Going Vintage — Arrival of the KZ400

My friends from Renton arrived this afternoon and we unloaded (well, dragged the thing out of the back of his pickup) the bike and rolled it into the garage.  The sun was shining and the weather warm (ish).  Perfect day for a motorcycle push.   Well, you see, it’s not quite running yet.  Something about the carb manifolds having disintegrated from time and neglect.

It is an interesting beast.   400cc of air-cooled parallel twin power (most of you know my affinity for a pair of jugs) just waiting to be brought back to life.   Here are a few photos of it, as it arrived.

Over the next few days it’s final disposition will be decided.    Will I restore it to it’s vintage bike glory, or will I take it down the ill-advised road to vintage cafe racer rat-bike status.   Only a thorough inventory of work required, can help me decide.

One of the more amusing aspects of this situation, is the comparison of old and new.  Standing next to a modern 1100cc superbike, the KZ400 is every bit as large and, based on how much effort it took to drag it out of the pickup, not that much lighter.    But the leaps in performance in the last 30 years is, well, impressive!

I hope to have it ready, for when summer hits, some time in 2010.