Friend gave me his 1977 kz650 : - )

[Renthorin]

Last time he rode it was 1988. Put it away after riding to the store. One thing drove another out of his mind and next thing you know, it's summer of 2011. I'm at his house for a party and he says "someday I should fix that up and get it on the road....but..."

We talked...I offered to buy...he said "you can just have it." So...long story short, after much cleaning it runs great. Had to redo the carbs and gas tank as he parked the bike with gas in it....sigh...

New tires to replace the dry-rotted originals. He had Jardine racing pipes on there but they were too loud for my tastes. When I start the bike at 6am to ride to work....and she is cold...tends to run about 3500 rpm for a few minutes. Yeeeahhh...with the racing pipes on and living in the middle of the woods....it was ugly. Put a 4into1 Vance&Hines on there and sounds much better.

Put about 350 miles on her this fall before I parked her for the winter. Got my buddy to buy a bike too so next year we are going to ride around the state, trying to stick to the shoreline of the lakes as much as possible.




Will

 

[HUMBLE-U2]

sweet freebee have owned many kz,s over the years great bikes.paint & chrome looks good no dents in the tank. side covers still on both sides.check the chain & sprockets and you will ride around the lake for years. did you rejet the carbs w/the new pipe. thats the first mod most guys do.in 78/79 they had some models w/mag wheels kz650sr kz1000ltd which were cool and never need to be trued.

 

[Renthorin]

I have a new chain and sprockets sitting in the garage for spring. He put a 16" how wheel on the back, replacing the 18" stocker so my RPM's are a bit higher than I would like, esp on the freeway. I replaced the jets with stocks but I suspect I'll change them out this coming year to wake the bike up

 

[BobbyBuick]

I had a 77 GS 750.Those 650s were very reliable and popular bikes back in the day .LOOKS like a Kerker header on there

 

[Renthorin]

I keep hearing how great they are so hopefully it runs for many more years : - )

The exhaust is a Vance and Hines 4into1 system.

 

[salvageV6]

I had that exact same bike exact same color at college in 1979.

I put about 20K on it and then bought a 1983 Honda Interceptor which only got 4K of use on it.....

That bike will go anywhere just keep the chain lubed occasionally. :smile:

Sweet deal. :smile:

 

[Renthorin]

he said when he originally bought it, the plastic and tank were Kawi green. He wanted the red scheme but the shop didn't have one. They sold it to him green, then when a red one came in, they swapped the tank and plastic. I love the red so I'm glad he made the swap.

It still has the original O-ring chain but has spat out a few little rubber rings so I've got a new X-ring chain sitting in the box for spring.

 

[Pat Adkins]

Be careful in the morning & evening with all those deer running around.

 

[Renthorin]

Yeah, that's actually one reason he gave it to me. Three people have been killed in front of his house in the last two years because of hitting deer.

His son wanted the bike but he said "I just can't bear to think of him getting hurt on it." I replied "oh I see...but it's ok if I die!" We both laughed.

 

[NCTURBOS]

Nice!!