Overdue summer post

So spring/summer have arrived, though quite late and mostly rain filled.

I rolled the bike out of my landlords garage tried to get her going and no dice. I think the carbs need another cleaning, despite me having them drip all winter long.
Well this is what it looked like coming out of the shed for the first time:

I forgot how hideous and unnecessarily huge that seat is! So I then chose to take it off.

Looking better but I wanted to check out what it looks like without the fender and huge taillight. (why is every so goddamn oversized??)

Better I think. I've also found some new inspiration from the fellas at Maccomotors!

 Slightly different tank, but I'm digging what they did with the seat as well as the Metzler Lasertec tires.
Check them and the build out at:
http://maccomotors-kawasakiz1100st.blogspot.com.es/

And I leave this post with this:

Anybody know the make of the helmet?

Oh and last week I removed the taillight, blinkers & rear fender.
Pictures coming soon

Right then.

Right! So, it has been far too long and I've failed to mention how everything ended before the snow fell and we've been disconnected from the world.

So after replacing the spark plugs, the battery and whatever else and coming up short I chose to take the bike to the neighbourhood mechanic, Kenny, who did wonders and got the bike running!

He'd cleaned the carbs, and temporarily fixed the pressure leak on the air filter casing (plastic is cracked). As mentioned before it then ran! Quite well in fact, Kenny's words to be exact. He himself was actually quite impressed with the motorcycle and had kind words to say about it. Said it's a good project bike as long as I don't get carried away and take it too far. Not quite sure what he meant by the latter bit.

This was back in early November, perhaps October, and as of a few months ago it has been winterized and sitting quietly in my landlords garage.

Until the next warm days here is a parting picture of roughly what it looked like at the end of its season.

Doesn't show it off too much to be honest, and I've removed the mufflers since then and the bunny ear rear view mirrors. Don't really like those too much to be honest. Come Spring it'll be coming out again to get work done on it.

My question is, do I stay with the standard wheel setup? Or, do I go get me a set of 18" spokes on both ends? Not going to lie I'm leaning towards the latter.

Well there we are, farewell and albeit a bit late, Happy New Year to all!

Oh woe me.

Right so here's the lowdown.

- Yuasa battery worked, but engine didn't start.
- I then replaced the spark plugs, no dice.
- Tried swapping the main fuse that is linked to the ignition. Did not work either.

So I've eliminated some problems, found things that work and ones that don't. The starter engine is cranking away but something isn't going. Hoping nothing is messed up too badly in the engine block.

Time to take her to the professionals.

Side note: when I was trying to get it started and I would shift it down to first gear, the rear wheel would slowly rotate despite me holding the clutch in all the way?

Side note #2: I hope to christ I can ditch that weird underside stand and get a kickstand. It is a massive pain in the ass getting that thing on & off that thing.

Parting note. This hits everything on the nose. Wrenchmonkees make some good looking stuff
http://www.wrenchmonkees.com/motorcycles/monkee-45.html

Hmm...cafe seat or brat. I'd settled on a bratstyle before but that cafe does look pretty damn good.

Faith restored!

September 7th
Things are moving.

Finally picked up the battery despite that it was ready for pickup 3 days ago. All of 70.99$ + gst!
Put the Yuasa battery in, turned the key aaaaand (drumroll) LIGHTS ARE WORKING! One blinker is out, easy fix. Horn works. Two random lights hanging between the tach and speedo. Also a button that...makes the rev needle go up? Is this normal? Fuel gauge works as it told me it was empty, good start.

When I'd originally ordered the battery the guy at Old Motorcyle Shop pointed out that not only that I'm jumping on the cafe racer "bandwagon", great salesmanship right? But also that my bike is NorthAmerican spec with a 16" on the back and an 18" on the front. Now I knew this myself but it didn't really click in my head. Told me to sell the thing and get something else, with 18"s on both ends with spokes. Now I was slightly disappointed but I figured he had a point.

However, after today I had some sort of connection with a bike and I also found this lovely link that restored ALL of my hopes and portrayed pretty much 1:1 what I wanted out of my bike. Peep this:

http://www.bikeexif.com/custom-kawasaki-kz1000

Gorgeous! Thank you BikeExif! I had actually started looking for alternatives but then I started cruising their gallery and thank god I did!

Alright, off to bed. Waking up in 5 hours for motorcycle lessons.

Lining everything up.

August 30th
Goddamn my bad habits!

2 days later I've yet to get a battery...need to stop going to bed at 4am and then waking up at noon (or later...)

However! I spent some time on bikebandit.com and lined up some parts for the bike. Though that won't matter till I get this thing running.

Tomorrow, battery!

Overdue.

August 26/2012
Day 1: Purchased!

Bought the bike! Kawasaki KZ750 N (I think?) Spectre. Dude was asking 500$ offered 300$ cash and he went for it. Success!

Immediate work it needs done:

• Battery replacement
• Shocks

I'm sure it will need more work than that but for now that is what I can see and what I've been told.

August 28/2012
Day 2: Delivered!

Went to pick up the bike im the U-Haul van today. Should've bought tie straps and not use ghetto ass rope. Broke the glass on the right mirror, don't really care as it was going to come off and be replaced anyways.

Unloading the bike required 2 people and 1 drunken roommate, was highly successful. I suggest the combination to any other fellow motorcyclists.

August 29/2012
Day 3: First Crack

Sick as a dog but brought out the tools see where I could get with this thing. Got the battery out, lost the screw that holds down the little bar that holds the battery. Whatever, subframe is going to get chopped off anyways. Definitely going to need new tires. Poked around the bike for a couple of hours see what's what. Random button thing hanging by the tach/speedo. Hell is this thing?

I feel this thing is going to need a lot more work than he told me to get it running but to be frank for 300$ I could give two shits less.

Oh also, it turns out on the way back with the bike my best friend decided to toss the bill of sale into the glove compartment of the rental van. F*ck me. Let's hope it's still there.

Well going to grab a new battery tomorrow see if the electric system is working. Fingers crossed!