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1981 Kawasaki KZ750 Resurrection

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.

sprocketcover.jpg


P1020640_zpsuajwbdpf.jpg
 
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Strip it and buff it out. Call it a day.

Is that new/old cover from a GPz750?
 
rudeman said:
Strip it and buff it out. Call it a day.

Is that new/old cover from a GPz750?
Click to expand...

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
 
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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. :)
 
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Id diamond out the fins too....that'd add a lil more bam to it....
 
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!
 
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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.
 
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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??
 
rudeman said:
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??
Click to expand...

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.
 
Yeah, the plan is to keep this bike and ride it. I didn't keep track of costs but pretty sure I'd be upside down if I sold it.
 
Heard back from Ohlin's and they said those ebay shocks will work nicely for my bike. Might have to come up with an eyelet shim is all. The yellow coloring will clash with the bikes color scheme but oh well.:rolleyes:
 
Ed, it looks very good!
Those have a shorter wheelbase that the later GPz. I was just reading up on these bikes because my fantasy of getting a GPz is warming up again. Moding a Z750 into a GPz might be a possibility too.
Whatever shows up at the right $$$ time. :rolleyes:
 
Buffalo Bill said:
Ed, it looks very good!
Those have a shorter wheelbase that the later GPz. I was just reading up on these bikes because my fantasy of getting a GPz is warming up again. Moding a Z750 into a GPz might be a possibility too.
Whatever shows up at the right $$$ time. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Bill,
The 1982 Gpz750 begot the KZ750 L model, which carried on for several more years (and turned into a 700 in the US). These bikes are the high water mark for the twin shock bikes. The unishock 750's were a departure from this family linage. Nice bikes for sure, but somewhat different in intent.
 
Got the shocks today and they are nothing short of stunning. They installed black springs at my request so I'm pleased with that too.

The top eye is 15mm, but I need 14 so going to make some shims.
 
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