1981 Kawasaki KZ750 Resurrection

[posplayr]

Great looking bike Ed. Looks like you plan to keep and ride it.

[Nessism]

Nice work on the linkage, Ed! I expect nothing short of excellence. I'm surprised that the shift lever looks so flimsy and unfinished. I thought Kawasaki was more into the details than the shifter would suggest. Did you look at Ikon shocks?? They're willing to do some customization and they are pretty reasonably priced, IMO.

So...are you gonna keep it and ride it??

Hi Rudy,

The shift linkage is quite similar to that from my 1000S. I'd say the rigidity is virtually identical, and if anything, it's tighter. Kawasaki went to a dark finish on parts like those on the GPZ bikes and I think they used some sort of black chromate zinc process or similar, which is reasonably durable but not outstanding in that regard. I just stripped the parts and reapplied a bright zinc. Chrome would have been nicer but this is good enough.

Regarding the shocks, Ikon's are fine and all, but my wish list included an aluminum body and gas charged. The Ikons, at least the version they list for the KZ750, are too long, and the swingarm would have hit on the swingarm anyway.

Nice work on the linkage, Ed! I expect nothing short of excellence. I'm surprised that the shift lever looks so flimsy and unfinished. I thought Kawasaki was more into the details than the shifter would suggest. Did you look at Ikon shocks?? They're willing to do some customization and they are pretty reasonably priced, IMO.

So...are you gonna keep it and ride it??

[Nessism]

Took a flier and bought these shocks...http://www.ebay.com/itm/291663689401

Been looking for shocks until I'm blue in the face and can't find anything that seems properly suited without spending ridiculous money. Mind you these things are ridiculous money, but at least they are quality.

The stock shock length is 330-333mm. The RH shock is longer than the LH side for some reason. Most shock application info I can find for the KZ750 suggests 340mm or longer, which simply won't work (swingarm hits mufflers). These shocks are adjustable for length so that eliminates that concern.

I've requested a heavier spring for these shocks and adjustments to the eyelets. Hopefully they will comply.

[Nessism]

Just got back from a ride with the new pegs and really happy with the improvement in riding position. The pegs are now in a perfect position (reminds me of a GS bike!). One unexpected improvement is shift quality. I was worried that the linkage may degrade shift quality but it's just the opposite. I think the one piece shift lever resulted in a bending moment which causes binding in the shift shaft. The new articulated linkage removes the bending motion and the shift lever only sees rotational force. At any rate this is my theory. Just happy with the improvement. The bike now shifts better than my GS!

[Nessism]

P1020823 by nessism, on Flickr

P1020822 by nessism, on Flickr

Id diamond out the fins too....that'd add a lil more bam to it....

[Nessism]

Tackled the cover stud again tonight and installed a helicoil. Took my time and got it in straight. I wanted to save the old cover because the clutch release mechanism looks to be superior to the version used by the older cover. My cover has a rotary ramp mechanism with ball bearings, the older bike uses a helix arrangement. It has itty bitty balls on the inside too but the mechanism just isn't as smooth.

Still waiting on the new footpeg rubbers but threw on my old ones and really happy. The pegs are moved back about three inches and the new position is much sportier. I'll take some photos in the daylight tomorrow.

Amazing work Ed!

[Nessism]

Strip it and buff it out. Call it a day.

Is that new/old cover from a GPz750?

It's already stripped and cleaned on the backside (tons of sludge/chain splatter). Will polish this weekend. The origin of the cover is a mystery. It's an early cover, dating back to the 650 and early 750. The GPz cover is more angular. Thing is though, none of these other bikes had rearset pegs (in the US market anyway), so they don't need that stud. The stud itself looks tarnished but unused.

Some before and after photos of the new parts...

shift lever by nessism, on Flickr

P1020802 by nessism, on Flickr

Strip it and buff it out. Call it a day.

Is that new/old cover from a GPz750?

[Nessism]

Working on the new footpeg project. Received most of the parts needed including shifter/linkage, footpegs, brake lever, and even bought a new sprocket cover that has the stud for the shifter.

Stripped the corroded black finish off the shifter/brake lever and replated in bright zinc. Real happy with how this turned out. Sandblasted the footpeg brackets and repainted in black urethane. These turned out great too. The footpeg rubbers are tattered though so ordered some new ones (waiting on delivery).

Last part of the project is to deal with the sprocket cover. My cover has the mounting lug for the pivot stud so in lieu of polishing the new cover I bought I decided to just drill and tap my existing cover. Spent a fair bit of time creating a drill jig to assure the hole was straight and parallel to the existing shaft shaft. Got the hole drilled all straight like planned but rushed the tapping job and wound up with a crooked hole. Should have modified the drill jig to allow tapping with it as well. I'm livid with myself for screwing this up. Still have the new/old cover so not dead in the water but real unhappy with myself for going through all the careful work in drilling the hole only to mess it up at the last step.

Very nice resto!

[Nessism]

Small update for you photo lovers. Black exhaust installed (obviously).

I ordered some footpegs and related parts from a GPz so the pegs can be moved back a smig. Shifting is a little stiff on this thing compared to a GS so hope the linkage doesn't add to that.

Found a set of Progressive shocks for an amazing price only the dang things don't fit. Application data on the Progressive website suggest they should but they are too long and the swingarm moves down and hits the muffler brackets.

Works most basic shocks are $475. YSS shocks go from $350 to $500 (and higher but I've crossed those off the option list). Could keep the stockers I suppose but they don't live up to the rest of the bike.

And speaking of that, I took the bike out for a brief freeway blast today and was very pleased with how smooth the engine runs. I've heard stories about secondary imbalance buzz on these bikes, and Kawasaki rubber mounted the engines on later years to quell the vibes. Think I got lucky since for as much freeway riding as I figure to do, this thing is plenty smooth.

P1020789 by nessism, on Flickr

P1020791 by nessism, on Flickr

[Nessism]

Thanks for the comment Dan!

Got the refreshed exhaust installed over the weekend. It looks good but the coating is fragile. Had all kinds of fun trying to get both sides installed at the same time, since they join under the engine, without banging the pipes around too much.

Took the bike out for a nice ride, focusing on loading the rings as much as possible to help break them in, but came home early because one of the valves was tapping more than desired. The valve train on this bike has shim under bucket, so you gotta pull the cams to adjust the valve lash. The lash spec is .08-.18mm, compared to .03-.08mm for GS shim bikes. Found one valve at about .25 so moved that one down a shim. Could have maybe gone two. At any rate, got that sorted.

Found myself banging my head on the wall regarding the cam timing (again). I struggled mightily trying to get the cams installed previously and wound up switching the coil trigger wires between 1-4 and 2-3 in order to get the bike to start. I was trying to get that sorted out once and for all but had issues again. Wound up pulling the centrifugal advance unit apart and rotating the rotor 180 degrees before I could get everything properly aligned. I don't remember pulling that unit apart before but maybe I did and put it together incorrectly? Fingers crossed it's all fixed up now though.

Next project I'm looking at is installing GPz750 footpegs, which are set back a couple inches. Pretty sure it's a direct bolt on, just need to find all the parts. Ebay to the rescue...