Another Kawasaki Z650 Restomod
Discussion
Having posted the build of my Z650/1170 project, here's my second Z650, one that arrived unexpectedly. Last year, I was offered a Z650 for free, from a chap who was more into old Brit bikes (he owns three Vincents), so wanted to move the Z650 on to someone who could rebuild it. Well, they say never look a gift horse in the mouth, so it was soon sitting at my mates workshop, as he'd collected it in his van for me.
Decided that one good turn deserves another, so a plan was hatched to get the bike back on the road as cheaply as possible, then give it to another mate, who was without a bike at the time. For various complicated reasons, that plan didn't happen. Here we are in months later and the poor Zed is still getting in the way at my mates workshop.
Time for a plan B.
Last month the rolling chassis came back to me. Meanwhile the engine, which had been removed by the previous owner to fix a broken exhaust stud, will stay at my mates place for the time being.
The bike also comes with a couple of boxes of spares, most of which wont be used.
A quick look over the bike shows its had a nice paintjob, pity about the awful Triumph-like tank decals.. which sadly are under the top coat of the paint. Will probably mean I'll have to respray the bike. The cheap Ebay rear shocks will have to go, as will the rusty exhaust. We think the latter is from a Zephyr, but with the large box under the engine removed. The seat is way too thick, not sure if its the OE seat with more foam? It'll have to be reupholstered or replaced. The engine has done 41,000 miles and looks tired, but was told it ran ok before it was removed.
Good points are that its a F2 model, so has the better 750E front end along with electronic ignition, while the stanchions are in good condition, possibly replaced or re-chromed in the past.
Having considered giving the engine a 810 conversion along with alloy swingarm 17inch wheels etc.. I decided against that idea. As I already have a Z650 with a tuned 1170 engine, along with another Zed.. a MK2 with a 1400 big block, taken from my old turbo Zed. Therefore tuning this Z650 and massively upgrading it didn't hold much appeal, but then again nor did restoring it back to OE spec. So I guess the solution is to do a 'Resto-Mod', with small subtle changes that improve the power and handling/brakes, while still keeping it looking like a Z650. That said I just bought a cylinder block from a Z750.. it'll go straight on or so I'm told...
Six months on a damp garage floor hasn't done the engine much good...
Decided that one good turn deserves another, so a plan was hatched to get the bike back on the road as cheaply as possible, then give it to another mate, who was without a bike at the time. For various complicated reasons, that plan didn't happen. Here we are in months later and the poor Zed is still getting in the way at my mates workshop.
Time for a plan B.
Last month the rolling chassis came back to me. Meanwhile the engine, which had been removed by the previous owner to fix a broken exhaust stud, will stay at my mates place for the time being.
The bike also comes with a couple of boxes of spares, most of which wont be used.
A quick look over the bike shows its had a nice paintjob, pity about the awful Triumph-like tank decals.. which sadly are under the top coat of the paint. Will probably mean I'll have to respray the bike. The cheap Ebay rear shocks will have to go, as will the rusty exhaust. We think the latter is from a Zephyr, but with the large box under the engine removed. The seat is way too thick, not sure if its the OE seat with more foam? It'll have to be reupholstered or replaced. The engine has done 41,000 miles and looks tired, but was told it ran ok before it was removed.
Good points are that its a F2 model, so has the better 750E front end along with electronic ignition, while the stanchions are in good condition, possibly replaced or re-chromed in the past.
Having considered giving the engine a 810 conversion along with alloy swingarm 17inch wheels etc.. I decided against that idea. As I already have a Z650 with a tuned 1170 engine, along with another Zed.. a MK2 with a 1400 big block, taken from my old turbo Zed. Therefore tuning this Z650 and massively upgrading it didn't hold much appeal, but then again nor did restoring it back to OE spec. So I guess the solution is to do a 'Resto-Mod', with small subtle changes that improve the power and handling/brakes, while still keeping it looking like a Z650. That said I just bought a cylinder block from a Z750.. it'll go straight on or so I'm told...
Six months on a damp garage floor hasn't done the engine much good...
Meanwhile, bought a rear light from an early ZX6R to replace the cheap after market one fitted when I got the bike..Will need a mount making to fit.The heavy chrome rear guard had been replaced with a much shorter, lighter fibreglass replica, which I'll keep..
The cost of reupholstering the seat wasn't much different from buying a really good Giuliari seat off Ebay, for £175..
The cost of reupholstering the seat wasn't much different from buying a really good Giuliari seat off Ebay, for £175..
The front discs were worn beyond their minimum limit, all the incentive I needed to consider fitting modern discs and 4 pot calipers. Got a good deal on a pair of R6 floating discs, only £35, but turned out to be in excellent condition. I already had a pair of Yamaha Gold Spots to fit. Only problem was that the 4 pots were too wide to fit, they hit the wheel.
But there was plenty of room between the disc and the inside of the fork leg, so we made a pair of disc adaptors/spacers. These were tricky to do, as the PCD was the same, but the R6 discs had 5 holes, the Z650 7 holes...
Got there in the end, though we also had to shave a couple of mm from the inside of the fork leg for clearance. Not a problem on these old Zeds, everything is so over engineered, and heavy.
One problem I made myself is that with the discs moved away from the wheel, there is no room to fit the mechanical speedo drive, so will have to fit an electronic speedo.
But there was plenty of room between the disc and the inside of the fork leg, so we made a pair of disc adaptors/spacers. These were tricky to do, as the PCD was the same, but the R6 discs had 5 holes, the Z650 7 holes...
Got there in the end, though we also had to shave a couple of mm from the inside of the fork leg for clearance. Not a problem on these old Zeds, everything is so over engineered, and heavy.
One problem I made myself is that with the discs moved away from the wheel, there is no room to fit the mechanical speedo drive, so will have to fit an electronic speedo.
By chance I have recently bought a pair of new old stock wheels form a 2011 R6, rear being a 17 x 5.5, to go on my Z1400 Mk2 project. I was struck by the difference in weight between the R6 and Z650 rear wheels.. so I weighed them.. 5.4kg for the R6 Vs 7.2kg for the Z650. The forks are also surprisingly heavy, though haven't had chance to weigh them yet. I don't want to change the bike to modern 17 inch wheels, so unless a nice pair of Astralites turn up, the originally wheels will stay.
Before the wheels could go off with the frame to be powder coated, the rear wheel needed a little work. It had several 'bites'
in the rim, I expect from its crash, so I had those filled with weld and spent hours linishing the rim back to smooth. Decided I didnt want to keep the OE polished rims and edges, so had the whole wheel powder coated in satin gold. Much easier to maintain. While the adaptor rings were treated to Cerokote, a new finish for me. Its supposed to be super tough, but we'll see. To finish the front wheel, disc bolts are Ti, as I had some spare..
Before the wheels could go off with the frame to be powder coated, the rear wheel needed a little work. It had several 'bites'
in the rim, I expect from its crash, so I had those filled with weld and spent hours linishing the rim back to smooth. Decided I didnt want to keep the OE polished rims and edges, so had the whole wheel powder coated in satin gold. Much easier to maintain. While the adaptor rings were treated to Cerokote, a new finish for me. Its supposed to be super tough, but we'll see. To finish the front wheel, disc bolts are Ti, as I had some spare..
Spent ages polishing the fork lowers, one of which had some deep damage.. suspect it must have fallen over on that side. Should've just painted them black really.
The yokes were stripped and repainted, for some reason, some of its threats had been re-tapped in Imperialt.. All the fasteners are polished stainless, with some, such as the top yoke nut and spacer coming an via Ebay supplier called classic_bike_fasteners .. excellent quality, and not much difference in price compared to the original chromed bolts from Kawasaki.
Collected the frame and various parts.. battery box, electrics panel, headlight mount, from the powder coaters, Triple S. They did an excellent job as always. Once blasted, rust holes were found in the 'ears' towards the back of the frame. These were fixed by a man Triple S use, then the frame could be powder coated.
All good, but prices have gone up recently, no doubt heating their big ovens must be getting expensive..
Coming up to date, fitted new swing arm bearings and fitted the swing arm, along with a good pair of shocks from a ZRX1200. They should work well, as a standard ZRX1200 is lighter than a 70's Z650. Only issue so far is that the upper shock mount is 14mm in diameter, while the ZRX is 17mm. Will have to make a couple of sleeves to make up the difference.
I hope to have the bike back on its wheels by the end of this week, as it'll be helpful to be able to wheel is about. The engine is another question, as have the option of fitting a Gpz 750R1 motor, which fits straight in, which in turn could be rebored out to 810cc, or turbo'd... decisions, decisions
The yokes were stripped and repainted, for some reason, some of its threats had been re-tapped in Imperialt.. All the fasteners are polished stainless, with some, such as the top yoke nut and spacer coming an via Ebay supplier called classic_bike_fasteners .. excellent quality, and not much difference in price compared to the original chromed bolts from Kawasaki.
Collected the frame and various parts.. battery box, electrics panel, headlight mount, from the powder coaters, Triple S. They did an excellent job as always. Once blasted, rust holes were found in the 'ears' towards the back of the frame. These were fixed by a man Triple S use, then the frame could be powder coated.
All good, but prices have gone up recently, no doubt heating their big ovens must be getting expensive..
Coming up to date, fitted new swing arm bearings and fitted the swing arm, along with a good pair of shocks from a ZRX1200. They should work well, as a standard ZRX1200 is lighter than a 70's Z650. Only issue so far is that the upper shock mount is 14mm in diameter, while the ZRX is 17mm. Will have to make a couple of sleeves to make up the difference.
I hope to have the bike back on its wheels by the end of this week, as it'll be helpful to be able to wheel is about. The engine is another question, as have the option of fitting a Gpz 750R1 motor, which fits straight in, which in turn could be rebored out to 810cc, or turbo'd... decisions, decisions
Brilliant thread. 
I used to blat about with a mate in the early 80s with a mate on RD Yamahas, but the day he passed his test he ordered a new Z650 F2.
I had a Fiat at the time and Godfreys of Cheam just happened to be a Fiat and Kawasaki dealer so I traded the Fiat towards a Z650 C2!
But in all honesty my Z650 didn't handle anything like as well as my RDs did - it felt like it had a hinge in the frame.
Years later I had a KH500 with a box section aluminium swinging arm and Marzocchis and it rode so much better than my Z650.
I think I'd want a better swing-arm in a resto, especially if I was upping the power but this looks like a great thread.
I used to blat about with a mate in the early 80s with a mate on RD Yamahas, but the day he passed his test he ordered a new Z650 F2.
I had a Fiat at the time and Godfreys of Cheam just happened to be a Fiat and Kawasaki dealer so I traded the Fiat towards a Z650 C2!
But in all honesty my Z650 didn't handle anything like as well as my RDs did - it felt like it had a hinge in the frame.
Years later I had a KH500 with a box section aluminium swinging arm and Marzocchis and it rode so much better than my Z650.
I think I'd want a better swing-arm in a resto, especially if I was upping the power but this looks like a great thread.
This project should be fairly quick compared to most of my others.. and cheaper. My other Z650 now has a tuned 1170 engine and not much of the original bike left untouched. My mate, a bike mechanic, is about to start work on rebuilding a customers Z650, so some of the take off parts I may be able to buy, including the braced swingarm. That bike is getting modern suspension and brakes, along with.. gulp.. a 810cc Gpz750 turbo engine..
My first Z650 project, almost done now
The 'turbo' project Zed..
My first Z650 project, almost done now
The 'turbo' project Zed..
Trying not to spend too much on this one, don't like the tank badge, but its been lacquered over, so will have to live with it, rather than spend £500 plus on new paint. Another hour on the bike today, few parts arrived in the post, so could fit the tank, and the front forks. Waiting for new rear wheel bearings, hopefully the correct size this time, then can get new tyres fitted, and soon it'll be on its wheels again.
Got the correct rear wheel bearings and soon fitted them without a problem, so should've gone to local tyre place, got tyres fitted and straight back on the bike to make it a roller at last. But that will have to wait another 8 days as I'm not allowed to drive for 28 days after a sudden illness. I'm doing ok, could've been a lot lot worse. In the meantime, fitted the headlamp mounting bracket, but the headlight itself is in pretty bad condition, so ordered a new one.
A couple of spacers have been replicated in stainless.. one a rear wheel spacer and the other a engine mount spacer. The originals being in poor shape. Bought a metre of 10mm stainless bar to make replacement engine bolts, as 3 of the 4 currently fitted are non standard.. one being just a length of threaded bar. Finally cleaned up the rear brake plate, still needs a bit more time, but had enough of polishing for now.
A couple of spacers have been replicated in stainless.. one a rear wheel spacer and the other a engine mount spacer. The originals being in poor shape. Bought a metre of 10mm stainless bar to make replacement engine bolts, as 3 of the 4 currently fitted are non standard.. one being just a length of threaded bar. Finally cleaned up the rear brake plate, still needs a bit more time, but had enough of polishing for now.
Edited by Merch131 on Saturday 7th May 22:30
looks amazing.
my cousin did similar with his z650 which was turned into an American Performance Engineering 1340 (i think) probably about 25 years ago. he didnt use it for years but he occasionally takes it out nowadays and can be seen down at South Queensferry...think he is more of a Harley guy now. needs help :-)
my cousin did similar with his z650 which was turned into an American Performance Engineering 1340 (i think) probably about 25 years ago. he didnt use it for years but he occasionally takes it out nowadays and can be seen down at South Queensferry...think he is more of a Harley guy now. needs help :-)
pmr01 said:
looks amazing.
my cousin did similar with his z650 which was turned into an American Performance Engineering 1340 (i think) probably about 25 years ago. he didnt use it for years but he occasionally takes it out nowadays and can be seen down at South Queensferry...think he is more of a Harley guy now. needs help :-)
Your cousin sounds like me, have 3 Zeds and 3 'Harleys', but also have couple of Ducatis.. not sure if that a good thing or not lolmy cousin did similar with his z650 which was turned into an American Performance Engineering 1340 (i think) probably about 25 years ago. he didnt use it for years but he occasionally takes it out nowadays and can be seen down at South Queensferry...think he is more of a Harley guy now. needs help :-)
Few more jobs completed today, the HEL brake lines arrived, and fitted no problem. Fitted the new headlamp shell, as the original was in poor condition. At the back, got the ER5 taillamp fitted, bit fiddly but got there in the end. Its bracket needs cutting back as its not needed.
Painted the side panel badges, which took ages, had to use a tiny brush and a magnifying glass. On fitting the side panels to the bike, realised that one of them had a mount broken off. Looked for a replacement on Ebay, and they all seem to have the exact same broken tang.
On the positive side, tomorrow I can drive again, so will be straight round to the local tyre place with the wheels, and fingers crossed have the bike on its wheels soon... assuming they have the correct sizes in stock, but if not its only a 24 hour wait.
Painted the side panel badges, which took ages, had to use a tiny brush and a magnifying glass. On fitting the side panels to the bike, realised that one of them had a mount broken off. Looked for a replacement on Ebay, and they all seem to have the exact same broken tang.
On the positive side, tomorrow I can drive again, so will be straight round to the local tyre place with the wheels, and fingers crossed have the bike on its wheels soon... assuming they have the correct sizes in stock, but if not its only a 24 hour wait.
SMSLF said:
Looks stunning, I keep getting the itch to do exactly the same but I’m too busy paying of a big bloody holiday …lol
Yes restoring / modifying bikes isn't a cheap option, this one is a side project for me and shouldn't be too expensive. Without even touching the engine its already cost well over £1000, so it doesn't make much sense financially. Then again nor does a holiday, for me working on these bikes is a sort of holiday.. probably why I'm building more than one at a time.After a few delays, finally got new tyres on the wheels so at last the bike is a roller again. It was surprising hard work on your own, those old wheels are very heavy.
I found a weird problem with the bike that I've never seen before.. the RHS upper shock mount is 16mm in diameter, while the LHS is 14mm... I'll make a suitable spacer to make up the difference, but it is very odd.
I know the bike had been crashed at some point in the past, so maybe one top mount was damaged and another was used as a replacement.. the frame had been crudely painted before I got it, so couldn't tell if that area had been welded.
Also found a side panel with a broken tang, checking Ebay for a replacement, they all seem to have the exact same damage. So have ordered some PVC cement, which also works with ABS, along with some 15mm diam ABS rod.. to make a new tang from, which can hopefully be glued in place.
Cant fit the side stand as the bolt it uses is non standard, so have to make one, in the meantime its going to have to lean against the wall in the garage.
Not sure what engine the bike is going to have, probably either the original 650 motor, but rebuilt, or perhaps a GPz750 engine, which also needs rebuilding.. or maybe just fit 750 pistons to the Z650 engine. Be a while before any of that happens, so this Z650 will have to stay leaning on the garage wall for some time yet. But that's ok, got other bikes to work on this summer.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/cLvan50.jpg[/img
I found a weird problem with the bike that I've never seen before.. the RHS upper shock mount is 16mm in diameter, while the LHS is 14mm... I'll make a suitable spacer to make up the difference, but it is very odd.
I know the bike had been crashed at some point in the past, so maybe one top mount was damaged and another was used as a replacement.. the frame had been crudely painted before I got it, so couldn't tell if that area had been welded.
Also found a side panel with a broken tang, checking Ebay for a replacement, they all seem to have the exact same damage. So have ordered some PVC cement, which also works with ABS, along with some 15mm diam ABS rod.. to make a new tang from, which can hopefully be glued in place.
Cant fit the side stand as the bolt it uses is non standard, so have to make one, in the meantime its going to have to lean against the wall in the garage.
Not sure what engine the bike is going to have, probably either the original 650 motor, but rebuilt, or perhaps a GPz750 engine, which also needs rebuilding.. or maybe just fit 750 pistons to the Z650 engine. Be a while before any of that happens, so this Z650 will have to stay leaning on the garage wall for some time yet. But that's ok, got other bikes to work on this summer.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/cLvan50.jpg[/img
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