"Custom is King" 1978 Kawasaki KZ650 Bobber Part 3

[ThorFrom204]

I love it! There's a completely original 78 KZ650 in the Winnipeg Kijiji ads right now. You've got me thinking that I should check it out!

[bigsky89]

@ThorFrom204 do it man! very rewarding bikes to customize build and work on, solid motors, simple carbs, simple electronics, and theyre awesome for rippin around town!

[my79kz]

''NICE''

[bigsky89]

@my79kz thanks man!

[Goldbeed12]

my uncle had one of these bike in his garage. only 650 original miles. needs alot of tlc but he said i can have it. do you know how much it would cost for a carb kit will cost?

[bigsky89]

@Goldbeed12 not sure, i havent had to order a kit for a set of these carbs yet, but dennis kirk may very well carry a kit for them, i dont imagine it would be overly expensive. thats a heck of a find tho, 650 miles on it, once you get it running again youll have to break it in! cool deal!

[Goldbeed12]

@bigsky89 thanks for the lead my friend i hope to have it running soon

[Mst14432]

that sounds mean

[bigsky89]

@Mst14432 thanks man! had to put some baffles in her, as much as the mean howl is a lot of fun, the local five oh werent quite as enthused as i was. haha rather avoid trouble when riding an old bike like this, mostly around here you get by on old iron cause they cops basically just dont care, but they could take you off the road any time they like...

[Mst14432]

@bigsky89 well that sucks, I live in sweden and the police here doesnt give a shit about how loud your bike is. Its just that when you take it to the vehicle inspection they have a maximum limit for hos lound it can be before it get aproved. people usually put steel wool or the orginial pipes before inspection and change it back to custom right after =)

[bigsky89]

@Mst14432 yeah thats how it used to be here but the cops in sask are getting stupid about pointless crap, like loud pipes, reflectors, signal lights... crap that makes ZERO difference to the safety of the bike, in all honesty.

[bigsky89]

@Mst14432 yeah, trust me weve tried. best you can do is keep your revs down, ride like a normal person most of the time, and they leave you alone. ive gotten away with my bike on good behaviour, theres a lot of crap they could yank it for, being old as hell for one, being loud for another, custom frame 3rd, and lots more, but you keep the thing reasonable, they let you be.

[videomaker907]

I just bought my first bike n its a kz650. how eactly or could you send a close up pic of how u got the ignition bolted up right their? Thanks rob

[bigsky89]

@videomaker907 theres a frame truss right there, its fairly thin steel so you can drill and cut it pretty easily, all i did was drill a hole with a hole-saw and the plastic retainer ring that holds it in place should keep it there.

[bigsky89]

@TheShanezzzz 650cc total. if it was 650 per cylinder it would be a 2.6L engine lol

[73jsimon]

i think the bike looked its best at this point. just my opinion.

[bigsky89]

@73jsimon it was okay, no passenger seat was a drag, not to mention the handlebars sucked. i dont like ape hangers. never did, dunno why i made em so tall in the first place.

[ChevyGuysWearBowties]

Man you shoulda kept it like this. I am a big fan of these bikes. All bobbers that is. Hondas kawa's triumphs etc. Not so much the harleys just b/c of the sound. I really like the sound of these. Why did ya take off that big ugly headlight??? That looked bad! And what happend to the jockey shift and those crazy handle bars???

[bigsky89]

the jockey shift was temporarily made into a suicide shift because of a broken cable, but i got lots o cables now man haha always have the jockey shifter. anyways the big tall bars, they went byebye, too tall. looked stupid. the stock headlight is logn gone too, too big and dumb lookin. i cleaned up the whole front end now, i had a newer vid but it got deleted cause i used a song in it and they pulled it for copyright. fuckin stupid. anyways look for new vids soon!

[noblepuker]

wow,i like the sound....if it sounds good on youtube,it sounds great in person.I can hear my 650 in there somewhere.Nice work, These old kz650's sound great.I run the 4>1 V&H pipe.I love it...but i'd rather run my own design.I like the throat of yours,sounds mean.

[bigsky89]

you should hear it in person... it rattles windows at 6 grand... its pointlessly loud, i love it when some of my buddys on sport bikes all rev up their bikes trying to be the loudest, and they all look over at me and my huge stupid grin... then i deafen them.

[noblepuker]

nice.I'll see ya on the road friend.

[bigsky89]

you bet

[loveanianimeme]

a bobber doesn't have be fast.

[bigsky89]

thanks but the idea of bobbers was to hack off as much of the stock stuff as possible to make it lighter and faster, however bobbers were first built in the 40s and 50s when a horsepower number in the high 70s was incredible for a motorcycle. its fast enough for me anyways :)

[loveanianimeme]

yeah. mine only goes 35 mph, or... it did, it's in peaces now.

[bigsky89]

riding is riding bud. bobbers are about getting as much performance out of the engine in it as you can, and about riding your bike. keep workin on it!

[loveanianimeme]

I am, but unfortunately it's only 50cc, and it's illegal to go any faster than 35, but it's still just as fun riding it.

(may be I will fix the engine so it will go a little faster)

[bigsky89]

gotta start somewhere man

[loveanianimeme]

That's what I'm doing.

[crazywhiteboyy103]

Sick bike man!! I just finished my bobber project.. 1981 Kawasaki kz650.. I would post a picture on here but I don't know how. I wanted your advice on the seat I have on it right now.. its also a springer. Let me know if you could help! Thanks man, ttys!

[bigsky89]

thanks man. just take a video with a camera if your digital cam has video and post it up on here, its pretty straightforward.

[shagger67]

nice bike. I think i have seen it before

[bigsky89]

thanks man, you mean online or somewhere around sask?

[rayray9061]

nice very nice, i got a 80 honda cb 750 that im making into a bobber thank for the tips on your video

[bigsky89]

no problem, if my customs help people build the bikes they really want instead of going out and spending all their money on someone elses name brand custom, im a happy camper.

[SuperUnknownMC]

very cool. Nice job.

[bigsky89]

thanks man

[puppetmaster983]

This is one of the coolest bikes I have ever seen.

[bigsky89]

thanks man, wish i could say the same... im beginning to get frustrated by it, but then again it runs so fuck it. the next kz chopper i build is gonna be insane, bordering on the unrideable and completely unethical at least thats what im aiming for haha.

[elpasotoker420]

i was guna ask u also what happened to the rear suspension luv ur bike holmes

[bigsky89]

hardtails are more fun, lol i wanted a classic style bike and rigids kick so much ass.

[elpasotoker420]

thers one on craigslist for 500 completly stock id like to know how much money u put into it to make it look as beautiful as urs

[bigsky89]

not much, most of what ive done is design, creativity, recycled parts, scrapyard parts and ALOT of time and custom fabricating. i bought my bike for around 500 bucks and spent less than 400 on it so far, including insuring it.

[FingerLickinGravy67]

ah i cant wait till i fire mine up man, those pipes rock imna do prety much the same thing

[ihatecivics7]

Pop the reflectors off!!!

other than that and the fact that 2 sets of pegs drives me crazy (I know, its not my fucking bike right?) its a pretty sick bike man

[bigsky89]

thanks man! id pop off the reflectors but the law here says if theyre factory you gotta have em otherwise they can impound ur bike. two sets of pegs are needed, i cant sit with my feet on the mids all day and i cant sit with my feet on the forwards all day either and i go on long rides with her, sometimes ten hours of riding a day. gonna put a second set of stockers up front tho so it at least looks cleaner. just posted a new vid of some updates on the bike, check it out.

[DieselDog77]

I'm trying to do something similar w/ my '79 KZ650B but have been having major problems. Bike sat for about 8 or 9 years before I got it. new battery, oil, oil filter, plugs, pods, etc. Gone thru the carbs twice & rejetted, still wont run right. Was told to re-disassemble & clean, more thuroughly this time, and to ditch the pods in favor the stock air box. Re-assembling carbs in a week. I'll let you know what happens. I love your bike, looks awesome. If mine ends up running at all I'll be happy.

[bigsky89]

thanks man! yeah, the carbs can be finicky, mine are still running rich, im gonna jet the outside two cylinders down from 128 to 124 and the inside two are good. its definantly alot easier to ride the thing with a stock airbox, but anyone who knows me knows i hate the easy way.