My KZ1300 project thread (photo heavy)

So far the frame has been primered and I'm slowly working on media-blasting the other components (stands, swingarm, tank, and other assorted bits and bobs). That's going a bit more slowly as my compressor and pressure pot are on loan to my workplace right now for a project I'm doing.

I was going to hold off on primering the frame but we had some rain here and I didn't want the humidity causing any problems down the road. It took about a can of SEM self-etching primer but it should be good now.

Yes, my shop is a mess. I've been working on my DL650 as well.

Hi Brandon, Just thought I'd comment on painting your frame. I would strongly recommend that you powdercoat it. I painted mine with ceramic engine enamel, first the engine primer then the engine color. The final coats I put on the next day were urethane clear wheel paint. This was all canned paint. I was pretty pleased at first but have found it chips pretty easy and everywhere you attach anything you better put a flat washer under the nut or bolt to hide the chipping you will get. I did have my wheels powdercoated and was really pleased with that. I believe the problem with canned paint is that there is no hardener. Probably an automotive paint would be better because you add hardener to it but you really can't beat the powdercoat. If you are limited to canned paint I would recommend looking at Eastwood for their chassis paint that actually has a compartment on the bottom of the can that you add the hardener to the canned paint. That is if you are going with black. I haven't personally used it but I have had pretty good luck with VHT Epoxy paint, using it on my car project. I have also cleared that with wheel paint. If you do use wheel paint the VHT is as far as I know the only one that is urethane which is the hardest and best. Duplicolor used to be but not any longer. Canned paint is very tricky stuff sometimes. Be sure to put all coats on the same day or you will have to wait 2 or 3 weeks for one coat to dry before adding the next at least with the enamel I used. Otherwise you will get a wrinkle finish! I wait a day to clearcoat. You can do it a little sooner but if you wait more than a day once again you will get wrinkle. Good luck with your project, Jake

I'm going to go with automotive paint on this one. In addition to the cost of powdercoating, I worry about durability; if an auto paint chips you can touch it up, but while powdercoat is hard, once it chips you're going to get spiderwebs from there on out.

Nice work so far, I am curious how the 64mm pistons work out. A few people have bought the cast piston kits but I haven't heard any feed back from them yet. I am having Ross Racing make pistons for me, I went out to 64mm as well because that was what they had available for rings. I am also adjusting the valve relief and compression ratio to suit a ported head and high lift cams.

Keep up the good work!

It's been a long while since I logged in here. Busy season came (and went) and my passion for riding and wrenching was waning; after ten years of being motorcycle-only in freezing cold, blasting furnace desert heat, sodden tropical monsoons, and everything in between I was just not loving two wheels.

Then I went to Africa.

I spent about a month backpacking in Europe and North Africa and came back with a renewed interest in bikes. I sold my boring commuter bikes and bought a Ducati Multistrada 1200, and I also started working on my KZ project again in earnest.

In the interim I've had the frame and tank and bits painted. I've had the cylinders punched out to 64mm, going to 1370cc. Just last weekend I fitted the cylinder block with a friend:




The frame, center stand, and side stand are all blue:



And the tank is blue and yellow, with all badging removed :

Also: At one point I'd received some PMs regarding purchasing old parts. I apologize, as apparently I hadn't configured the site to e-mail me when PMs arrived and I just missed them entirely until today.

I'll probably sell off some of the parts I'm not using, such as the fork headlight ears, instrument cluster, etc. I'll know more once I get things farther along.

My goal is to have this thing dialed in by, say, next June. I'd like to run it at Bonneville Speed Week next August.