I was wondering, looking at your picks, it looks like Honda forks, will the Honda calipers work on the Kaw discs? Is there a allot of Kaw parts in boxes, like calipers ,forks, swing arm, stuff like that?
I picked up a 500 a ways back that was "hopped up", 500 heads , 550 aftermarket pistons blah blah.., it was a basket case originally built by a reputable shop... They did not use the 550 jugs, just bored the crap out of the 500 jugs, I went to change the jugs at rebuild time to 550 and it wasn't gonna be a factory fit and would require machine shop time. That would have been good information to have before the bottom end was put back together. you can tell what you have if the CC' cast was left unmolested on the outside front of the jugs ( at least which jugs they started out as), mine were shaved off, so I couldn't tell and didn't think about it until I was at that point of assembly. I put it back together as the shop built it, took it for a couple of rides, ran good , but parked it anyways, just don't trust those thin cylinder walls. Someone took a bulletproof engine and shaved it down to something more fragile and in my opinion , less reliable. f you want 550 power in a 500, it's better to go with a used 550 to start (the bottom end is better too) than to hotrod a 500 , and if that isn't enough, and you want to hotrod the 550 engine, go 650 '79-'82, they all fit in the same cradle.
I guess the point of all this is that , that I have found cost savings in upgrading to a larger stock, dependable Honda engine, without aftermarket parts and machine shop costs. Of course what you choose to do is up to you ,and we'll all watch with interest as your project progress'. I just thought I might throw that out since you are at the start and could use ideas.
There is no substitute for cubic displacement if you want power, it's easier and less costly to swap into a larger displacement motor that is a factory fit, than it is to make a little more power in a smaller engine, and rebuilding your own engine is a rewarding, addictive activity that has much in common with potatoe chips.
