1982 GPZ750 (KZ750r1) - An Opportunity in Learning and Bonding

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to my TED talk. 

Recently, I've been trying to do more maintenance work and such on my own vehicles. It always feels good to do such things for myself, and it's wildly cheaper to handle something within my abilities. If it's just outside by skill set, then I get to learn and that feels good every time. With all that, I recently did oil changes on my two vehicles and replaced the front suspension in my primary vehicle. My 3 boys were all super intrigued by the processes and super excited to help me out. So, I did my best to put any sense of hurry on the back burner and took a bit of time to show them what I was doing and how I was doing it. 

I've also been dying for a motorcycle since high school. Sadly, my budget hasn't allowed for getting a bike I really want. While my dream bike is in the realm of a Yamaha Raider/Victory Highball/Harley Roadking, I've always loved the idea of getting an old school bike and fixing it up to newish condition. 

With that all in my mind, I took to marketplace in search of a good candidate for me and my boys to learn to wrench on and maybe even get fully operational again. 
My budget: $150 for initial purchase
My options: less than 0

My search criteria was a motorcycle, sub $600 asking price, and not completely gutted and in a pile of parts. 

In the end, I had two bikes I was looking at. A 1982 Kawasaki GPZ750 that hadn't run in 10 years with missing keys and questionable everything, and a 1980 Honda CM200 twinstar that turned over easily and just needed some electrical gremlins worked out. Both were willing to go with my $150 offer (part of my pitch involved explaining my desire to learn/teach my boys how to wrench on motorcycles with said bike). After evaluating both, I walked away, deciding I was probably rushing into the whole thing. Made sure to thank both for their generosity to drop their asking price for me and left with handshakes. 

Two day's later, the Kawasaki reached out and the seller told me to just "come get the bike". The seller said that other people had made offers higher than mine, but she kept thinking of my plan to learn with my kids and that really stuck with her. She and her family were moving and just needed the bike gone, and she wanted me to have it. 

So, me and the boys hooked up our utility trailer and went to get our new project/learning opportunity.  (I should also include here, the reason my wife agreed to putting one more thing in our already full-ish garage is that it's something me and the kids will do together)
It is now in the garage, and we've already started to take things apart and clean other bits up. I don't expect this process to be quick. Best case scenario, we have a functional bike ready for new paint and such in a year or three or more. Worst case scenario, we tear it to bits, see how it all works, put it back together, and it doesn't work so we sell it off for parts or whatever. Either way, me and the boys will learn a lot in preparation for one of my actual dream motorcycles. Honestly, I do feel pretty good that we'll be able to get this thing running. Just a matter of time and money. 

I'm gonna call it here for this initial post and I'll share some pictures of the initial state of the project. I'll come back with other details about the project later. I do plan to record most of the process and put out some videos, so those will get linked here as they get completed. 

 

Looks like an interesting project thread and good on you for including your sons.

In the future, please click the Insert All button BEFORE submitting the post so the pictures will show up full-sized in the post.

Welcome to KZR! That's a very cool bike, and you will find plenty of folks here to help you (and your boys) get it sorted.

Thats such a beautiful story and I'm excited to see where this project leads you and your family! 

Alright, I come before you all today in search of recommendations. 
The boys and I got the carbs off the bike and started on carb #1. We got everything off and out except for the choke plunger. It seems to be locked in by something. Either corrosion of sorts, or gummy fuel. I've already run the carb body through the ultrasonic twice, and it hasn't come loose. I'm prepared to hit it with a mini torch to expand the carb body and try to loosen it that way, but I'd love your recommendations.  Note: i've gone in with a brass brush and cleaned things up nicely. So any corrosion is no longer obvious. 

     

I would suggest a hot air gun or a hair dryer and WD40 rather than a "torch" these castings aren't the most robust parts of the bike. Also if you use heat be prepared to replace the rubbers on the plungers

Wookie58 wrote:

I would suggest a hot air gun or a hair dryer and WD40 rather than a "torch" these castings aren't the most robust parts of the bike. Also if you use heat be prepared to replace the rubbers on the plungers

Good point, I've got a heat gun that would do well. 

   Miles on the odo?

   Bike looks like it has good bones; unmolested & complete.  Might consider just doing a refurbed survivor by leaving the patina / cosmetics mostly as-is for a first bike.  Paint & pretty can always come later.

   Brakes.  Concurrent with being made to go, be very sure it will stop.

   If the engine isn't stuck, consider not touching the internals except for valve lash & timing check.

   Glad to see the young'ns interested.  Far too many these days fail to learn the basics of how things work.  Doing so will serve them well for a lifetime.  Kudos for including them.

   See the post linked below for detailed new-owner advice on how to proceed with a fresh project.
www.kzrider.com/forum/faq-wiki/618026-new-owner-things-to-know

Welcome.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

PB Blaster on that choke plunger, and some heat will help.  The chemical may eat up the rubber seal in the plunger, so clean right away.  I have O-ring kits for those carbs, and I also have new plunger seals.  If you have to, you can grab the plunger with some vice grips and pull.  That will trash the plunger, though.  

Nessism wrote:

PB Blaster on that choke plunger, and some heat will help.  The chemical may eat up the rubber seal in the plunger, so clean right away.  I have O-ring kits for those carbs, and I also have new plunger seals.  If you have to, you can grab the plunger with some vice grips and pull.  That will trash the plunger, though.  

Thanks for the recommendations. I spent last night soaking with wd-40 and some heat. not luck. I expect at this point the plunger will be garbage, so I've already found a source for a replacement. I'll pick up some PB today and give that a chance.
 

slmjim+Z1BEBE wrote:

   Miles on the odo?

   Bike looks like it has good bones; unmolested & complete.  Might consider just doing a refurbed survivor by leaving the patina / cosmetics mostly as-is for a first bike.  Paint & pretty can always come later.

   Brakes.  Concurrent with being made to go, be very sure it will stop.

   If the engine isn't stuck, consider not touching the internals except for valve lash & timing check.

   Glad to see the young'ns interested.  Far too many these days fail to learn the basics of how things work.  Doing so will serve them well for a lifetime.  Kudos for including them.

   See the post linked below for detailed new-owner advice on how to proceed with a fresh project.
www.kzrider.com/forum/faq-wiki/618026-new-owner-things-to-know

Welcome.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

She has 27K on the odo. everything looks and feels really good. Engine turns freely, clutch engages well enough, front brakes work, rear is locked up but wheel spins freely. The initial plans are to get the essentials taken care of to get her running. From there, we will work on the cosmetics. 

Welp, I let it soak in pb blaster for a few days, blasted it with a heat gun, tapped on it many times with a hammer pulled and twisted with pliers, drilled holes in the plunger itself (it was already ruined before I did that), grabbed it with vice grips and it finally started moving and came free!!