new kz900 question

[lostsoul74]

ok, bought a 76 kz900 street legal drag bike yesturday for 850. Apparently the original owner had died at hte races last year and was selling off everything in the garage. Scored a great condition 76 kz, stretched, airshift, complete dyna electronics and controls, 4 into 1, etc.. etc.. Lots and lots of custom parts. Exactly what is in this bike is totally unknown, neighbor knew some info about hte bike because he use to ride with the original owner. Also has a new seat, They think it's a 900 bored, thinks the airshift has been disconnected (can still regular shift) because of a leak, other then thats, everythings an unknown. The new boyfriend told me what he had found and what he neighbor had said. He got it running, was loud as hell without any baffles, but seemed to run decent for the 2 minutes he had it running. There was an oil leak which merely turned out to be too much oil in the engine and was just spilling out the engine breather. When I got it home, right off hte trailer first thing I did was ride around the block, seemed fine.
Now i've cleaned and heated hte plugs, oil change, and a good cleaning/detailing of hte bike. But now when I start it, I get engine clatter (not overly loud, but hte familiar sound before my old katana engine blew). I put hte baffles in so I can actually hear hte motor now. Theres white/greyish smoke coming from exhaust (and motor, but i think thats just the cleaning crap burning off hte motor).

What do you guys think is the problem?? does this sound like a probobly complete rebuild/teardown, or something minor like valve shims or something (not that i know how to do that either.... lol) I doubt it's just because it's been sitting, cause the other guys drove it around every month just to keep it ok, and i've had it running for a while and still doing it. Still drives fine, but a good amount of smoke.

[John]

Sure looks like some type of XS rear wheel. A 650 perhaps?

[lostsoul74]

yep, thats the first thing i noticed too was the xs rim.

[audijunky]

Well first I would do a compression test, then I would run it for a while and check the color of the plugs. And if your really worried about it use a mechanics stethoscope to try to narrow down where the noise is coming from.

[AlanB]

Hi Lostsoul,

I don't know if Kwak frame numbers are quite as logical as XS ones, but I would start by finding out EXACTLY what it is!.....

Frame and side covers look like Z1R, so later than '76?... It is hard to tell from the side, but the tank looks narrow, like a KZ400?, not a 9.

The bottom of the barrel (Block?....UK English!) will have the original capacity cast into it. I would guess around 1000, not 900, but 1015 or 998 will help to date it.

Once you know what it WAS you can look at what it IS.....

If it is genuinely built as a drag bike, then the piston clearances, cam grinds, valve clearances and general engine set-up will give a mechanical noise level unacceptable for road use.

However, the fact that it has CV carbs suggests to me that it is a look-alike, and a good service should get the noise levels sorted out.

AlanB

[lostsoul74]

Thanks alanb, yep, I got my buddies brother to stop by who knows alot about these, and said same thing, that it was suppose to be that chattery because of cams or something..... that he thought i just needed the carbs cleaned. I know the title is for a 76, no model number, just weight of 514 lbs, google and no results. Havnt had time to look at this bike as i'm completing hte xs1100 fighter, paint just came in today.