1979 KZ 1300

A bit of progress..

New bolt kit. All fasteners will now be shiny and not looking like shit.

The powder coated cases look absolutely fucking Gorgeous!  

This is where attention to detail pays off - all of Ray's careful and tedious taping shows in the final product...

If te Pix are 80% of how good it looks 'live' I am stoked!

The first apparent problem with this rebuild - a bit of weakness in the cylinder head around a water jacket. Ray thinks it was exacerbated by the sandblasting process.

Powder coating is back, and it looks AWESOME!

Check this out - truly fooking amazing. Most impressed. 

It was Ray's idea to black out the cylinders. I'm thinking it will lood really good once the engine is in the frame - to have a bit of a different look.

Hubba Bubba, Hubba Bubba!

If the bike nerver runs again, I'll take the engine and put it on a coffee table as a conversational piece!

Posted 13 February 2013 - 08:41 AM

A big milestone has been reached on Project KrZy1300 - the engine is being reassembled!

This is the point in time that having all parts bagged and tagged pays off.

The white gear on the right side is a new oil pump drive gear. It came from Germany.

$143 USD, if you will, and worth every penny?

I tell you, she's a thing of beauty.

I wonder if Ray has plastigauged the crank clearances?

Check out the size of the final drive output gear. Beefy. From what I see, this engine is over-designed. Hopefully when all is said and done she won't burn oil and will be a 'runner' capabable of being ridden all over the good earth, consuming oil, making hydrocarbons, polluting the environment, and causing global warming so that WheatonFJR doesn't get cold.

Wow. I think I'm getting a woody.

I even like the color of the case inners. Golden Castrol. Available at a paint store near you!

Powder coated cases looking good.. and Ray's new ride observes from the background.

Ray, is that the new oil pump gear behind the hole in pix center?

Shift forks and drum.

That's all we have now - but seriously good  progress has been made. Thanks Ray, for taking pix and sending them to me.

Ray is headed down South later this week - for Gathering of the Clan's and will pick up the rolling chassis and other parts while on the on the run. So today I got all the parts together today in prepartion.

Some old parts.

Worthless? Not unless you need that hardened bolt on the left side..

Fried stator waiting for rebuild..

New ignition pickup coils, one new CV diaphram, used clutch plates.

Valve cover cam end caps. New since 1981.. :)

Used brake pads - but serviceable. 

Radiator. 

Pipes. Way too many pipes. 

Rear master cylinder kit - hard to find.

Oil filters, fork seals. 
 

Radiator shrouds to direct heat away from gas tank/rider.

New disc brake pads. 

The assembled stack ready for Ray. Hope he has a V8 in the truck.. 

Ray left email - the machinist has been fighting health issues... and the valves are hard faced and very expensive. So imagine my good surprise to hear that..

"After a bunch of looking around I scored a deal on new valves way cheaper than we talked about. Intakes are coming from the East coast and the exhaust are coming from merry old England. As soon as I get them I will ship them north to the machine shop." 

After the Gathering of the Clans, we returned to get KrZy13 and all her chassis rolling parts loaded up so Mr. Ray can provide some loving touches..
Powdercoat frame, chrome, swing arm / steering head bearings / brakes... and the list grows.

Loading KrZy1300 up in the truck for the ride to LaPine!

...and a Kawasaki shall lead the HondaPotaMus home!

Ray and Patti's travelling road show!

Almost ready to hit the road..

Parade wave, Patti!

...and they are off! Happy fixing KrZy13!

Well, some time has passed and not too much to report. 

Did see this posting on ebay at $6,500 reserve not met..

and looking at the ride, it's not worth the $6500 offered. 

Soon enough, winter will be here and Ray will be back on it! 

Ray reports we're outta moola, engine cases back from machine shop, ready to start suspension work.. So another kbuck in the form of check number 1020 and we're back on track!

Ray, Sir Ray, sent some pix of the Kz1300 Resto Project
As I've been working really hard and long hours, this was much needed pick me up.

Self-explanatory.
Love the cross-hatch on the cylinders. Maybe this time, no oil consumption or fouled plugs?

I've been working at the nuke for too long. Those studs look like control rods..

Now this is truly ART.
Art that came move your butt down the road!

Sure am glad Ray knows what he's doing..

....and on to the ugliness of the chassis.
Pre-teardown pix to aid reassembly.
Ray, that's a custom made battery box, circa 1982, by me. Sorry bud.

It's blurry, but it looks like the headlight relay I installed. Was it under the rear cowling?

Part of the dual alternator/regulator set up.
Feel free to clean up as needed..
..And the stator wires need be soldered, not crimped to last.

These connectors were broken apart so I could start the bike after my bud left the key in 2 pieces in the ignition switch..

Looking pretty naked!
 

Wow. Memories.

Ray, I need to think about the bag situation. Krauser 'Stars' simpy are not available anymore.

A good sandblast and powder coat and the 13teen will be beooutiful again!
(Nice to see grease in the steering head bearings. I remember putting it in there about 2 lives ago....)

Ray sent pix today of various parts and pieces back from powdercoat.
Gotta love the old beat up manual in the background....
Ray ain't afraid to RTFM.

For this, my first project I've 'outsourced', it's been most interesting, curious, sometimes frustrating.
Frustrating not from the quality of work Ray is doing, but from not seeing, first-hand, with my own eyeballs, the project coming together.
..and for this I thank Ray for sending copious pix to feed my fix.

Got to love this pix.. I need say no more.

Ray, having morals, reminded me of the cost to date and estimated completion cost.
It turns out that to restore a complicated engine like the KZ1300 isn't, umm, cheap.
I don't care.
Well, yes I do.
Just not that much.
I might never have an opportunity to have such a craftsman as Ray work on one of my bikes again.
I appreciate his skills, experience and attention to detail.
'Nuff Said'?

LOL, have to ask Ray about the tent over the microwave.. 

Evidently, mine was the 3,464 built. Jeesh.

Ray assures me the PC looks much better than in the pix!

For some unknown reason....
This pix gets my excitement at full throttle...
A bare frame, waiting for engine, suspension, completion..

Pretty soon, it will be time to reassemble a motobike!

Misc thoughts-

• Use the stock airbox or find filters to fit the carb bells? Need to decide prior to tuning.
• Rims and wheels - Ray's powdercoater will do the entire wheel in black for $75 per. But I kind of like the black with polished alum look provided on the spokes and the external rim area. So elbow grease and see how it looks.
• New tires - yes.
• Powder coat forks, rebuild with new seals etc.
• Gas tank - the inside has some light rust, IIRC
• Gas tank - the cap is aftermarket, not sure if it will vent properly
• This bike is gonna look too nice for the existing livery, which I've stated I want to keep. Wonder if I'm starting to change my mind?
• Seat - recover it.

It's Giggle Time!

I might buy another kz1300 engine just for a coffee table decoration.

Was a little surprised to see the amount of hone marks.
Then again I've not seen many bores freshly honed.

6 little pistons, all in a row.
6 little pistons all in the hole.

Wo0w.
Ray, is the horizontal channel, front side, either side of water pump, the main water passage way for each cylinder?

Ray says this 6 cylinder monster engine is 'EzPZy!'.

Finally - a REAL tool - the hammer.
The cam lobes look delicious.

Hopefully, this engine will run better than OEM new.
I'm sure Ray has spent more detail and precision in this motor than QuackASucki ever did.

The intake side of the house.
It's easy to see why carburetors are difficult to get correct air mixture-
Look at the distance difference from intake to cylinder from center cylinders to outboard cylinders.

Cams in and timed!

RadioHowie approves the APE manual cam chain tensioner.
The stock tensioner caused many a KZ engine failure.

MsDcarver just walked in the office, looked over the shoulder and said -

"Are you looking at motorcycle porn again from Ray?"
"You guys are like the Big Bang Theory nerds for motorcycles"

Oh, fuck me.

Check out this guys ride..

Shiny Pieces

I like the dog-eared and marked up service manual in the background.
That's the way it's supposed to look!

Ray reports the final drive boot arrived, so the engine can back into the frame.
Ray has to go in for surgery, so project KZ may be on the back burner for a bit.
That's OK, GET HEALTHY, RAY!

Powder coating is a thing of beauty.

I wonder if the bars are going to fit into the saddles with the powder coat there?

Where to stop? I see all those corroded bolt heads and wince.

She's looking more like a motobike every day.

6 cylinders of raw, unbridled, arm-ripping horsepower. Not.

I ignored the bike for too long, the cases were to corroded to polish out. I might end up on ebay to find some fresher ones. Later

A little out of order.. been busy.
Ray determined that the outer cases were too pitted to sand then polish the pits out. Not enough material.
So off they go for powder coat.

Ray's getting good at applying the magic green tape..

The rest of the engine sits, ready for install.

Looking good.

The carbs got new internals and Ray polished them up a bit..

That's it for now...

Reassembling is definitely the name of the game these days!

Swing arm gets new bearings.

Drive shaft is in good shape.

Steering head bearings. For as much use as the bike will get, All Balls is just fine, thank you.

Swing arm attached to frame.

Final drive in place.

Triple trees installed.

Check out the awesomely huge fork diameter!

Center stand getting attached.

Project KZ1300 is looking Good!

Now then, Ray wonders..
How the hell do I stuff that engine back into this frame?

Let's see, got me some bungee cords, a milk crate, and ty-downs. Ready to Rock!

Protect all the shiny pieces..

Uh-Oh, where did that splooge come from?

Now go to here to see the results and as of this moment the time warp is over!

---

Eeegads and little fish eggs - this sucks.

Alrigghty then, today's the day to get an engine into the frame!

Ray has all the goodies, including a hoist!

Ray also rebuilt an 87 XR600 engine for me. It's the little engine behind the SensousSix.

The suitcase is full of new XR600 parts. The sling is full of new KZ1300 parts!

CarverTape everywhere to prevent scratching the new powdercoat..

Presto Poof, frame installed! It's all easy when sitting just looking at pix.. GREAT job Ray!

Wow, looking more like a motobike all the time now.

Kinda wish the covers could have been buffed out, but the pitting was too deep.

..and there you have it, one engine in one frame!

Ray is making seriously good progress.

Tach drive assembly, thermostat, wiring harness installed.

I wonder if the master cylinder is going to work. I don't recall right now, but either the master or slave are parts unobtanium.

This pix reminds me to email Ray - the alternator stator wires need be crimped then soldered. KZ1300's are notorious for frying stators after the connections get dirty.

The belly of the beast!

The front side. The water inlet looks like Ray polished it!

Exhaust installed! DG 6 into 1. Man oh man, it looks bitchen!

That right there is motobike porn!

.. more to follow

Speaking of Exhaust Porn...
This should do someting for yah...

It even clears the center stand!

I wonder what it will sound like?

Baby, Baby, Oh Baby!

It's a good thing Ray has a lift, otherwise we'd not be seeing this view.. :)

<ducking> Ray said he had lots of fun installing this DG 6-1 system.. </ducking>

No clamps, all a slip fit?

Sure seems like it would be difficult to get all pipes lined up and inserted..

More to follow..

Looks like Ray spent a few hours wiring stuff back up..

Sparking plugs. Those are aftermarket coils, the OEM's were weak.

Front fairing inner wiring.

The jungle. The red lead heading downstairs used to be for an electric fuel pump.
The big gray wires are for the headlight. A relay is in the rear tail section.

We removed the PAIR. It never really worked. All it did was get grunged up and cause rough running.

This V holds both rectifiers and regulators. Yes, two.

Mounting of the RR's...

More to come..

Monumental Moment - The KwaQker Rawks and Runs! Within a day or two of this post, Ray got her fired up.

KZ1300 Running at Rays from dcarver220b on Vimeo.

And here's some pix, to boot!
 

Pretty coolio, the beatup manual next to the bike..

Using the pix above, what would look best, the airbox covers in SS as shown below or powdercoated black?

I wonder where to  mount the Crystal LED lights?

Ray sent pix of the Quacker today!
I have to say, for the first time, I'm now really jonesing to ride this bike..

At first, I wasn't sure how powder coating the cases would look. I liked the polished aluminum look and all.. but now after seeing the powder coat.. it only seems appropriate that a Kawasaki Heavy Industries motobike look more industrial.. I like it. I also like the 6 into 1 exhaust. I think it looks coolio.

The backside. I need to ask Ray if the Voedesky Cyberlight is working. And I need to either source some Krauser saddle bags or fit something else. Givi's maybe?
This motobike will be ridden, and I'll need good solid side cases. Last time I looked, the Krauser StarLight bags were unobatinium.

Me thinks the seat cover looks really good. I wonder about the key switch swinging cover. I wonder if Ray fixed it up or if it still droops.

I'm really glad we left KrZyQuAck in the 70's livery. I think she looks fuckin' GREAT.
Damn, can't wait to ride this beast again.
Ray, put a purty and warm blanket on the ol' gurl.. time for me to head off to sweet riding dreams on La Pine Roads with a 79 KZ1300A1!

Next steps are to get registration and insurance in place so Ray can ride this beast and find out what doesn't work well. Of course, Ray might need some studded tires first, given the La Pine situation right now...

I am so proud and appreciative of Ray Slocomb and his quality of work. This engine is a complex mutha with hard to find and expensive parts. To see this motobike in the condition it is now as  compared to the start is truly amazing. Ray, Thank You, many times over.

Now that I've buttered you all up and everything... ready to work on a couple of /2 BMW's?

I went ahead and ordered the side covers from Lauri in Finland..

..and here's the tracking notice.

Given that the KrZyQuacKer is running, time to get old gurl registered and insured, so Ray can test drive and do the engine break in properly, without fear of arrest or death.

OK then, off to AAA, who, in CA, can issue registrations in a much nicer environment and with more qualified peeps than at the state run DMV office.

All was going well until nice AAA lady stated "We can't reauthorize off-list motorcyles. This bike has not been registered in xx years, and we can't help you.

Well, crap.

Evidently, the bike needs be brought to the DMV/CHP in the sovereign state of idiocy, Kali, so the engine numbers, frame numbers, smog crap!, and 'inspection'  can take place.
..or, I can sell the bike to Ray and have it registered in Oregon, then have the KZ sold back to me.

Why, tell me why, all the 'El Toro Poo-Poo' needs to exist? 

Found a feller over at http://kz1300.com/ who hand crafts floats. Check them out, they are freaking awesome.

I mean, a fellow never knows when a float will be needed to float the boat!

2016-08-28 Randy's Cycle Custom Radiator Installed

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

2019-07-28 Kz1300 Parts 4 Sale or Free

OEM headlight.

Tank badges.

NFS

NFS

OEM thermostat. NFS.

OEM lever. NFS.

OEM petcock. NFS.

Foot peg bracket.

Used shift lever rubber.

Sold.

Battery cable.

No idea what this harness if for.

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

x 

Will let one go, keep the other. Tachometer cable. Used.

NFS.

Ballast resistor, small ceramic crack.

x  

KZ Parts 4 SaleFree from dcarver220b on Vimeo.

At some point, one has to declare the Restoration OVER and just get into general Wrenching on the bike... So here we go...