New to these bikes

Hey everyone. New to the group and this bike. I come from Harley’s but attempting to bring a passed family members bike back to life. 1981 kz750 ltd. Going for cafe style with performance. Any advice or websites for stock and performance parts would be amazing. Wish me luck. 

Welcome to the forum.

This thread may help you... www.kzrider.com/forum/forum-index/faq-wi...hings-to-know#872535

Also, I sell carb O-ring kits for Keihin CV34's like your bike uses.  And you may find my 750 rebuild thread informative.  Particularly the part about installing rearset footpegs off a GPz/L model 750.

Good luck

Welcome to the forum. There are few guys here that know their way round the 750 4's pretty well - Nessism would be one of those, especially when it comes to those carbs. Keep us posted.

Re. performance: I would recommend just getting it running well with a decent exhaust and properly jetted carbs. I run the stock exhaust on my commuter, but I had a 4-1 Delkevic on it for a while. The delkevic wasn't as good down low, but a lot better higher in the rev range. If I wanted something for weekend rides I would have kept it. It wasn't the best option when I was warming up the bike at 6am every morning though.
Once you have things running well, you can always look at bumping it up to 810cc the next winter.

Welcome! There are quite a few performance options for these bikes, depending on your budget. GPZ750 cams are a popular swap, as are the Wiseco 810cc piston kits. If you want to go further, ditching the CV type carbs for a mechanical slide carb such as the RS34 of VM26/29 are also popular. Without knowing you budget/skillset, the two things holding this bike back from a cafe racer, in my opinion, are the leading axle forks and the subframe/short shocks. Lots of info on this site.

Welcome to the forum. The KZ750 is a great platform for a custom build. The only thing holding you back is the LTD frame. Cafe' bikes IMHO, look better with a flat seat/tank juncture rather than the swayback look of the LTDs and some specials. There are examples out there of builders who have dealt successfully with that so do some research on some of the cafe' sites as well. Here's one:  Do the Ton  There is also a BookFace group Amateur Cafe' Builders which is pretty active. 
Good luck

I’ve actually been curious about how an LTD model might convert into a cafe racer. There’s a pretty clean but low priced 750 LTD on my local CL. Besides the “bone line” mentioned by ThatGPzGuy, the other thing that looks like it might be a challenge is wheel sizes. A lot of cruiser bikes have big skinny front wheels, and a small fat rear wheel. I would want to swap both for 17” wheels, so I could run modern tires. Easier said than done though of course. 

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I’ve actually been curious about how an LTD model might convert into a cafe racer. There’s a pretty clean but low priced 750 LTD on my local CL. Besides the “bone line” mentioned by ThatGPzGuy, the other thing that looks like it might be a challenge is wheel sizes. A lot of cruiser bikes have big skinny front wheels, and a small fat rear wheel. I would want to swap both for 17” wheels, so I could run modern tires. Easier said than done though of course. 

Keep watching my build thread, there isn't much "Ltd" left  

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I have been. Next level stuff Wookie58 and not for the unskilled or unmoneyed. 

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I have been. Next level stuff Wookie58 and not for the unskilled or unmoneyed. 

Thanks for that but it's more about having a "what's the worst that can happen" approach (not with safety related items) I have never worked with plastic before but I figured that if I mess it up I can get another piece without breaking the bank. I am hoping that all done I will be into it for around £4K which in the UK is about the starting price for a 70's "Z" that needs work (most of the parts I am using are used from other bikes) and I bought the bike originally for £1100 as the later bikes are not yet desirable. Be brave and have a go 

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I have been. Next level stuff Wookie58 and not for the unskilled or unmoneyed. 

Thanks for that but it's more about having a "what's the worst that can happen" approach (not with safety related items) I have never worked with plastic before but I figured that if I mess it up I can get another piece without breaking the bank. I am hoping that all done I will be into it for around £4K which in the UK is about the starting price for a 70's "Z" that needs work (most of the parts I am using are used from other bikes) and I bought the bike originally for £1100 as the later bikes are not yet desirable. Be brave and have a go 

LOL. I have. Before and after pics of my XS650 cafe'. It didn't take the amount of work yours has but I started with a Special which means small rear tire, short shocks, long forks and a small tank. Fortunately, the XS650 standard frames and special frames are very close. 

   

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I have been. Next level stuff Wookie58 and not for the unskilled or unmoneyed. 

Thanks for that but it's more about having a "what's the worst that can happen" approach (not with safety related items) I have never worked with plastic before but I figured that if I mess it up I can get another piece without breaking the bank. I am hoping that all done I will be into it for around £4K which in the UK is about the starting price for a 70's "Z" that needs work (most of the parts I am using are used from other bikes) and I bought the bike originally for £1100 as the later bikes are not yet desirable. Be brave and have a go 

LOL. I have. Before and after pics of my XS650 cafe'. It didn't take the amount of work yours has but I started with a Special which means small rear tire, short shocks, long forks and a small tank. Fortunately, the XS650 standard frames and special frames are very close. 

 

 

That is a sweet ride, "proper classic cafe racer" not a hacked up subframe and a brown seat. You sir also have skills