I recently picked up this gem off a friend for almost nothing. He has been lugging it around for the past 5 years in it current state but road it around the country ~14k miles 6 years ago. When he got back to Athens GA, he said it wasnt running as well as it should have been and seemed a little “tired”. He did a compression test on the bike which showed tired piston rings. PSI was ~90 on 3/4 and “normal” on 1. He dumped some oil down the plug holes and did the test again this time getting “normal” results. Durring his disassembly he labled and bagged all bolts and parts while took the head and jugs off but lost interest shortly after. He is now moved into his house (payment for bike) with his new wife and just wanted to get rid of the bike.
This is where I come in…
The bike was dropped off last week and I have been doing research ever since. The plan is to strip it down to a bare frame and rebuild this bike from the ground up. My goal is to strip it down to the essentials and make it as clean as possible. I have already ordered a a rebuild kit for the carbs and a engine gasket kit. Im currently looking for a shop here that can check over the motor and trans to make sure Im starting out with something other than a paper weight. I dont want to buy rings yet until I find out the condition of the cylinders. There is no point to order stock rings if the jugs need work. If everything checks out ok, the motor will be rebuilt to factory specs and the carbs will be getting individual air filters after they are rebuilt. The front fork will be rebuilt and the rear shocks will be replaced (With ???). Im looking to do a early to mid 70’s style cafe with this bike, very simple and classic. Ive posted some pictures at the bottom of what Im using as a guide for the final look. In the next few days I will post up a list of parts that Im going to be replacing. Im excited to start the project and am always open to suggestions.
GS750- This is my model. I like almost everything about this bike with the exception of the clubman bars and headlight. If it had a cleaner looking headlight and a nice set of clip ons, Id be all of it.
KZ650 I really like the seat pan shape and look
GS1000- I also like this seat but the back of the actual seat bothers me. I would love it if where your butt would sit against the cowl would be straight up and down, not angled back a little like it is.
I too have been lusting over this bike. I was thinking about trying to mimic this tail section on mine but decided that I would keep that design for a future KZ400. Love this bike and definitely plan on building one similar.
Progress: Head and jugs are at the machine shop. I just dropped off the valve seals so I should have everything back by Monday. Ordering rings tonight along with a few other odds n ends to get the motor buttoned up.
Frame needs a few mods before I can send it out to powdercoating. I need to weld a brace on both sides for the rear sets and also make my tail section out of fiberglass. After the tail section is done, im going to mock up the electronics so I can fit them under the seat and out of view.
There are a few more items that I need to get but nothing major. Target completion date is 11/1/09.
Updates: Work has been killing me lately so I haven’t had much time to work on this. Ive got the frame almost where I want it but I still need to get the rear sets so I can figure out mounting and weld the plates in so there is a place to mount them too. The seat needs another layer of glass before I start the Bondo work but I’m out of resin and hardener so i need to make a trip to the supply store and pick some up.
ive been selling of the stock pieces im not using and extra parts that came with the bike to fund this project so its going a little slower than I would like but so far I have traded for some Stock spoke wheels, and have gotten $335 for the parts that Ive sold. As of right now I havent put ANY money into this bike out of my pocket but that will soon change on friday when I will be ordering the last of what I need. To kinda give you an idea of what I’m doing, Ive attached some pictures at the bottom of the components that ill be ordering.
Update again: After posting the pics, I decided to work on it a little. Mounted all the electronics under the seat and mounted the R/R under the panels so they can still get airflow.
clubmans…meh I was going to put the on my bike when I redid everything and I went for clip ons. So much better just for the fact that you can adjust the to any position that you want.
I don’t know if you mentioned it or not, but bar end mirrors=a must on the bikes.
