going to make me a cafe' racer! (kawasaki kz 400)

[SYKO]

picked this up today for a minor cost (cheap) its a 1977 kz400 it actually runs for a few secs on either, it just looks like crapola, no seat busted spedo, no chain, needs work obviously, is it worth fixing (like turn it into a cafe' racer) or just tearing apart and selling the parts for some loose change, anyone know anything about these things?







http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/southgacustoms/100_2748.jpg



I also got this little yamaha 60 but get this! in the time it took me to get my trailer and go back and get it! (20 mins) someone stole it!!! WTF! GD theifs!! well I posted a stolen add on craigslist and told all the shops and police about it (good thing I took pics) Im really interested in it to! I wanted to fix this little bugger up! well see how this pans out on this one, so what are the storys on these little things?? are they rare? are they valuable? I know the top end looks like the zinger top end.





http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/southgacustoms/100_2746.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/southgacustoms/100_2747.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/southgacustoms/yamahaenduro.jpg

[badasskfx]

syko i have a 1965 yamaha ya6 125 ill sell ya. $150 comes complete. needs top end that i have. put on and it should run. looks good to....cool old two stroke.

[SYKO]

im slightly interested in that, I may look you up after awhile if you still have it.

[SYKO]

been looking around the net at some pics of these things






http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa234/resistzine/Choppers/4074re2.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/southgacustoms/kzchopper.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/southgacustoms/kzcafe.jpg

[Black86tri-z]

that sucks what happend to the little yamaha !

[RedRider_AK]

LOL Wow, thieves really don't waste no time in your part of the country, huh?

[SYKO]

come on guys! anyone know anything about these ol' kz's???

[motoman110]

I have a friend with one, hes in the process of makin a choper out of it. His motor is pretty much beyond repair, any interest in parting it out for the motor?

[ProCarbine2k1]

Thats funny, Ive been looking up stuff on the ol' KZ's myself. Ive got a classmate thats handing one over to me that is supposed to be in really good shape. Dont know if it runs or not, Ill have to get some pics of it.

[ATC185R]

Hey Syko. I've got a Yamaha AT1E 125. The first year they made them I think 1970? It was in bad shape when I bought it. I did a lot of work to it to make it a solid roller and then put a new top end in it with a new rod bearing. Had it running and was going through the break in procedure when the main bearing went out. Kind of lost interest in it after that. I think those originally were enduros but this one looks like a dirt bike. The generator also doubles as a starter--I thought this was neat as hell and was going to fix the little guy up. Any way I saw the exhaust on the 65 and it caught my eye cuz its the same as the 125. The AT1 is for sale I guess if you are still looking for something like that.

[SYKO]

naw not interested in another one, just the one that got away, your right though it was very interesting, oh well, I still got this KZ and im really leaning towards doing the cafe' racer if I dont part it out.

[DarkestGKnight]

hey syko what if make it into a trike i like how they come out, nice big tires on the back, mud machine!

[SYKO]

its only a 400, and if made into a trike I would get smoked by averything about a 200x im sure, not really the best idea, I like trikes but not that much

[DarkestGKnight]

oh true well thats what i would do sure its got some good torque, but other then that cafe racers are nice.

[SYKO]

well after some research I decided to keep this ol kz400 hell...im only 20 bucks in the hole on it!

going to do a stripped down cafe' racer look

tail light and headlight only

clubman bars

cafe' fairing and rear tail section

not overly concerned with its running right now, I know it runs so im going to mod the bike first then get it running top notch

dont plan on riding it to much just mainly a conversation peice and runabout when I need it to be.



http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/southgacustoms/IMG_0514.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/southgacustoms/kawa20002.jpg

[SYKO]

here it is stripped down










http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/southgacustoms/100_2991.jpg

[Mr. Clean]

Gorilla Monsoon is gonna look pretty funny on that puny little bike...:welcome:

I love the cafe racer look, that thing is gonna be sweet with your mad skills....:cool:

[RedRider_AK]

I get the feeling that sweet engine paint isn't stock! :eek: :lol:

I've always liked bobbers, cafe racers, and other "non chopper" bikes. What is the deal with those little frame bars past the swingarm pivot, next to the brake pedal mount? Can you get rid of those? They look weird.

Also, looks like just straight pipes? Are you planning on building your own exhaust for it, or what?

[SYKO]

actually mike it fits really well and I dont feal to monstorous on it! red rider ak those frame bars are for the rear passenger pegs and exahust mount, I will be keeping them as I need a place for the rear sets to go any way, and yep Im going to do a sweet open pipe exhuast on it, im not going to make this a show peice I will actually ride it.. I still havnt decided on a color though, Im thinking along the lines of the eddie lawson gpz style or just plain black with a white racing stripe with the old scool 59 logos on it. dunno yet.

[RedRider_AK]

I say you should do it in gaudy, overdone mid-90's MotoGP colors. Seriously.

[SYKO]

I say you should do it in gaudy, overdone mid-90's MotoGP colors. Seriously.


show me a pic of what your talking about, I dotn want it to be all kinda weird looking, you got to remember 1 thing its a KZ400 not a GPZ1100!

[trizilla]

did you find out what the 60 is? i've got one that looks just the the red and white one. anyway if not,it is a jt1 or a jt2. i'd have to dig into it more but one of them was a dirt bike version and the other was enduro. made late 60's to early 70's. i have a factory manual for it. hopefully you find it. not sure how rare they are i've had 2 in my life, niether ran, i do know there are alot of unavailable parts.

[SYKO]

I think that 60 is goine forever, if it get taken any where I will know about it though

[DarkestGKnight]

i love those shields on the bikes u posted ever since i saw mad max ive always wanted one of those shields, im gonna get a bike with one of them on it soon or buy it seperate and put it on. but looks like an easy project.

[SYKO]

those cafe' fairings are only around 45 bucks, actually alot fo the parts are cheap the bars are only 25 and tail is around 125 so im happy with all that.

[Bryan Raffa]

so what COLOR is it gonna be??:twisted: EVERYTHING FLAT BLACK!..:naughty:

[SYKO]

so what COLOR is it gonna be??:twisted: EVERYTHING FLAT BLACK!..:naughty:




possibly with shinny white stripes ? hmmm....with the wheels pc'ed white! ohhhh snap city!

[cr480r]

Cafe style bikes are sweet... I cant wait to see it finished... I always wanted to build a small cafe bike to zip around town with...

[WLL]

cool bike syk, should make a sweet lil road ripper. hope she gets a BIGBORE:naughty:

[SYKO]

no big bore, when done it might get rode a few times but it will mostly sit around and look pretty at my shop.

[Dirtcrasher]

Too bad about the other bike....

The stock seat sure doesn't look to comfy!! lol....

[edog]

Any progress?

[SYKO]

no not really, opening up the shop again slowed things down a bit along with getting that lincoln. its chillin right now, I will take the tank down to the shop in a week or two to mod it.