Classic Motorcycles: 1978 Kawasaki KZ650 

I just bought a 1978 kz650 and I’m so stoked to restore it

Bought one of these for $350 when I was working back in CT. Rode it to work almost every day in the rain, sleet, and ice. The kick starter was a live saver when the bike was outside completely frozen--starter, clutch, seat was an ice cube. But it started right up when kicked started. Windjammer fairing cracked due to the cold while going down the interstate. Ice in the steering bearings. But it kept going for years.

I had a 1978 KZ650 custom, and I really miss that bike.

I have a blue 1978 that I bought new which I have not ridden in about 10 years now. I have always, and to this day hearing you go through the gears, felt that i needed a 6th gear, aways lifting the shifter for that 6th gear which just is not there. Non the less, what a great bike. I hate to sell it, but i am not riding any longer.

I needed wheels when I moved back to the East Coast from England and my job gave me $900 to buy suits - I just kept a tie and jacket at work that may not match whatever shirt I wore in whatever day - and I bought a 79 Kawasaki KZ650D. LOVED that bike! Kitted it out with double bucket Corbin touring seats, tank, saddle and trunk, half or 3/4 fairing and a $12 cruise control, soft foam hand grips. Rewarded myself for graduating from the NCO Academy with a 2 week motorcycle trip all up and down the East Coast, avoiding the interstates, except for Georgia. Put 10K miles a year on that beast until I moved again and was travelling 4 months out of the year. Hated to let it go; but had to.

Great story! Got a 77 kz650b in college nearly 20 years back and restored it with a dear friend. Still ride it to this day (& literally today). Good luck with that beauty! Wonderful bike!

Thanks for the ride! Memories of 1986. I'd bought a 1972 Honda CL 450 to commute with but it wasn't the ticket for day rides. A friend of a friend had a KZ650B2A under a tarp and sold it to me. The first long trip with it was for work. I was to meet up with another tech at a coal prep plant off WV93 west of Bismarck, and do our job on midnight shift. He didn't make it because the company truck broke down. I rode from Pittsburgh to Bismarck and home again, at night, where wildlife vastly outnumbered humans. I was 31, and an enthusiast. The 900 and 1000 growl at idle; the 650 purrs like a big cat. It was a great all-around motorcycle. Enjoy the dickens out of it. When you pull out of your driveway it's like leaving the plant and pulling out on WV93 headed east to the WV42 intersection. Nothing but me, the bike, the road, and the three hour/120 mile ride home.

Great video man, I've just taken delivery of a 1978 KZ650D SR650 an import from North America. Shipped over here to the UK , Mine is finished in same color as yours with low mileage .Takes me back to when I was 19 years old and these bikes along with the Honda CB 500 and 750 and Suzuki GT750 were all out of my price range . I promised myself when I retired I would get one as a hobby the Kawasaki were some of the fastest bikes on the road back then , and still beautiful today .❤

Had one in 89. 77 plate. Sold it in 1994 60000 miles. On it . Never missed a beat.

The best mid size Kawasaki of the 70's, I remember being taken for a blast in 1977 on a friend's new green z650, now I have all three models, great video

I had a 1979 that I dearly miss!!! I would love to find another one like it!!! '79 was the last year of kickstarter's on those. I loved having that Kickstarter even if I didn't use it all the time.

Have one in our garage right now. All original still. My husband inherited when he was 9-years when his dad died. My mother in law purchased it new for my late father in law. My husband drove it a bit, but shortly after we married and started a family, he got too busy. I want to get it running for him again. Having trouble finding anyone to work on it, so may go through and troubleshoot ourselves. Been sitting about 15 years in our garage untouched.

They are great bikes. I own a 1978 with mags and triple disc brakes. All stock with no mods, just fresh paint.

Love this version. Beautiful bike, sweet ride.

This Bike is the bike that started today's Kawasaki zx6 and zx636 I'd take these older sports bikes over a new sports bike all day

Love the sound of this thing.

Love the in-line 4 sound! especially with a kerker exhaust.

There's no one around! Where is this? Si beautiful!

Nice bike my friend. I have (3) of them (2) 1977's & (1) 1979 parked inside of my house! There small and powerful enough to man handle them while having fun enjoying the experience! Enjoy and be safe!

Great find! Enjoy! That was my first bike at 16. 700 hard earned dollars. So many adventures and lessons learned with it. Got a second one when I screwed up on trying fix it, and rode that one until I walked into a show room and saw a Concours. Still got the Connie

Beautiful motorcycle!

I have a 77 that I bought in 1990. It's been in a barn foe a very long time. Thinking about resurrecting it.

I had the same year bike, a 'B' model. I wish I never let it go, yours sounds soooooo much like mine did with the old RC 4 into 1 pipe and K&N filters. Take care!

I have a 79 kz650, I know that some of you may berate me for this, but I am converting it too electric. Yes, I will keep the engine and everything to be able to put it back to stock if need be. This was my dad's bike and he passed in Oct of 2022. Doing this conversion he would have approved of. He loved different things and I think he would have thought this was a cool idea, so that's what I'm going to do. It won't be super-fast, roughly a 90mph top speed, but it will have roughly 300 miles of range once I'm done with it. 20kwh battery probably a 10kw Golden motor, or a QS 10kw motor. Motor will be decided once I know the dimensions it has to fit into. In all, I love the look of the bike and I am going to do my best to build a worthy battery box that fits the style, that way it doesn't look out of place per se. it's going to take me years to build this, due to time constraints and financial constraints. The battery pack will cost me around 3 grand to build alone. I am going to use Pouch Cell batteries for the pack, which means the pack will be smaller than it would be if I used cylindrical cells. Voltage will be 103.6 volts nominal, and 219-amp hours, which puts it around 22.6 kwh. the total capacity is 22,688-watt hours. If you divide that by 75-watt hours per mile that will give you 302 miles of range. Hopefully the power usage will be less than that, but roughly that for highway use. Around town it will be around 45 wh/m. Then you have another 1500 to 2000 for the motor and controller, then another 1000 in peripherals or so.

i just saw one on marketplace this makes me want to buy it😭

My 78 650 is a bit different... it has a Ducati exhaust, pod filters and oh yea been converted to a off road 3 wheeler. With a honda atv rear end front wheel and forks from a 83 honda sabre so i could have duel disk front breaks... so much fun to ride

For young people looking to start riding start out with one of these old 650 750 sports bikes get the experience riding move up to a kawasaki z1 900 kz1000 or 1100 or a Suzuki gs650 750 1000 yamaha xj650 750 1000 honda cb650 750 1000 old sports bikes are a blast I've grown up riding older sports bikes And newer sports bikes I just prefer older my first sports bike was a 78 kawasaki kz650 she was badass my uncle has a Z1 900 and a kz1000 he gave me the kz650 my cousin has a zx14 my dad had a Suzuki gs750 I had my 88 Suzuki gsx600f my older brother has a 98 Suzuki gsxr750 dad passed his 82 gs750 down to me in October 2022 dad passed away a week later while taking care of dad's funeral my gs750 my gl1100 my Hotrod all stolen out of my shop currently fighting it in court

They were great bikes. I had the same one but burnt orange. And one a couple years newer in blue with mags with like 400 miles on it. Miss them both. Good luck with it.

still my daily driver. Since 1994.

I had several KZs great touring bike the 650 was great milage and range comfort.The 650 came in third in the grueling Castrol endurance race againts bigger newer models.

Rode my Kz650 from the age of 19 to 25 in the 80's and absolutely loved it. I went on this ride with you and enjoyed it but was waiting for you to get into the powerband starting around 5000 rpm to 9. Have you given it a go cuz it is definitely a bit of a slug up to 4 or 5 and then Yee Haw she takes off!!

Brilliant!

Bought myself a SR model bobber style this summer. Also 4into1 but no baffles lol. Cheers

I miss my KZ650, It was the light blue they called it moon dust silver. I was a motorcycle mechanic in the 80's The 650 were more dependable and better running than the 900 & 1000

The kz650 turned into the ninja in 83 awsome bikes

If I were going for a vintage metric 650 it would be an '83 or later Honda 650 Nighthawk. Those bikes did everything well, and were incredibly fast for a naked/standard 650...

mad man ,, had two of these , bullet proof

Nel 1982 acquistai un Kawasaki z1 900 testa Nera del 1974 moto Fantastica avevo 22 anni . Dopo ho preso moglie e mi feci un z650 del 1977 ho dei bellissimi ricordi. Dopo sono arrivati i figli ed ho comprato un Kawasaki gpz 550 unitrak del 1982 ed è ancora in mio possesso l 'ho trasformato in cafè Racer. Comunque i periodi più belli li ho passati con la 900 e la 650

I can recognize those Georgia black pines.

Really nice Bike i actually got the exact same one just with out the mods :D It's just an awesome bike enjoy the riding!

Any pointer for someone working on the same thing I have my dads and I'm not going to lie I have the 650 and the 1000 both aren't stock but I want them back on the road

gran video, siempre quise saber respecto de estas motos la diferencia entre una kz650a o kz650b o kz650 c etc, alguiem me podria decir?

How can you tell what series you have? Because there's three

@albertgray is it the c model, forgot to ask, as I’m a triple dick brake mag wheel guy. Also what stat are you in. I’m in Ky. Would drive up to 8 hours if it’s the c model Mr Buckley are you sure you are out. Please mull it over , I’m sure it will put a grin on your face.

🙂

Cool, but only one very bad point: 4 in 1 exhaust not original and "ugly".

Overrated, OVERPRICED!

Great good all around bike