Project Bike: Kawasaki ZXR750J cafe racer

We’re following the progress of new contributor Dave Court as he tackles a project to build a funky Kawasaki ZXR750J Cafe Racer  – by the end of September. We’ll let him explain his plans….

 

The basket case Kawasaki ZXR750J

Here’s a project for you to have a giggle about. I’ve called it ‘fast and dirty’ because that’s exactly what it will be – a fast and dirty project to build something fast and dirty. Although at the moment it’s just dirty.

A few months ago I picked up a basket case Kawasaki ZXR750J with a plan to use some of the surplus spares I have laying around to build a funky road bike. This particular ZXR had been a cosmetic right off (bodywork damage only), after a daft woman in a car had knocked it over when it was parked up. It was only a Category D right off, which is fine for what I’m intending. An email deal was made for me to pick up the bike as a complete unit, with only the forks, clocks, wheels and brakes removed.

What actually arrived was a bit less than that. The CDI, Coils, Carbs, Airbox, Cooling system and exhaust were missing, as was the timing rotor (with the timing rotor cover removed, leaving the engine open to the elements). At a guess, this indicates the bike was fitted with the ZXR/7R ‘must have’ 4 degree advancer which had been scalped for a separate sale like the rest of the kit. Having had the bike picked up for me by friends Cuban Pete and Matt, they weren’t aware how much had been removed which was originally supposed to be included in the deal.

To be honest, I still managed to get my money’s worth. For £220 I got a bike with a V5, frame, engine, swingarm, most ancillaries, a nearly-new Hagon shock, a tasty ally exhaust hangar, and a rare RRK model rear subframe.

Already making up the missing parts, I had a spare radiator in the shed, along with the original coils and CDI from my L race bike, and a 7R front-end which was also originally on the L. Plus a spare 6R rear wheel, and a brand new set of Renthal sprockets and Tsubaki chain. I’d fitted a dyna ignition to the race bike, which means I have a 4 degree advancer on the shelf, along with an RRK aluminium tank. I’d discovered after buying it that it’s nowhere near the right shape to fit with an L frame and airbox – but it’ll go straight onto a J!

One concern was the engine, which was known to have an issue with jumping out of second gear – so a full strip down with gearbox rebuild was planned – until a certain Scott Redmond shared that he was breaking a J, so I did a deal for the complete motor and selection of the missing ancillaries (mostly brackets, cables and switchgear).

That leaves carbs, airbox and exhaust to be plundered from the Cuban Pete ZXR parts mountain. I’ve been donated a big round single headlight by FlatTel, so I just need brackets to mount it to the forks, some kind of front indicator setup and a funky little digital dash and I’ve got all the parts to start building – oh, and an RRK single seat unit, too.

With the wide and low LSL clip-ons that I’ve got on the 7R front end, a brush finish on the ally tank and frame/swingarm, a wrapped pipe and a big round headlight up front, I reckon it’ll look like a bit of a mean ‘Supercafe’ style thing, hence the name ‘fast and dirty’.

The plan is to be on the road by the end of September, which will be a challenge as there’s lots to do, including stripping the bike to components to remove the awful satin black paint from the frame and swingarm. There’s a few plans for the minimal bodywork, and I suspect some discussions with the 01′ boys will be required for my plans for the seat unit. I’ll keep you updated with progress.