaust wrap
engine covers
signals
rear fender chop
taillight
lowered the front end a little
replaced flasher relay with EL12 to flash quicker.

when i first got her:

now:

 

[jbeebe]

next up will be bigger tires, do something about the awful seat, fork gaiters and new seals/fluid, sprockets/chain

i'm also thinking of plasti-dipping the tank gloss black and scotch-brite'ing the fuel cap. what do you think?

 

[jbeebe]

I used the silicone sealant on the exhaust wrap and took out the cam chain tensioner to clean it out, well i snapped the adjusting bolt off and had to drill it out :'(. I ate through some of the housing too but managed to get it back on the bike somewhat functional i think, maybe it's just paranoia but the cam chain sounds louder now; so i ordered a new housing for 20 bucks off the bay.

Went for a short ride to cure the sealant and snapped some more pics of beautiful Cleveland:

 

[7aliveatlast7]

nice work so far! from one '81 kz440 owner to another

 

[Wahoo650]

Nice progress! I had a 440B back in the day(I thought it was an '80), gave $800 for it and it was only 2 years old. Tried for a year to kill it and couldn't. Cam chain always rattled in that one too. Dealer said it was pretty normal and to ignore it. I was stationed in Georgia at the time and wanted something to ride back and forth to the base and just have fun on. I rode that thing to death- treated it like an enduro. Where in Cleveland are you? There's a bunch of us now, watch for rides- I'm riding to/from work all week!

Matt

 

[jbeebe]

Nice progress! I had a 440B back in the day(I thought it was an '80), gave $800 for it and it was only 2 years old. Tried for a year to kill it and couldn't. Cam chain always rattled in that one too. Dealer said it was pretty normal and to ignore it. I was stationed in Georgia at the time and wanted something to ride back and forth to the base and just have fun on. I rode that thing to death- treated it like an enduro. Where in Cleveland are you? There's a bunch of us now, watch for rides- I'm riding to/from work all week!

Matt

thanks for the kind words guys!

good to know about the noisy cam chain.

i'm in the Stonebridge Towers right across the Detroit-Superior Bridge on the West Side. I'd love to go riding with you guys sometime, i saw your thread in the Ohio section. I don't have plates on it right now, but if there's a few of us i'm not too worried about getting nailed for it

 

[jbeebe]

I had some extra time and i'm a little in-between ordering more stuff (tires, sprockets) so i decided to have a go at shaving the seat down, I think it turned out ok.

Before and after:

after about 1.5hrs of messing around with a steak knife...

 

[jbeebe]

Took off the cyl head cover this afternoon to paint it with VHT gloss black. Will put it on tomorrow and snap a pic of it on.