Topic: 79' KZ750 .... "Gutter Brat"

[Spikeybike]

so i say  "inspired" be cause it's not actually a cafe. i wanted a bike that looked cafe"ish" but would (barely) accommodate 2 riders . i'm going the low low budget route since this bike was a give away (score)

open exhaust, i might use baffles once i get to here it. pegs and foot controls are cross drilled steel pipe

the rear fender was such a learning experience , i have chopped up fenders before but never made one from scratch, that used to be a shelf in my basement, notice the 1/8" rod around the edges.

the licence plate mount is welded to the chain guard . the tail light mount is fabbed into the fender and reinforced to support a passenger i'll post pics of the under side if anyone is interested

homemade dragbars, the dummy lights and tach were removed i made a mount for the stock speedo. i want to put dummy lights somewere or at least the neutral light

chopped the fender and put 1/8" rod to match the rear

i'm gonna go with whitewalls, i already have them actually

i wanna do knee dents but kind of intimidated by it (that would be a very costly mistake if i screw it up) .. anyone know a good way to purge the fumes from a gas tank well i think thats it

i had this idea to make the passenger pegs removeable, i dont know were i'm gonna put them yet

     so what do you guys think

[Spikeybike]

oh yeah, the seat is the stock one , cut and shaved with a 36grit sanding disk on an angle grinder

[patpollin]

looks badass
I have a deep down itch for a 70s dohc kz

[seaweb11]

Nice work

[arbormystic]

Nice work, I am looking forward to seeing the final product.  I just actually picked up an 82 KZ750 but haven't decide exactly what I am going to do with it yet.

[MJL]

Are you still working on this? I just picked up one of these, and am looking for some inspiration.

[adams77]

I would love to find a KZ750 twin!  I have to settle for the CB350

Check these guys out, nice KZ builds.

http://www.wrenchmonkees.com/monkee06.html

[rachet]

the licence plate mount is welded to the chain guard . the tail light mount is fabbed into the fender and reinforced to support a passenger i'll post pics of the under side if anyone is interested

Uh... Yeah!!!  Your detail has always impressed me and is fun to look at.

Rach-

[Spikeybike]

i still have the bike , but there was some confusion about the owner ship of the bike


basicly .. my buddy sold it to me for an amount we were gonna discuss later ..... i started workin on it , i got as far as you can see here.... my buddy comes over and says   "DUDE,  that gonna be sweet , i'm so happy your doing this for me bro... your a true friend"        ...wait ..what?   

so long story short... my buddy was trying to pay me to build it for him ...not a bad deal BUT .. he wanted to pay me with goods... not money 

so i still got the bike .. with no title ....    i'm gonna talk him out of it some day ... it's just pretty low on the priority list as of late ... me with no job and all

[rachet]

that's rough! 

I don't know, I mean... if you are not burdened with a job right now and have the free time...  I don't know what the goods are.... Think of it as investing in Karma or something...

What I'm saying is, Your bad ass fab skillz shouldn't be sitting idle with a perfectly fine project in your garage.

Maybe work out some payment options for him, a small sum of money weekly or something.

I was also hoping to see some pics of the foot pegs/controls.  something close up.   

Good Luck!

Rachet-

[Spikeybike]

i'll go take some close ups and post um .. .

and as far as me and him workin something out .....  it'll happen, i think i was just soured by the whole thing .... but i have been itchin to weld something ...we'll see 

[Ogri]

I would be completely straight with your buddy. Tell him how much the work will cost and ask what the reimbursement will be. If you're not happy with working on the bike for 6 months for a beaten-up TV tell him to come pick it up and get someone else to do it.

There's plenty of projects out there without attached baggage.

Friendship is friendship and business is business, it's bad juju when the two meet.

Sorry, but your friend sounds like a tube.

[Spikeybike]

so in an effort to cheer me up ... (had a really #$%*ty day)   my aforementioned buddy ... who is now my roommate .. just handed me the title to this bike .. it's still pretty much exactly as it was in these pics (except all the bare metal has a nice layer of patina
  and the gas tank has been replaced )

so here we go again, lets see if i can actually finish a freebie this time ..

short list :
it has a weeping head gasket
the electrical components are all in (unlabeled   thanx chris) boxes
needs tires and a battery

everything else i think i can make ..or bastardize from elsewhere

[MJL]

I have a '76, and I pulled all the electrical out and diagrammed it. The hitch is, I drew it in Autocad and don't know how to save it in a format that is viewable without Autocad.

If you need help or pics let me know. 

Or try http://www.armbell.com/kz400/index.php?sid=006b92474acbb51dd3088b51976d0511&mforum=kz400

[Skonnie Boy]

Sweet, looks like the best use possible for all those unloved 750 twins.  My kz 650 is jealous.

[Hondamagic]

Here's my Streetracker to be,soon to be mono-shocked. I'm using the stock tank (raised 1.5" in the rear), and the stock tail section trimmed down to look a little like a KZ650 tail.

[Spikeybike]

ok so here's the skinny

the homemade dragbars- out- supersport bars turned upside down- in

my first seat idea was thrown out the window, now it's gonna be a lowprofile "brat style" seat
i'm gonna try the carpet padding technique i've read about for years

the pipes are gonna stay as they are , but are gonna get the heatwrap treatment

[Spikeybike]

everyone always tosses the side covers and hides the guts under a bump seat ... i have always , always hated bump seats  .. just never cared for the look  BUT.... i dig the open space , so i had this idea to scratch the side covers but mount all the guts so they're visible ... on display almost (but clean,  wires routed clean , loomed and ziptied, all connectors replaced ..ect)  
   i really like the idea of "showing the guts " and not hiding anything ...  i'm concidering stripping the tank and clearcoating it raw , to keep that theme



some subtle knee dents

[Spikeybike]

i want this bike to look rough and tumble ... when a laymen sees it , they're gonna think it's a POS ....  but someone who knows what they're lookin at will know better

[MJL]

No airbox?

Does your starter work? If so, you might want to take the cover off and loc-tite the starter clutch bolts. The have a reputation of backing out and breaking stuff.

[Spikeybike]

from what i've read it's kind of a #$%* to tune with pods ... but aren't they always (part of the fun right)   i'll have to look into the starter clutch ..  this bike hasn't been run in at least 5 or 6 years so i don't know what works and what doesn't

i'm not too worried about it .. it was free , and i''m just havin fun with it

[Spikeybike]

[Zaipai]

Wow, awesome score on the freebie side.. Holy cow.. Love the seat, however the transition between the tank and the seat is rough.. gonna leave it that way or are you going to find a way to smooth it out some?

.: Scott :.

[Spikeybike]

my plan is to lower the tank a bit in the rear .. like the wrenchmonkee's bike a few posts back

[Zaipai]

Yea, that should do it.. I like the look. That rear fender is perfect, very Kawasaki like.. Goes great with that bike.

You sure have an artistic eye with these older bikes! Perhaps you should start doing what Carpy is doing only open it up to all older bikes.. He seems to make a good living doing what he is doing.. He also looks like he has lots of fun doing it.

.: Scott :.