Well, since there wasn't any real interest from anyone when I had my 1977 kz650 Vintage 5 bike for sale, I figured I'd work on it and see if I can make it better. Thus far, I've been able to trim about 10 lbs off of it since the last time I had it on track...but along the way, I really got to see why not many people race vintage :-( When last it hit the track, there was some "inconsistent" handling characteristics that I chalked up to the knobs not properly turned on the suspension, and the weak linkage between the seat and the handlebars. So as I looked into the bike during the off season, I discovered that one of my forks was bent, pretty bad, (the front end swap was performed at a shop in order to save me time...but I won't get into that). After sourcing a straight tube from ebay and swapping the internals, I ended up needing a different wheel spacer! It was that far off! There was also a condition which caused the oil to escape the inside of the engine and lubricate the outside of the bike. After a teardown, I discovered that the cylinder wasn't flat. Oil was puking from the front top seal of the cylinder and the rear bottom of the cylinder. I'm guessing that at some point it wasn't properly torqued down and it allowed the cylinder jugs to twist during heat cycles. So after swapping out the cylinder jugs with a new one, we encountered a no start issue...yep, cams off 180 degrees. Okay, top end all buttoned up, cams correct, timing set, first kick to start and BAM...stripped out the spline on the kicker arm! (Bike is kickstart only). No problem, just source a new kicker from ebay...well that's part of it, but my kicker is actually the spline of one kicker welded to the end of another, in order to extend it out to clear the relocated brake pedal and foot peg. Alright, now the ebay kicker arrived and I take it to the paint shop next to my work because I was told they have a welder. I show them my dilemma, and a few hours later they have it welded up. I get the kicker back on the bike, battery charged, gas on, choke etc...kick it like a horse with a saddle burr...and no start. Fight with it for most of the day and finally find a hidden connector providing power to one of the coils that had come unplugged in the spaghetti plate of a wiring harness. Kick, kick, kick, kick...for hours...mess with choke, battery charger on/off...finally get it to "run" and backfire and shut off and run and backfire and shut off, etc. This bike was a one or two kicker last year and now it is a difficult and finicky beast with random back firing...frustrated beyond belief! I don't know how you guys that are dedicated to old bikes do it, but more power to ya! I still have more work to do on it but here is the version 1.5 progress so far along with the last years "before" picture. Maybe if I make it to version 2.0, I'll do something about the lack of power.
Racing vintage sure has alot of downs when shit goes wrong. I had to pull out of 6 races this past weekend from BOTH bikes giving me major grief completely outta nowhere. But on the flip side......I see plenty of newer bikes getting torn apart chasing down gremlins at the track,so its just a part of it all. Sh*t breaks,old or new, can't help that reality. Love the KZ though! Looks like my old '82 gpz750.
Here's my turd. New Dyna ignition and coils, steel braided lines, MS rebuild, belly pan, carb rebuild, new intake manifolds, new chain, new battery. Just need to wire it
Oh great...now I get to be beat by a turd! Having starting issues with mine...kicking until I pass out...trying to get it sorted before Grattan.
SIX RACES due to mechanicals?!?!?! What did you do in a previous life, drown puppies? I thought my meatball flag for a little oil last year was bad...jeez.
yeah it feels like Ive got a huge karma bill for something I must have done in another life......... But its not 6 different mechanicals,it was 1 major break that couldn't be repaired trackside. Thats another huge downside to racing a vintage bike in modern classes.........nobody else is gonna have spares
I love your KZ, If I decided to ever try a 4 stroke vintage bike. I would want to ride a 550 or 650 Kawi. Right now I "enjoy" the punishment we call racing 2 strokes...
Damn...I just love your bike!! I sure wish I had a bike just like it...it's awesome!! it's pure Vintage. At 1st I thought you were selling it...I was trying to figure out how to buy it after 20 seconds... loll Anyways...gotta love it. !!!
I have a for sale thread somewhere here...only had a few tire kickers, so I decided to try and improve it and keep riding it. But after fixing an oil leak, I'm fighting with it and it isn't cooperating. It has to be something simple and stupid that I'm not seeing. The pressure is on, Grattan is next week and I'm not ready! Oh, btw...You've had more than 20 seconds to figure out how to buy it, if you're serious PM me and I'll give you a full rundown about the bike. I have some nice goodies for it that haven't been mentioned or installed yet.
Alright...Brock from Apex/STT stopped by the house and figured out the starting issue!!! (timing) The bike starts with the fist kick and purrs like a kitten! Grattan here I come...I'll be the back-marker.
