1977 Kawasaki KZ 650 Chopper bobber project...completed!

[ssaenz11]

Awesome

[medsam37]

sweet ride I have a kz1000 it runs great but there are small things i wana change nice clean ride though man good job and for 800 bucks to boot good job man

[ddsotelo37]

If you can't find neutral, you shouldn't be riding. Well said.

[moparbrent760]

Nice

[mileenaownz12345]

well done

[kurtmcgirt]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

[batmanwanibe]

You did an awesome job. I'm in the process of building one now. any tips on what

to start with?

[dthorp71]

@batmanwanibe choose your frame design first, everything else will fall into place after that.

[jadakissboi]

@dthorp71 So this wasn't the Kawi frame? Seeing as how they are soft tail, correct? Did you modify it to become hard tail? If you could personal message me I have many other questions

[PASTYLLITA1]

horrible

[dthorp71]

@PASTYLLITA1 So don't watch the video. How many bikes have you built?

[ihatethiscrap6699]

It's not only 800 dollars that man has A LOT of time involved in this beautiful bike!

[djstun]

Nice work

[ElliottHawkins1]

wtf $800 i know what im doing this summer

[sideshownomo]

Man that bike looks great! I would love to know how long it took for you to build it?

[hefty88]

how much was it

[dthorp71]

@hefty88 You mean to build it or what I sold it for? The build was just under $800, including the purchase of the bike. I sold it for $2000 and it sold pretty fast.

[wrightz2it]

where did you get the frame, I love it and also the rear fender and gas tank?

[dthorp71]

@wrightz2it The frame is stock, I cut off the rear half and welded in the tube steel to make it rigid. As for the rear fender, it used to be the front fender. I used some chrome bars as the struts. The gas tank was purchased off of craigslist. I just posted an ad that I was looking for a sportster tank and I had alot of responses.

Thanks for checking out my build.

[MrLazyeyz]

@dthorp71 excellent work.i build euro-cars[all name brands]

have also been building bikes for 20+yrs...you do good work.if you build anything else plz post it ok?be well

keep the grease down and the chrome up!!!

[nateames76]

How did you do your whitewalls?



[dthorp71]

@nateames76 I cleaned the tires, rubbed them with rubbing alcohol and sprayed them. It held up well for a year then i sold the bike, i assume that they are still looking ok.

[2in10z]

Clean Bike NICE !!!!!

[dthorp71]

@2in10z  Thanks!

[ThoroldTech]

Makes me wish I never got rid of my KZ650 back in 1994.. :( I'm gonna have to search for another.. Good Job man!!!

[deathtoamerica3]

i WAS like 12.. that really offends 12 yr old me i hope you know. well done. lets stick to the topic which is how pointless and gay your bike is. and like u could crook when u were 12 u old fuck.

[snowstuff]

I'm a fan of the cb's but that is one sick ass bike......just wicked!

[dthorp71]

@snowstuff Thanks, it was worth the time to build.

[Allroy21]

Nice Build Man. It looks like you took your time and planned it all out. It is good to see more people that build not buy.

[dthorp71]

@Allroy21 Thanks. Funny enough the plans I had for it got thrown out about half way through because I didn't like the direction it was headed in. From that point on i just built what I saw in my head and i couldn't be happier with the outcome.

[bloglos]

Can I ask where you picked up the frame? I'm looking to make a bobber out of my kz650 and I love how your bike is sitting.

[dthorp71]

@bloglos It is the stock frame. I cut it in half and fabricated the rear end myself. Not to hard to do if you can weld, just make yourself a jig to ensure the rear end stays in line before you start cutting.

[bennettskustoms]

Im buildin an 81 kz650 bobber and I really like the sound and look of your exhaust. how did you do yours? it looks like extended straight pipes but I wanna make sure.

[dthorp71]

@bennettskustoms You're right. I went to Lowes and bought some 1" pipe used for plumbing natural gas. Then i cut the flange off the original pipes and welded it onto the 1" pipe. A few bends later, I ended up with what you see. I better warn you, you MUST rejet to allow proper air flow to match the new free flowing pipes. You will also lose your gas mileage when you go to a straight pipe. Mine went dowm to 35 mpg, but well worth it!

[bennettskustoms]

@dthorp71 did you buy a re-jet kit or did you just do it with what you had?

[dthorp71]

@bennettskustoms I re-jetted twice. I can't remember for sure but I think I finally went with the 120's.

[amishhitman]

Nice and clean. Have you thought about painting the forks black and adding some header tape?

[deathtoamerica3]

looks like a clown bike

[dthorp71]

@deathtoamerica3 this from a 12 year old on a skateboard, who can't grind and land it...You build one and post it, then I will take your comments seriously. Now hurry off to school before mommy gets mad at you.

[mudboy59]

800 hundred bucks!? nice job man, its nice to see such a nice bike made on such a small budget. me and my dad are thinking about a bobber for a winter project. nice job

[dthorp71]

@mudboy59 It's easy to do for little money if you are able and willing to put in the hours. I didn't spend much cash but I spent a lot of hours building it. I hope you and your dad get something to build, it is a great experience.

[Bobz333]

Holy crap this thing is gorgeous. Quick question though; Obviously the frame is not stock. Did you cut and re-weld the rear end yourself? I just came up a 1976 Kz650 and have every intention of cutting it up and making a bobber out of it just like yours. Any advice? Please email me at bobz333@aol.com Thanks.

[chongracing21]

DAMN dude... nice bike! i was just talking to a friend the other day and she sparked an idea in my head. As an asian guy i wanna build a nice jap rat bobber. haha, honestly, my idea isnt too different from this bike. main thing i want to do is sit the bike lower

really enjoy this bike and i cant wait to start my build. I'm in WA state too, soo i'll be checkin out your posts to see what you did

[1968hambone]

really enjoyed the bobber build....great work!

[dthorp71]

@1968hambone Thanks it was a lot of fun building it. I'm keeping my eye out for the next good project.

[kzbobber]

What was the Jet Kit that you put in this? You are not going to believe this, but I have just finished a 1982 KZ650 Bobber Project that looks a lot like yours. But I am still fine tuning the carbs. email: kzbobber@live.com

[tuffnutt34]

very nice bike man

[sircraigery]

Great bike, how is the engine paint holding up? Did you just use VHT paint?

Also, I missed what you said with the white walls. Are those inserts, or the whitewall paint?

Check mine out, I just had it started the other day. Figure a couple weeks and she's ready. (minus paint, but it's to be pretty much blacked out).

[MrMotorheadz]

U rocked the socks right of that bike !! Great build,, have a 80 kz 750 bobber almost complete u gave me a few ideas watching your video thanks mad props turned out sweet !!!

[HaveALooksy]

Beautiful bike man! i'm in the process of chopping my KZ1000 LTD. it's a monster but can use the TLC. I got it really cheap and hope to keep the budget cheap too. How did you go about chopping the frame to a rigid frame? Inserts? Bending? anything will help. Thanks man!

[KawaRider88]

awsome awsome awsome bike man...i'm getting a '81 KZ650H and cannot wait to turn it into something like this...i love your turn signals blacked out like that...i'm saving your video and using it as my blueprints for my bobber...damn that looks great!

[dthorp71]

Thanks, good luck with your build.

[KawaRider88]

how is the highway riding? is that the original motor? sucks about the mirrors but not a bad flavor though...how long did this take you?

[dthorp71]

Highways are not to bad unless you hit a serious bump. Built a Manometer and synched the carbs last weekend now she runs even better. The full build was over the course of about seven months, but that was just in my spare time. Probably could have been done in a month if I gave it way more time than I did, but I also liked to go riding on the other bikes. Make sure you post when you finish your build.

[hoganlongfellow]

man that is an awesome bobber!!!!! beautiful bike!!!!

[FingerLickinGravy67]

best way to do shit man, make badass bobbers for a grand rather then spend thousands on harley shit (Id love a pan if i had buncha money tho) im nearly done with my kz650 chopper, and the damn winter gets dark early n makes me mad cuz its backyard build

[dthorp71]

Lol, I own some harley shit too. I also have a 1976 KZ 400 and a 2000 yamaha V-star. Out of all 4 bikes, this one is the most fun to ride. Not real comfortable, but fun. The longest ride I have had so far on this in 1 day is about 150 miles, not too bad but I doubt I would want to go much further in a day.

Don't worry about the sun going down, thats why they make flood lights.

[Evoluvin]

what is a good kx650 forum????

[dthorp71]

I really don't know of any. I'll be real honest, I built the KZ because I got it cheap, never really looked for a forum. If I had gotten a Honda for the same price this would be a honda build.

Good luck with your bike. Don't build it to make others happy, build it to make you happy.

[Evoluvin]

Ok thanks... im not a welder or anything but my GF Dad is a Machinist. Anyways where did you get the hardtail kit from? Also where did you get most of your parts from? And was this rattle can painted!!!! I just love this bike and I would want to build something simular.... im looking either for a KZ,CB,XS,GS, Rebel. which ever i can find at a good price!!! If you could Answer these questions i would GREATLY appreciate it!!!!!!

[bamf1994]

not much of a Kawi fan but nice bike bro!

[bigsky89]

youre welcome! lol. put a few of my ideas into play, love it. quite a bit different than mine despite the similarities, so i gotta give ya kudos for that man! she looks good, now you gotta ride east somewhere so i can go riding with you, haha my bike doesnt conform to very many laws, nice thing about here is nobody cares XD

[mwalker13]

very nice

[superselmo]

Im a kz rider I like your bike it's the best on youtube no matter what enybody thinks. Isaid that, meant that and a fight goes with it

[dthorp71]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I had a lot of fun building it and i'm sure I will do another one soon.

[tpvalley]

nice, although that exhaust will lose u some power compared to the standard system.

[dthorp71]

it did, also lost some mileage, but not enough to worry about. Just took some time to get the air fuel mixture right. Now she runs pretty good.

[tpvalley]

wouldnt u like a nice big bore 4 into 1 with a stubby megaphone or big bore thin walled silencer?

Maybe a short one exiting under bike?

I bet it defens the neighbours!lol.

[HarleyDavidsonDaBest]

SWEET!!!

[dthorp71]

Thanks!