TOPIC:

This first post is cross-posted from the New Member's forum.

I have never ridden a motorcycle. I don't have a motorcycle license. I do, however, work on old cars, so vehicle maintenance and restoration isn't totally foreign to me.

A few years back, I started working with a coworker who had purchased a 1981 KZ550 with the plans to convert it into a cafe racer. He then also purchased a 1974 Alfa Romeo, and, well you can guess which project got shelved. During his ownership of the bike, he did get the carburetors rebuilt, new air filters, and maybe a couple other things. At that time the bike looked like this:



Anyway, he sold the KZ to ANOTHER coworker of mine that was just getting into riding motorcycles. She had bought a Ninja 250 and had gotten her license, and liked the idea of working on a custom bike. Her boyfriend works for a motorcycle mechanic shop in town, so they thought this would work out well. At the shop, they took down the bike to give it a once over and begin cleaning parts. During that process, her boyfriend discovered that the front forks were slightly bent. They put a hold on the project so she could decide what she wanted to do, and never got back to it. That was about two years ago. By this point, the bike looked like this:



Last Thursday, she turned to me and asked if I wanted a free motorcycle. I can't pass up an opportunity like that, so I said of course! Last Saturday I went and picked up the bike from the motorcycle shop in my pickup and brought it home. Here's what I was given.



On the plus side, it's already been disassembled, and the block, head, and carb assembly have been wrapped and protected since they were taken down. On the negative side... well, it's in pieces.

The plan is to continue the "office dream" and convert this into a cafe racer. I'm also going to bite the bullet at some point before I'm done with this project and get my motorcycle license, which I have wanted to do for about 15 years now. I imagine I'm going to rely heavily on this forum or information as I go. I'm not sure how fast the project will be completed, but it's good to know you guys are here to help.

Step One - Inventory

First an amusing anecdote - my first day owning the bike, we have an Easter egg hunt for my son, and in return he wants to hide some mini chocolate candy bars for us. Well, we only find 9 of the 10 we gave him to hide. Where was the 10th? He put it in the gas tank.

We got it out, but it involved trying quite a few different techniques before I stabbed it with a sharpened piece of metal and fished it out.

Back to the bike, I'm now going through the process of identifying all the pieces, determining what's missing, and trying to figure out an order of operations to start the build. I'm happy to report that there's enough cross over between old cars and motorcycles that I recognize about half the parts, and can figure out another quarter with a little thinking.

Back to inventory. I spent the last couple nights going through all the buckets and pieces and parts. Here it all is laid out.

Frame


Engine Block & Transmission


Tank, seat, exhaust, wheels, fender, and swing arm. No unknown parts here.


Starting in lower right, going counterclockwise: valve cover and head, cylinder block, carburetors, battery tray, headlight brackets, headlight, throttle cables, chain cover, and triple clamps. Took some research to figure all those out.


Ok, it's getting harder now. Some sort of other cable in with the throttle cables, Brake lever, master cylinder, and caliper, clutch lever, lights, coils, uh... a bunch of tiny pieces, some brackets and hoses?


A little easier on this portion. Chain, more tiny pieces, points cover, gauge cluster, rear shocks, rear wheel assembly (took some squinting at a few diagrams online to figure all that out). There's a mystery item to the left of all the tiny pieces, and below it is the brake lever. There's also a hard line to the left side that's a mystery.


And to round things up, we have the speedometer gear and cable, tach cable, rear drum brake, shiny cover thing, front forks (last on the road 15 years ago), main and secondary foot pegs, throttle handlebar, and a huge mess of a wiring harness that makes my heart clench up just looking at it. I'm probably just going to start over with a simplified harness design.


And here's all the small parts laid out.



So far I know the following are missing: gear shift lever, handlebars (I'll be installing a set of clip-ons, so no big loss), all the nuts to hold together the engine block, and the valve cover bolts. The mechanic says he thought he put all those in a bag, and he's going to look around the shop this weekend, so hopefully I won't have to hunt them all down.

So, I guess my big question to you guys is, what else do you guys see that's missing, and what are the parts I can't identify? I left out photos of all the plastic trim and faring pieces that won't be re-installed anyway.

Keep the wiring. Take a pic of the parts you can't identify. Chain/clutch cover..
Steve

The hard cable is a tachometer drive I believe. Connects at the front of the head. It's held on by a bolt with a special washer that fits against the cable.

A helpful thing to know when looking up parts/diagrams is that your bike model is an kz550-A2

1. the rear brake linkage from the brake cam to the brake pedal.
www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Kawasaki/...+A3-A4%29/parts.html
2. Is part of the "aircleaner assembly" and is a vent from the valve cover to the airbox. This was for emissions.
www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Kawasaki/...+A1-A2%29/parts.html
3. is part of the rear wheel assembly. it is the spacer between the sprocket carrier and the rear hub.
www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Kawasaki/...2781+A1-A/parts.html

Good luck with your project.

Have a look at the part diagrams on partzilla.com that should tell you most of it. I can id most of what's there but it's too hard to describe it all for you.

Man you guys are helpful! Let's get it isolated down a bit. After some more research, I only need help with the following bits:

These three pieces. I'm guessing the rubber line is fuel, the middle one is unknown, and the right hand one holds cables to the frame somehow maybe?



The piece on the right. I figured out the one on the left is the starter motor cover. I know the piece on the right is part of the rear wheel assembly, but I can't find a diagram that has it shown, and I can't figure out what it does. I have two, so I assume there's one on either side of the wheel.



My next step with this project is to figure out an order of operations. I think trimming up the frame and repainting it is first on the list, because I can't start putting anything back together until I have a frame ready to go.

The middle piece is the fork cover bracket (see #36 in 1st image below). It holds the Kawasaki plaque on the front of the forks and the 2 little ears on the side are for routing the tach and speedometer cables.

The piece on the right is the bracket for the front brake line (see #1 in 2nd image below). It attaches to the fork but you need to have the rubber grommet (#21 in image) in it so vibration doesn't wear a hole in the brake line. Ed

Looks like one of the forks is bent.
Steve

650ed, thanks for the diagrams! When I look at my front brake, I have a solid tube going straight from the handlebar and master cylinder down to the caliper. Is this a diagram from a different bike?

Steve, yes, one of the front forks is bent. I purchased a replacement on eBay. It should be in next Friday - hopefully it will be a match and I can just replace it.

Anyone have any idea on the last part to be ID'd (last photo, upper right)? I took one inside tonight, and my wife and I debated its possible uses. I found some reference photos online, and it's definitely installed even on modded KZ550s, so it's important for some reason.

Last one looks like one of the rear axle adjusters to keep the rear wheel in alignment with the front and adjust the chain tension.

If you mean the part circled below, yes it is a rear axle adjuster. There's one on each side of the axle where the axle mounts in the swing arm.

The front brake should have rubber brake lines leading from the master cylinder to a joint (#20 in the earlier image) and then from the joint to the caliper. If you have a solid tube from the master cylinder to the caliper someone has done a home-made repair and it should be replaced with the proper parts. Ed