Topic: The Mosquito! (Kawasaki KZ250)

[Scott S]

 Before:

After:

[Scott S]

 I think it really cleaned up the lines of the bike, don't you? Better proportions, overall.
 We also fiddled around with the rear set linkage mock up, which told us that we'll have to do something about the exhaust. The reverse cone muffler I have will foul the linkage. I'll run a straight pipe with a baffle if needed, but I'd really like to find a small diameter megaphone if possible. The exhaust will have to be the last thing we figure out.

[seanbarney41]

OK, I couldn't stand it. After seeing the pics and my awkward seating position, we went back to the drawing board.
 We mocked up some mounts for the rear set pegs. I may end up making this a whole triangle (with some fancy speed holes for cosmetics) so that we can get more weld on the frame tube, but you get the idea.
 This was just one change we made to get my frame to fit the bike.

Yeah, I think that will be a lot better for ya.  I'm a shortish guy on  a big 750 so it always amazes me how far back rearsets can go on little bikes.  In the picture whats that bar with the arrow on it?  I agree with the seat change too...looks way better.

[Scott S]

 The bar is just a piece of flat stock that we were using as a straight edge. It's resting on the stock brake pivot rod. That gave us the (approx.) centerline for the rear set foot peg. The arrows are not in their correct place for the pic...they were used when doing some measurements earlier. We used the stock foot peg height, stock brake pedal height, etc., and figured out how far back and down we needed to be to place the rear set pegs.

[78whiteorbs]

great progress so far man ! you wouldnt be interested in trading for rd350 cafe would you ? saw you had two other 4 strokes , my rd looks like the kinda small powerful bike you would dig based on this build here-  have some vids and she is a screamer!

[Scott S]

 Trade for the KZ?
 I'm dying to see it finished first! LOL
 
 PM or email me details, though.

[Scott S]

Well, this sucks! After stripping the tank to bare metal and getting it into primer so we could start body work, I noticed a little spot that just didn't look right.
 A little poking around and this is what I found. It sucks, because looking in from the neck the tank appears spotless. I have a buddy who was willing to repair it, but I've had enough of rotten tanks.

[Scott S]

So I sprung for one of these! Vintage, NOS Mojave tank with correct cap. Correct petcocks are on the way, too.
 We mocked up some new brackets to mount the tank...it's completely different than the TS tank. I LOVE this look better anyway.
 It's a good bit longer than the TS tank so we cut another 2.75" off the seat (not shown in these pics). That gives me the long tank/short tail look that I was originally wanting anyway.

[Scott S]

 I would have never picked the yellow, but it's kinda growing on me. I have some questions about matching it though...
 Not so much matching the color, but will modern clear coat be TOO shiny on the tail piece? And can I clear over the old paint on the tank to make it match?
 And what about side covers? I don't want them yellow, too....that would be just too much. Maybe a silver to match the wheels or???
 It would be a shame to strip a tank in such great shape just to change the color. What do to, what to do....

[Scott S]

 Oh yeah...and that little filler piece underneath the rear of the tank? Perfect place for my neutral light, headlight switch and maybe even the key...don't ya think? That would clean up the triple tree a little bit more.

[78whiteorbs]

Nice! I am dying to know Scott, what does that mohave tank look like on the xs650 frame? Always thought about getting one stripping it and polishing it up. Cheap alloy tank. I am told clear powder  is the way to go on polished metal.

Far as the yellow I dig it man! It is very racey. You need some knee dent pads from omars to break that up and go black on the side covers with some yellow accent striping. Also have the tank re cleared to gloss up and match.

http://omarsdtr.com/cafenew8.html

working on the xs , got a tail piece from roccity on the way . Question , on your 75 curious about the paint . I think that star black is the same as on this 78 . Wanna keep the tank as it is already nice looking and match that paint . Can you pm a contact for you paint people or tell me how to find out how or what they had to mix to get the star black? Ever run clip ons on an xs ? I bet they would vibrate the bejezzus out of you without the dampening but they look much nicer than running the rubber mounted clubmans>

[Scott S]

 Never ran clip ons on an XS, but I did run Clubmans. No worse than any other bars as far as vibes go. A local kustom shop matched up the Star Black. I'll see if they still have the code for the flake.

 Oh, and if you're wanting a cafe style tank on an XS, using an XS750/XS850 tank is probably the easiest way to go. I did a write up on how to do it on the 650 Garage site.

[Scott S]

To make a mount for the Mojave tank, my Dad bent up a strip of metal to match the rear curve of the tunnel.

[Scott S]

 We then cut a mushroom shaped piece of metal that the band will be welded to. The tank came with a rubber strip across the rear, so this mimics the way it would have been mounted on a Bennelli or Ducati. There's a hole through the tank at the front and we'll weld a nut to the backbone and simply bolt it down.
 This is the way many bikes have the tank mounted, an Rd350 for example. It also makes a neat place to mount the regulator/rectifier.

[Scott S]

 The tank is much wider at the front than a stock KZ250 tank and the clip ons would have hit it at full lock.
 We welded a couple of nuts on each stop, then cut off a bolt to fit in the nut. We cut a slot in the end and now we have adjustable stops. Once the bike is finished and everything is hard mounted, I'll probably put a dab of blue loc-tite on the threads and set them where I want them.

[Scott S]

Here's a pic with the shortened seat and the rear tank mount. The front of the tank may come up just a tad...we'll probably put a rubber snubber between it and the backbone, but this is pretty much the stance.

[Scott S]

 We bent up some metal and made some braces for the tail light mount.

[Scott S]

 Drilled some speed holes....

[Scott S]

And got the tail light mount all fabbed up.

[Scott S]

Tucks in real nice from the side view, but still plenty visible from the rear.

[hoodellyhoo]

That bike is looking really sharp! I'm surpirsed that there's any of those benelli tanks left. I would have thought the cafe guys had snatched them all up.

[Scott S]

I forgot that I haven't posted a pic of the powerplant since we got it all reassembled and paint detailed.

[Scott S]

 I'll be using the plastic inner fender....part of it, anyway. I sawed off about a quarter of it overall. This will all be hidden under the seat and inside the frame and still provide a little protection to the battery and electrics, as well as giving us a place to mount the fuse box.

[Scott S]

 Here are some more shots showing how we mounted the tank. We plan on using a strip of velcro across the rear  mount and maybe adding a couple of rubber snubbers to the frame at the front, just to keep any wobble to a minimum.
 The nut at the front has a hole drilled and tapped all the way through the backbone, so it snugs up real nice.

[Scott S]

 We also had a change of plans on the rear set mounts. We made up some brackets using these templates, but they were just WAY too thin. Even doubled up, they flexed and bent.