!PROJECT! KZ650 Cafe racer

[zeiss150]

Hey Andy! Now thats paying attention. Yes there is a reason... the A hole that mounted the tire put it on backwards... and I didn't notice it untill later. So I had to take it back to him and have him put it on right. but he put it on with the rotation of the tire going the wrong way. But its all fixed now... That picture was taken about 9 months ago.

Thanks for paying attention to the details. If you notice anything else "ascue" please let me know.

Have a great day!
Matt-

[Andy the gringo]

I figured there must have been a reason. I thought possibly you were converting to a dual disc setup or just mocking it up to take some pics. Looks like you are making some good progress.

[KAW>BOY]

If You get that engine in as well as you've done everything else, I'm sure it'll be a 1st class job... no, I'm positive it will!!!
You are truly a craftsman. I can't wait till your next post.

[hincheec]

That is just AWESOME.

great job.

I hope the end result is everything you envisioned during your build.

[zeiss150]

Thanks for all the really nice comments. I think the bike is looking great... now that I have all the electrical problems worked out I just need to figure out the seat pan. Once I get the seat pan figured out i'll get the seat upholster. Then all I need to do is redo the engine... but more about that later.

So I was ready to put the engine in. now... I'm pretty strong (well for a little guy) but I wasn't looking forward to putting 250lbs into that frame ... I was mostly worried about scratching the paint. I wrapped the frame rails with towels. I figured I would used leverage to get that engine into the frame. So I took some 2x4's and put the engine on them and lifted, then I just pushed the engine into the frame... it sounds easier than it was. once I had the engine in, I used a jack to lift the engine and I took out the 2x4's out. The trick was to get the mounting bolts in. Here's how dumb I was... I took the engine out like 6 months ago and I couldn't remember where the bolts went.... lame. I had to sit there and think really hard... I had to think outside so the smoke from my head would blow away. But I figured it out. and with out further ado...









Here it is with the header on... One of the great things about this bike is that it came with some cool stuff like the header.



Ok my friends ... I'm sick as a dog so that's all for tonight. Next time I'll go into the tank, tail section, and tail light.

Matt-

[Hasersys]

You have done a very good job on this bike. I am currently looking at a kz650. It is in need of queit a bit of tlc. I am unsure if I want to start the project or not. I may offer him 200$ for it then slowly build it. I will deffenatly take notes.

I am unsure about buying the bike right now. He says that 2 cam case bolts need inserts.. When I talked to him more about it it sounds to me like they are stripped. He is also going to let me know after he cleans the carbs if it runs. anyway, wether i buy it or not this is what I intend on doing.

I love the color man and the fact that you tackled respoking it. Ilook forward to reading more.

[elr658]

And the 29 smoothbores.

[zeiss150]

I've been working on the seat for a little while now and I'm not sure if I like what I've come up with. I used the gas tank from a kz1000 (I don't remember the year) but it think it looks very "cafe". It has knee inserts and everything. So the tank is perfect but the seat.... well, I don't know.

I used the tail section from a 79 KZ750 (I think) and I sort of like it. I modified it so my cool *** tail light will fit in it.

I'm just not sure about how to get the seat to work right. Here's what I have so far.



I really like the way it looks like this ... but once you put the seat foam on I'm not so sure.

Here's what I did with the seat foam

I used a bread knife to cut off the extra foam that I didn't want.






Once I had the shape roughed out with the bread knife (by the way an electric carving knife works awesome for this) then I used a drill and a 3M paint striping wheel to smooth out the seat. (a sanding disk can also be used). This is how that came out





As you can see I primered the tail piece. It looks pretty good but once foam is covered with vinyl I'm not sure that it will look that great. I also have to make a seat pan.... I'm not looking forward to that.

Does anyone know an easy to put gold leaf on? My first attempt didn't work so hot.

Here is a picture of the tail section from behind ... the circle is for the break/tail light.


I'll keep posting as I make more progress

Matt-

[anamosity]

Hory Chit dude!!!
That is some pretty amazing stuff you got going on.
Lot of time and effort you have put into that bike.
You get a an A+ and a smiley face.

[zeiss150]

Hey Elr, I just say that you posted something about the carbs? I changed the main and pilot jets from what the previous owner had. I found a web site that gave specs on how to pic the right jets. So I ordered them from Z1 and put them in... but that was so long ago i cant remember what I put in. All I remember is that the previous owner had that bike running RICH! the main and pilot were both way over the top. I also spent a few days sanding and polishing the carbs, not fun but they look great. I also know that pods are frowned on, but on a cafe... its really the only way to go.

Matt-

[elr658]

You are the proud owner of one of the few carburetors that actually WORK with pods.

[zeiss150]

Hey ELR! What is it that makes the 29's work with pods? Aren't they pretty much the same design for all the smoothbores? Just wondering? I always want to learn from the best!

Thanks Matt-

[Torques]

Wow, what an amazing project, great work! I really enjoyed reading this whole post.

[vincentmoy]

Very nice work!!! Keep it up!

[motonut]

wow zeiss, i love your bike, i wish i had the time, and money to do that with mine

[zeiss150]

Boy what this a pain in the butt. I cut down the seat foam and all I needed was a pan to mount it on. I decided to use some thin steel that I had. I used a cutoff wheel to cut out a basic shape that I could form to fit the frame.



once I had the shape cut out I needed to figure a way to mount it to the frame.. I decided to use the gas tank and the tale section as "anker" points... in order to mount it to the gas tank I needed weld a bolt to the seat pan, because you can't hold on to the screw through the foam. so I drilled a hole in the metal and then I busted out my mig welder.

I KNOW.... I SUCK AT WELDING. with that said .... here are the pictures.





I just noticed that I don't have any pictures of my welding hahaha.... well anyway.

once I had the bolt welded on I needed to bend the pan to fit the frame... I also needed to give the pan some support. For support I took some 1" square tubing and cut it in half (God bless the cutoff wheel) then I used the half to give strength to the pan. that looks like this...











So I welded all that stuff onto the pan and it is really strong. I put some crappy vinyl (that I got from a fabric store) onto the pan to see if my design would work... and this is how that looks.





I know that If I can put some crappy vinyl on my seat pan then a professional place can do an awesome job. I figure it will cost me about $100 to get my seat upholstered.

To be continued!

Matt-

[zeiss150]

I put my seat pan with the vinyl cover onto the bike and took a few pictures. I really like the way it turned out, BUT,,, I have a few problems to work out.

1. I have to make sure that the foam is glued to the pan in just the write position or it wont fit the tail section right.

2. I have to make sure the tail section "locks on" to the seat pan so that the seat is lined up right.

3. I might have to mod part of the tail section in order to fix a gap that may be between the seat and the plastic.... here's some pictures.



See the gap? This will not do! So I have to fix it one way or another. I might be able to fix it just by moving the foam back. Also the seat looks crooked but that just my lousy cover job.



I think it looks pretty great from the side... It should look AMAZING with professional covering.



Today I'll check on cost and time to get it covered and I'll show you guys the end result.

Now for a picture of my tail/stop light! I think it looks betch'n. I got it on ebay, its made out of glass. I was surprised at the quality.







Ok ... that's all for today!

Ride safe my friends
Matt-

[zeiss150]

I took the seat pan and foam to a local upholstery guy and he said he could do it no problem and it was only going to cost me $45! I asked him to stich an ace of spades into the seat and that only cost me $20 more... so right on! I'll get it that first of next week... I'll get some pictures of it as soon as I get it.

Motonut... Thanks for the comment. I don't spend a lot of money on my bike... I spend 20-50 buck every now and then. There are a few times I've spend a few hundred but .... if you average it out over time its only like 30 bucks a month.

Keep in mind though I do all the work myself... I have waaaaaaaaaaaaay more time than money. I don't have some super motorcycle knowledge I just figure out what ever needs to be done by going online or reading the climer manual. My point is... If I can do it... anyone can do it!

Thanks again,
Matt-

[Torques]

I hope you don't start charging admission to continue following this thread, ha ha, it's like watching a good movie.

[zeiss150]

Torques, Thanks for the nice words... I'm glad you enjoy watching my little movie. I wont be charging admition any time soon... God bless the internet!

I'm glad that you are enjoying my adventures in motorcycle building. Stay tooned sports fans ... I'll be painting it soon!


Matt-