JLove wrote:

A few months ago I got a 1980 KZ250 D1. Got it tuned up and running great just in time to shut her up for winter. I'm now starting the actual planning of what I want to do by spring...
I know that I want something Cafe-esque. I like the look of the CB350's, and I want to find/make a flat seat like they have, not the seats that seem to be on most of the Cafe builds I've found thru searching. (The KZ250-C1 has more of the look that I like.)
So, my current list of things to do is:
-seat
-tank
-gauges (possibly replace, at least relocate)
-bars
-lights
-exhaust ?
-paint (I'm going to end up getting the frame powder coated hot pink, and painting the tank and side covers black, with pink pin stripping on the tank)
-front forks ?

My questions, so far, are:
Any suggestions on where to find a flatter seat, or, how hard is it to re-stuff and re-cover a seat?
What should I look for in front forks and a tank? Are there certain measurements I need to know in order to make sure everything will fit right?

Bike looks like a good start.

For the seat, its easy to get foam and vinyl and make a new seat. Making a Corbin-esque seat is a bit harder. You'll need foam, electric carving knife, spray adhesive, light plastic sheet, heavy vinyl, staple gun(if you do a new seat pan).

From the look of the seat your pan may not go well to the flat seat, you can make a new pan out of Heavy plastic (55gal water barrel stuff), fiberglass, metal, wood, etc. You could alter yours if you want.

For gauges there are some available that are generic ones on the XS650 store or the digital Acewell combos. Lots of options there as well.

Find forks that are the same length unless you plan on changing the rear suspension to prevent altering your geometry.

Find a tank that fits the look you are going for. You can always weld new mounts to the tank or frame. Mainly you will want rust free with a good cap and petcock as those seem to be the most often lost.

Also, on your frame, figure out if you want to chop/brace any parts of it before the powder coating, also your side panels if you want to keep them or rig something else as you will end up with the mounts still on otherwise.

Do you have anything that shows what you are going for with this bike? Even pictures of other projects that you have liked? Anyways, looking forward to seeing how this one turns out, I've been thinking of doing a smaller KZ cafe project after seeing hoopsnake's KZ250a.

All this encouragment makes me want to throw my little girls in the car and race up to work on it. But... Then I recall that the last time I did that the only work I got done was to move the bike out of the corner, look at it for two hours and put it back Because I was saving my kids lives every three minutes from crawling under cars to picking up air tools. Good Dad 1st, Motorcycle 2nd, actually right now its about 24th:( .
OMR- It is an Acewell and I am going to use the Magnetic pick-up on my rear wheel. I think it will look cleaner in the front. The RPM is picked up off the spark plug wires. I have not tested anything yet so who knows how it will work? Hopefully well.
I'll keep everyone posted on any progress.

Can't wait to see her all painted and shiny... Nice job on the rear swing arm set up, looks clean!

Is that an Acewell speedometer I see?

How did you hook up the speed sensor, analog or digital?


OMR

Its called an ACEWELL and their are a couple to choose from.
They are very cool! You can buy mine for $129.00+s/h (good price!) from:
www.electrosport.com which is in Oceanside CA.
I got the Magnet speed pick-up which has a nice long cable so I think I will mount it on the rear wheel to keep wires off the front fork for a cleaner look.
Have a good one!

Sweet, thanks...

I have been wondering how big the enclosure was and how it would look installed, now I know. And how the hell did you find the chrome one... Good for you.

I'm hoping the new 4000 series will be available in Billet Aluminum and is approximately the same size, truly doesn't matter though for as you did, I will fab a mount. Plus this new series also displays voltage measurements...

As for the digital speedo, it is required in my project for there isn't a front sending unit on the ZX636 front forks/hub.

Once all polished up, that is going to look really nice.

Thanks again,

OMR

Ok, don't remember the model off the top of my head, probably the 2853 type model in chrome. I have all the dummy lights, tach, speed, and fuel (this will be tricky because the fuel float in my tank doesn't have quite the range needed so I have to see if I can add some resistors to get the range corrected. Anyways, as you can see from the picture, the way I have it mounted would not interfere with the stock headlight setup. I am moving my headlight down and back so clearance could be an issue if I moved the speedo down as well, but I think I will leave it where it is at for the time being (probably). Anyways, here are two pictures from the side to show its position. It really is a clean little unit that looks like it will work and display well and tuck out of the way. One thing though, the mount is pretty much permanent so you are stuck with a one bolt mount that is roughly a 5/16" (sorry, no metric today) diameter hole. I am trying to come up with a way to take care of that, but nothing comes to mind so far unless I get some time on a mill .

Have any side profile shots installed?

I was trying to get the billet aluminum but no longer available. You go with Black?

Which model is it?

You're killing me here... hahahaha...

OMR

Old Man Rock wrote:

Kawi... Well, hows the Acewell speedo working out?

Which unit did you go with?

Any images you can share?

Speed / tach accurate?

Share the news damn it... :laugh:

OMR

Bike isn't done yet, but I'll toss you a bone. Here is the installed look. I am working on the wires, headlight mount, and the seat. Almost done.

Kawi... Well, hows the Acewell speedo working out?

Which unit did you go with?

Any images you can share?

Speed / tach accurate?

Share the news damn it... :laugh:

OMR

JMKZHI wrote:

Are you trying to move the headlite bucket closer to the frame?

And it wouldn't hurt to go ahead & mention what model 650 it is. JMK.

Yes and its a 78 kz650 SR. I am using a Acewell speedometer and am cutting off some material on the front brake divider to allow more clearance for the headlight to move down and back.

Locozuna,
That one looks kind of like the stock one, but a lot closer to the tubes. I'll look and see, but I don't know if I can change mine wthout ruining the chrome.