Cleaning the frame

A very wise man, my father, once told me that only an idiot learns from his own mistakes. A smart man opens his eyes and ears and learns from mistakes of others. Following that theory, I hit the World Wide Web in search of previous projects on the KZ200. I found some, most in Indonesia, but some were more or less local by English speaking folks. Unfortunately there are a lot of photos of restored and rebuild motorcycles and not too much detailed information on the process of rebuilding the KZ200.


I have noticed that a great deal of experts in the field of motorcycle repair name one thing as the most important tool in fixing any motorcycle. That is a shop manual for the specific machine which is being worked on. So that was my next step. I found a shop manual for the 1978 KZ200 on line for just $10 plus $5 shipping. I will first use the manual to catalogue all the parts that I have and then figure out their assembly.

Meanwhile, the shop manual is in the mail and I spent a few hours last night to take the engine off the frame and clean the frame. Taking off the engine was not difficult. It took some time because I had to be careful with the bolts. Most of them are rusted so I had to make sure not to break any. The majority of the time was spent on cleaning the frame. I used automotive cleaner and a few rags. I need to go to a store and buy some brushes to get into some crevices on the frame that I couldn’t get to with a rag. Overall I think I did a nice job. Below is the picture of the frame. Compared to the photo of it that I posted yesterday, there is a big difference.

Today, I am going to an auto supply store and going to get some solutions and chemicals to start cleaning the engine and the rest of the mechanical parts.