loose parts

I found a very thorough website on the kz400 with a few confidence inspiring engine rebuild tutorials amidst the massive heaps of other useful information on the model. I've seen these things up on ebay and craigslist going at around $300 and from what I've read they're definitely worth it. The model might not be as aesthetically pleasing as a candy colored cb350 but it might be slightly more rideable and mechanically sound with that vibration cancelling system incorporated into the engine.

I love the brochure picture with these two wholesome looking 20somethings pulled off to the side of the road. Even by the end of the 70s they were still trying to make biking look like it wasn't for people who used smashed jack bottles as wall calendars and killed people that stared at their tattoos of flaming snakes popping out of a skull shooting dice.

kz400.com

Even though I don't own one it's helped a lot to study how service manuals and tutorials describe stuff like this, so I do it as often as I can. I didn't know much of anything about bikes until a vt500FT I had gotten as cheap transportation broke down in the outer banks (NC) last july while I was on a road trip. I had to go through a hellish/character building ordeal to get it back to PA. I have made it a point since then to figure out how these machines worked down to the last nut and bolt. I'm not there yet but I've come pretty far. Too bad it was stolen from right in front of my house just as I was starting to appreciate it. That bike went through a lot in the year that I owned it.