1980 kz440. Restore or salvage?? newbie in Maryland..

Hey. 1980 kz440. Restore or salvage?? Bike was buried under 8 tons of sand for last18years. Believe it or not, looks kind of okay. Casework heavily oxidized, can't get out of first gear, rubber is all shot. Mild rust on most exposed bolt threads. Seized rear brake, chain and sprocket do move a little but not rear wheel, front caliper seized on the disk. Trying to decide, trash it or treasure... What do you folks think?

Is it a Standard model or Ltd? If the former, I'd be temped to tackle the restoration. but probably not.
If an Ltd, I would list it on craigslist for a hundred bucks or something. you never know sometimes.

ps: a restored 440 won't be worth much.

Can't get out of first gear..........


If the bike is not running and moving that is normal; it's a built in safety device.
If the bike is running and moving when you try to shift that is not normal.
This assumes that you can shift into neutral. Ed

Martin_csr thanks for the opinion! Figured not worth that much, but considering it as a challenge? Never restored a bike before,. Spare time, clean and polish, pick up repair parts gradually, etc. Don't really want it all original, just rideable-as a in town scoot. I gather that you folks think it 'll be too much work, or too much cost? Thanks again, I appreciate your input.

650ed wrote: Can't get out of first gear..........


If the bike is not running and moving that is normal; it's a built in safety device.
If the bike is running and moving when you try to shift that is not normal.
This assumes that you can shift into neutral. Ed

Motor not running, right now, did manage, rocking forward_backward, to get her into neutral, shifter really stiff.. suspect a lot of internal corrosion or goo.. gonna open up the cases and see how bad she looks on the inside. If bad, I guess I'll scrap her. Thanks!

Stratsurvivor wrote: Martin_csr thanks for the opinion! Figured not worth that much, but considering it as a challenge? Never restored a bike before,. Spare time, clean and polish, pick up repair parts gradually, etc. Don't really want it all original, just rideable-as a in town scoot. I gather that you folks think it 'll be too much work, or too much cost?

If you're looking at it as a challenge - great!

If you would like to have a putt-around bike - also great!

I think the dissenting opinions were more about the end result: once you're done, you'll have a nice little putt-around bike that isn't worth very much. If you're not worried about resale, then by all means dive in. Parts are cheap and readily available. Good luck!

PS How the heck did it get buried under so much sand for so long?? :blink:

Nerdy wrote:

Stratsurvivor wrote: Martin_csr thanks for the opinion! Figured not worth that much, but considering it as a challenge? Never restored a bike before,. Spare time, clean and polish, pick up repair parts gradually, etc. Don't really want it all original, just rideable-as a in town scoot. I gather that you folks think it 'll be too much work, or too much cost?

If you're looking at it as a challenge - great!

If you would like to have a putt-around bike - also great!

I think the dissenting opinions were more about the end result: once you're done, you'll have a nice little putt-around bike that isn't worth very much. If you're not worried about resale, then by all means dive in. Parts are cheap and readily available. Good luck!

Understand the cautions. And appreciate the opinions! Since no none has said it is a stupid idea, to expensive... Imma crack her open, and see if, I can get her running.. But if not easily, can scrap it anytime.. Thank you!

To assess the condition I would remove the engine covers & valve cover to see how bad it is. maybe you can tell whether or not it's been under water? The alternator/generator is under the LH engine cover & the ignition stuff is under the RH engine cover.

ps: it can be time consuming & expensive refurbishing an old motorcycle.

martin_csr wrote: To assess the condition I would remove the engine covers & valve cover to see how bad it is. maybe you can tell whether or not it's been under water? The alternator/generator is under the LH engine cover & the ignition stuff is under the RH engine cover.

ps: it can be time consuming & expensive refurbishing an old motorcycle.

Great tip martin_csr. That's my plan, open up the cases, if the internals are as bad as the oxidation on the outside, she's parts and scrap. ..the time I'm not worried about, I don't fish-I wrench. The expense...thanks for the warning! It's snowing today, so it'll have to wait a few days.

Nerdy wrote: PS How the heck did it get buried under so much sand for so long?? :blink:

Parked her in a friend's garage. Which was under a concrete plant sand silo. Had a baby daughter and got distracted for a few months. Went to get the bike... Plant was closed. Finally got someone to open up the gates.. The silo had collapsed on the garage, and the bike, and the car in front of it. All told, about 10 dump trucks of sand. No money to clean all that up! No one to "leverage" to dig the bike out. Gave up hope. After many years, they finally used up the sand, and found the bike, contacted friend, contacted me, and gave me three days to get it out of their way... Kind of feel like I owe her a try, the bike that is. The daughter is doing greatB)

Okay, so it's been a couple months. Any progress on the bike?