Fitting sportbike front end and rear wheel

I've done a fair amount of research, and I now know the process and what all is needed to complete the swap, but what donor bikes will work with a '82 KZ750 is what I am lacking. As I look around here there are pics TONS of bikes with swaps, but not a whole lot of info on what the bike the front/rear wheel/swing arm are off of.

So I guess my first questions would be:
-Where/how do you guys with front end swaps find out what stems will work with your bike?
-And the tapered bearings?

I have yet to find OEM KZ750 length & OD so I can search other bikes that have a similar/close setup and buy the appropriate bearings and shims to get the triples to bolt into the neck.

Julian, most of the guys with swaps (like myself) have used the stock KZ stem that has been pressed into a donor lower triple clamp. That way, you can use KZ style neck bearings. You just have to grind out the weld on the bottom of the KZ stem, and then shove the stem out of the KZ lower triple clamp with a press. BTW I used a 1995 GSXR 750 fork on my bike.

Within the past few months I have posted answers to every one of the questions you just asked,
And, have posted details on fitting 2000 GSX750 Katana front end and rear wheel to a 1980 KZ750E.
And where to get info on what bearings to use on what frame/fork combo.

If you can't find the info using search terms, then search for posts by author.

Thanks steell, I most certainly will do that!

Julian, one thing that works for me when searching for info on KZR is to type your search terms into Google with KZrider added to the end. The search feature on here can be a little tedious.

Good tip! Seems to work well

Guys with swapped front ends, are you using the cables/lines that are meant for the year/bike that you have the front end from, or the Kawi lines? Combo of both maybe?

Use the cables and lines from your bike. Controls from your bike should fit the bars from the new front-end as they are 7/8" bars or clip-ons. Some guys even drill the top tree and mount risers so they can use whatever bars they want instead of the bars that come with the donor bike. Only problem you may possibly have is if there is enough room on donor bike bars to fit all the controls from your bike. Different bikes...different size controls. Will probably have to come up with a way to mount gauges also as lots of the newer bikes mount theirs on brackets, etc. instead of the top tree like older bikes do.

Thanks racer54. I was wondering if I could use the OEM controls but didn't know if sportbike clip-ons were the same 7/8" diameter.

Is it really as simple as drilling 4 new holes for the brackets/hardware to get bars on top? I was under the impression that the top triple shouldn't be alterned or machined at all. If it is, that's even better!

It isn't as simple as drilling a couple holes usually. Look at the under-side of the tree. Most have strengthening ribs, etc. that will have to be dealt with. If you are lucky, the holes will be where there isn't any, otherwise, you will have to have them machined out to make room. Some have then used large washers, etc. to help hold the risers on. Risers generally only have one bolt per riser used to mount them. Don't know where they got the risers but I know dirt bikes use them and some older bikes used them. Maybe others will volunteer where they got theirs.

I used a front end off a 1994 ZX9rr, I ground out my factory stem and pressed it into the ZX9 lower triple. One thing I had problems with was trying to use the ZX9 clipons, my controls would come into contact with my tank. I had to track down a set of aftermarket bar risers and use a set of clubman bars to get the controls pushed out farther from the tank.

my rear swingarm came off a '03 kawa 636, it fit perfectly after I ground away less than a couple of 16ths off each side of the frame and had a custom spacer made for the one side of the swingarm.

racer54 wrote: Use the cables and lines from your bike. Controls from your bike should fit the bars from the new front-end as they are 7/8" bars or clip-ons. Some guys even drill the top tree and mount risers so they can use whatever bars they want instead of the bars that come with the donor bike. Only problem you may possibly have is if there is enough room on donor bike bars to fit all the controls from your bike. Different bikes...different size controls. Will probably have to come up with a way to mount gauges also as lots of the newer bikes mount theirs on brackets, etc. instead of the top tree like older bikes do.

Did you just reroute the cables different ways? I have an LTD which I would think has longer cables due to the fact that the handle bars are higher. With the front end swap, maybe I should get cables from a non LTD KZ750/650?