my new, old iron project 56k death

[bigdog9191999]

here is imy latest "project" that i have been tinkering with a bit lately.


here is the history as i know it.. my dad was had a wrecker service and impounded the bike, it has spent the last roughly 16 years just sitting. finally it has been dragged out and i am gonna start seeing what i can do with her. my plans are very simple and basic. it is fairly complete and in decent overall shape (paint and such.) just has about 40 or 50 layers of dust on everything. my goal is mostly just to get it cleaned up and things back in working order. i don't plan to mod or change much possibly turn signals rear fender mods mostly but may not do that either.


here it was sitting in "storage"

here it is after it was drug out.

cleaned up the side cover and it looks like the whole bike should clean up about this good.

first thing i would like to do is get the tank off and get the carbs off and clean but i cannot get the seat up yet as i don't have keys and it is locked down.


the neck reads kz650b 5000151 which makes this bike 151 in this country

i snagged a manual off ebay this morning too. figuring that it will help a crap load..

Kawasaki Factory Service Manual 1976 KZ650 | eBay

ok here are some pics

and from here this is what i found out last night.. i have 808 on the tumblers for the locks, so i will see if i can get a key made and possibly have 1 key for gas and seat and another for ignition, could be not bad.. i wouldn't have to turn the bike off and still open the seat or whatever.. who knows, i will deal with whatever..

here is the carbs, i am assuming that these are standard issue and what is supposed to be here right?

and any thoughts on how to clean the corrosion off the motor? a buddy of mine has some stuff you can spray on and let sit for a little and hose off and is supposed to make it look about like new raw aluminum thoughts?

here is a closer up of the motor so show the crud.

So i took a closer look in the tank tonight after work and found there is still a couple inches of stuff that was once gas! The right side looked real decent with just a couple of small spots of light rust. The left side however has a couple few inches of rust up the side. Although not terrible it is definitely there. I think the electrolosis should work quite well.

I grabbed my bottle of Polish and hit a small part of the pipes and a spot on the rear fender

OK, so other than I need to finish the inside of the tank ( which as you will see turned out pretty good so far) . I got alot done yesterday, the key came in yesterday and although the ignition seems to be messed up and will not turn ( is also damaged some like someone tried to stick a screwdriver in it. It worked the seat lock great.

To which there was only one pin in it anyway!

So i was able to take the tank off. And started cleaning it out. I started by draining this crap out of there

Then i sprayed some decreased in there and took the pressure washer to the inside.then rinsed it out well with a soapy dishsoap water and rinsed forever waiting for it to come out clean. It ended up looking pretty good with the basic look of surface rust where the Nash crap had been with a few stray flakes so i think the electrlosis will be quick easy and very effective.

I started taking other stuff off after that.

The manual has come to good use allready

The carbs looked pretty good and all fooled to be moving but one

Every runner looke just this good.

 

[bigdog9191999]

After i got that stuff done I played with the rear fender a bit, and although it has a fair amount of putting. And ĺttle spots itlooks a thousand times better

Also played with the tail a bit

I did so e looking and decided I would give it a try, 2lbs for like $6 ( had to grab some stuff for our hot tub anyway) and i talked with the guy there a bit and i feel pretty confident it will be fine. Just not food grade (this will be for electrolosis to get the rust out of the inside of the tank)

Also picked up a couple things to aid

As well as got my compressor warrantied

I also took a couple shots with my big kitty before I started. Just a little difference!

If I can fnd a standard seat I would like to put one on, as i am tall enough that with this saddle sitting on the proper spot puts me a bit further forward than I think i will like. But with the seat, sissy bar, highway bar and pegs, and faring was obviously set up for comfort and cruising ( for its day. ) other than than a bit more elbow grease and a few replacement parts and i think i will have a cheap runner that should do well ( was/am thinking I will ride this if/when the tiger sells) for a while till i can get some things straightened financially, then i will get something else again. Unless this one proves to not work out well enough ( physically to small/uncomfortable ect) then i will probly use it to trade/sell and get something different.

To run it still needs
Gas tank finished clean
Oil and filter
Plugs
Carbs rebuilt ( have kits coming)

With that I will feel safe to fire it and see how it runs. Long term it will also need

Air filter
Tires /tubes ect.
Ignition ( one on it won't turn, I will basicly hot wire it for now. )
Chain/sprockets
Probly lube / replace some bearings ( steering head, swing arm)



There where 3 bikes that I may try to get going that where in there and a 4th that I may or may not try.

77 Kawasaki kz650b

75 Kawasaki k4 400 twin

71 Honda cb500 four

And the cute one is a 71 Honda Cl70!

The 500 I think because it is mostly complete like the 650 I may just do the same and clean it up do some paint and leave it mostly alone. But i am kinda thinking bobber for the twin

Availability of parts, time and extra cash for the few things they will need is what will be the limiting factors there. But even if I just get them running and leave the fixing up to someone else I could sell them as runners and get something more desirable. Or just cover my investment in them and throw the extra back to dad. But it will give me something to tinker on and spend very little to do it. And i know ESP if I can bring some cash his way for them he will let me keep/play with whatever I wanted.

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[PhotoAl]

Thanks - great read on some older bikes. Loved seeing the photos of the Vetta fairing. About three years ago Vetta came to the Barber's Vintage Festival and gave several talks on the history of the Vetta fairings - he is a very interesting and entertaining individual and seeing the photos of some of the early tests was incredible - like the clip of the ride with a fairing covered with yarn tufts to see how it was working aerodynamically.

Cool bike as well.

 

[Hellgate]

Cool project. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

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[bigdog9191999]

Like i said progress will be somewhat slow for $$$ reasons. The things I can do cheap like clean or small mechanical things I will be doing on days off in spare time but as easy as it has gone so far I am looking forward to it! Fixing and making mechanically sound vs going for the like new will make the expenditure part reasonable. And as well as it is cleaning up I think it will look pretty darn good for being original!

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