Chrome still in good condition. No dings in the forks. Someone gave that bike some love in the past.
I'm watching a 77 KZ1000 rebuild on KZRiders and it's amazing how filthy the bike is while being put back together. Some people just don't give a damn.
One fork leg needed a fair amount of sanding where most of the factory clear coat was gone. The other had much of the clear coat still there, so I had to remove the clear coat then sand and buff.
Much of this bike will remain dirty. I’m not gonna scrub the engine fins and stuff like that. But as I remove parts, I’ll clean and paint them before I reinstall them. The fork tubes were absolutely shot. Chrome was worn completely away for an inch and a half above the seals and above that they were destroyed by rust due to the fork gaiters. So, of course, since they were dismantled, it just makes sense to to a reasonable job of cleaning.
For now I’m just going to make a really good clean runner of it. I’ve pared back on my initial list of parts and thing I’d like to do to it. Things like chain and sprockets as they’ve been replaced sometime in the past. Not gonna pull the engine unless it needs work. I can live with it for now. Side covers, decals and paint will have to wait as they will cost around $2,200. At least for now, a collector plate is out of reach. For sure, a reproduction exhaust is not in the cards.
I actually like the faded patina on the tank and side covers. The side covers are badly broken, one had a piece from its centre fall off. I’ve stuck them back together with crazy glue as best I could and will reinforce them on the back with mesh and epoxy. If that fails then I’ll buy aftermarket side covers and leave them unpainted for now. I’ll likely fork out for a Delkevic exhaust though.
In summary, I’ve had to dial back my vision and expectations for this bike, at least for now. I had a “wind in the hair” vision of a pristine “wow” bike. I haven’t the resources to do that.
And speaking of resources. Ron, no worries about the cables. I’d prefer to have OEM cables, but I had to order parts, so I ordered some aftermarket.
Today I’ll probably tackle the steering bearing race and clean up the front wheel.
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